American Airlines Improves Upgrade Benefit For Alaska Airlines Top Elites

by Gary Leff

economy seats
May 27 2021

Starting today, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K members and a companion are eligible for same day space available complimentary upgrades on “500-Mile eligible short haul markets.” That is, most domestic, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Caribbean flights. Up until now they’ve been offered ‘day of departure upgrades’ at check-in, if those are available, but not added to the airport upgrade standby list.

Here’s full detail on how these upgrades work for Alaska’s top tier elite frequent flyers.

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Marriott Guts Points Advance Feature In Totally Reasonable Change

by Gary Leff

outside dining
May 27 2021

For years members have been able to take advantage of a very generous Marriott policy that allows locking in awards in unlimited quantity just in case you want them later. They’ve tamped down on this a little bit over time, but not a lot. And since booking awards at hotels where there’s limited space hurts other members by keeping them from redeeming awards, I don’t have a real problem with their clamping down further.

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American Settles Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Delta Over Which Offers A ‘Flagship’ Experience

by Gary Leff

May 26 2021

American Airlines refers to its premium long haul and cross country product as ‘Flagship’ and even calls its business class lounges Flagship. Delta used the term Flagship in releases – in its ordinary sense of the term, describing something as being premier – when talking about its Atlanta Sky Club, its business class suite, and its Airbus A350. American sued. The case has settled on the eve of trial.

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Why There Are So Many Passenger Incidents On Planes, And Why It’s Going To Get Worse

by Gary Leff

patrick swayze
May 26 2021

The FAA usually sees 100 – 150 cases of bad inflight behavior filed with them each year. Already this year there have been 2500, 1900 of which have deal with refusal to wear a mask. Most inflight disturbances don’t make it to the FAA.

We’ve seen a real increase in inflight conflicts, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. There are generally five reasons why we’re heading towards a new peak.

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Delta Air Lines Promises Policies To Ensure As Many Elite Members Qualify For Next Year

by Gary Leff

May 26 2021

Presenting at the Wolfe Research conference on Tuesday, Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein shared that traveler confidence is up because “people booking further out” than before. Instead of just making a last minute flight reservation, they’re willing to plan ahead, confident in the direction of the global pandemic.

People are buying more premium seats than they used to, they’re promising to change policies if necessary to ensure as many people have status going forward as did in 2019, and they plan to keep investing in club lounges because their clubs sell credit cards.

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