JetBlue was on a cost-cutting trajectory going into the pandemic. They haven’t eliminated change fees the way other U.S. airlines have on non-Basic Economy fares. But they’re having to turn to their loyalty program to drive bookings.
And they’ve announced several changes that make it easier to earn elite status, and more valuable to do so. They’re introducing lower qualification thresholds, several months of a companion pass, and new bonuses.
American Airlines now offers free inflight messaging on ViaSat-equipped aircraft using Facebook Messenger (and Messenger Kids). That means it’s offered on all American Airlines Boeing 737’s (including 737 MAXs), Airbus A321s, and legacy American A319s.
Legacy US Airways A319s and Airbus A320s have Gogo internet and are not included. Widebody planes with Panasonic internet are not included.
Thailand has re-opened to tourism albeit with restrictions such as a 15 day quarantine on arrival. People from all over the world can now travel to the country for their fix of beaches, boat noodles, and bar fines.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is working to bring back vacationers, and has launched a partnership with Tinder hoping leisure travelers will swipe right on domestic trips within the Land of Smiles.
Southwest has aggressively added destinations during the pandemic. Some, like Chicago O’Hare, because of a unique opportunity to gain access to an airport that was full prior to 2020. Others are leisure destinations where they’re seeking new revenue opportunities for planes that have nowhere to go.
Over the past couple of years Southwest growth has been constrained with the grounding of the MAX. They haven’t had the planes to add new destinations. Now they have a surplus of planes because they haven’t needed the frequencies they used to offer, especially on business routes between major cities. And with the end of ‘middle seat blocking’ on Southwest they have even less need to add incremental flights in those markets.
I really like the Pittsburgh airport. There’s a Hyatt hotel on the grounds, and they pioneered allow people to go through security even when not traveling same day, something we lost in this country after 9/11. The program meant people could meet arriving passengers, shop and dine, and planespot.
Now they have something new to like: on-demand Covid-19 testing inside the terminal.
Former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who recently failed in his bid with fiance’ J. Lo to buy the New York Mets, will invest in and front a $650 million hospitality fund which plans to acquire 20 hotels – largely in New York, Miami and Seattle but potentially also the Caribbean – and turn them into Hiltons. He’s already acquired the Curio Collection hotel in Miami.
American Airlines is making the AAdvantage program friendlier for new members, who are the people that are flying today. They’re introducing better boarding just for joining the program, after eliminating telephone booking fees for award redemptions for all members and eliminating mileage redeposit fees, too.
Frontier Airlines announced today that their 156 Airbus planes on order, which begin delivering in March, will receive Recaro’s slimline SL3710 seats. Slimline seats are known for passenger discomfort. They have less padding, and therefore take up less space. That lets airlines squeeze more passengers into the same amount of space. Frontier claims the sufferiing, though, is good for you because it’s good for the planet. Is that true?
One of the most annoying features of hotels is the resort fee, a mandatory charge that’s not included in the room rate in order to deceive customers – to make a hotel look less expensive than it is. The practice spread beyond resorts to city hotels, and became known as a ‘destination charge.’ Even with many of the supposed-inclusions the resort fees pay for suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, the charges persist.
Las Vegas is a city where resort fees play a hugely distortionary role. Hotels cut prices to rock bottom levels to fill rooms. And there’s a way to get an even further discount – and skip the resort fees. Hotels that want to compete in the future need to pay attention.
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 »
