American Airlines has already retaliated against Burbank, California-based upstart airline Avelo founded by former Allegiant President and United CFO Andrew Levy which begins flying April 28.
Earlier I noted that ex-Royal Prince Harry flew to London for his grandfather’s funeral and made the trip without his wife Meghan Markle.
All of the royal drama aside – his walking away from his title, giving an interview to Oprah where he called his family racists – I thought there could be a bigger scandal in his first trip back to the U.K. in a year.
The U.K.’s Prince Philip, who passed away last week at age 99, thought travel in economy class was ‘ghastly’. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, though, have flown British Airways coach before, however.
Prince Harry, himself no longer a royal, flew Los Angeles – London Heathrow on Saturday. He reportedly arrived in London at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday. While it’s reported he flew British Airways, the 1:15 p.m. arriving from Los Angeles is actually an American Airlines flight (AA134).
Effective today, April 12, miles no longer expire due to lack of activity in an account. That matches JetBlue, Delta, Southwest, and United. Hawaiian has also cut its elite status earning requirements in half for this year:
Qatar has one of the best business class product in the world in its ‘QSuites’. These are revolutionary suites with doors and movable partitions that allow two and even four passengers to travel together in their own space. Right now there’s fantastic award availability booking for the start of 2021 for Qatar’s QSuites product – out of several U.S. cities – with four business class seats available.
People flying sick has been a problem for a long time. Some of that is because of airline policies – it’s costly to change your plans, and a doctor’s note won’t even help you. Much of it is more broadly cultural. We expect people to ‘tough it out’ and colleagues don’t want us to ‘let them down’.
Before the pandemic the CDC actually recommended foregoing travel if you had a fever over 100 degrees and other symptoms, but a fever alone wasn’t reason to cancel a trip in their medical opinion. And about half of people said they’d fly even if they had the flu. That really needs to change.
Flight attendant Ali Bahreman is challenging the airline’s contract with its flight attendants union which takes away scheduling rights from employees for non-payment in a case with significant implications for the heavily-unionized airline industry.
United and American have spoken out against measures that limit access to voting. American came out against a proposal in Texas they had not read. Delta is against Georgia’s law, after being for it, and after telling employees they helped craft its final form.
Now the CEOs of American Airlines and United have joined a forum of major corporate CEOs concerned about voting rights that was put together just a few days ago.
Ritz-Carltons don’t provide the same level of elite benefits that many Marriott brands are supposed to, but I lucked into an incredible suite upgrade anyway.
It was the perfect hotel for seclusion amidst the chaos of Florida during Spring Break, with available services that exceeded what most other properties have been offering during the pandemic. I had beach and pool access without difficulty and didn’t see many other guests despite the property being completely full.
When you expect to be treated better than self-loading cargo when you fly, or when you come to expect an award seat for the frequent flyer miles you’ve earned, does that make you a freeloader?
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 »
