On Thursday American Airlines went above and beyond for a group of passengers, requesting a change in runway, swapping gates, and sending a golf cart to make sure that they made their connection in Dallas in order to arrive at a family funeral in time.
It’s hardly the only time this week that American Airlines went to lengths outside of usual procedure for a group of passengers.
With the introduction of the ability for American frequent flyers to earn miles and elite status flying JetBlue, and vice versa I’ve gotten several questions about the relationship centering around taking advantage of both programs at once.
Business travelers are creatures of habit and develop certain preferences. I certainly do. When you’re a Senator running for President you have staff who enforce those preferences, and donors who will pay for them.
The ‘comfort memo’ Bernie Sanders’ staff put together outlining the Senator’s travel requirements when he was running for President has just come out.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
BA announced that they are doubling their committed minimum award seat availability for coach and business class, and introducing minimum availability for premium economy. This is effective immediately for travel July 28, 2021 onward.
American Airlines flight 2558 from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas took an hour-long mechanical delay on Thursday morning. On Facebook, a flight attendant shared that “naturally everyone has a connection in Dallas.” However one lady in particular approached for help, looking “very distraught.”
Apparently her whole family was traveling on to Guadalajara, Mexico for a funeral and it wasn’t looking like they were going to make it.
Video is circulating of the owner of the Crown Choice Inn & Suites in Mackinaw City, Michigan kicking a woman out of his hotel with her family late at night, after she complains about flooding in her room. A police report is involved.
In video taken by the hotel guest, a man who identifies himself as part of the family that owns the property tells her she’s a “dumb Democrat” for not realizing she becomes responsible for her room’s plumbing once she stays there:
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.
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.
In a video going viral in social media, an American Airlines passenger being confronted by law enforcement demands to see “the manager of the airport!” The woman says her name is Teri Ann, but we all know her as Karen.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
