Family Traveling Home From Funeral Watches As American Airlines Gives Their Seats Away

by Gary Leff

british tail plane
Jun 15 2021

On Sunday a family traveling from Philadelphia to Dallas – Fort Worth on American Airlines flight 410 had their seats given away to standby passengers as they stood at the gate.

The Nelson family, including their 8 month old child, had spent the past several days with Liz Nelson’s father as he passed away, and then at his funeral. American Airlines let them know the day before their flight that their 1 p.m. departure was delayed 16 minutes to 1:16 p.m. and that was their undoing.

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U.S. Government Goes After Air Canada For Cancelling Flights, Stealing Customers’ Money

by Gary Leff

air canada plane tarmac
Jun 15 2021

After more than a year Air Canada is issuing refunds to customers whose flights were cancelled due to the pandemic. They’re only doing this now that the Canadian government has forked over subsidies. They told the government they’d give money back to consumers, but only if the government gave them far more money first.

The Canadian government had backed Air Canada’s decision to keep customer money for transportation that was never provided. For flights to and from the U.S., though, this is a clear violation of U.S. law.

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Marriott Tells Hotels To Start Honoring Elite Breakfast Again July 1

by Gary Leff

Jun 15 2021

Marriott hotels were allowed to close down their club lounges and restaurants during the pandemic. Even where they re-opened restaurants they might not honor elite breakfast, claiming that they weren’t fully staffed or hadn’t fully re-opened.

The elite brown bag breakfast of apple or banana and granola was born. In some cases a credit was offered towards breakfast in the restaurant instead of covering the meal entirely. That “flexibility” ends July 1.

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The Requirement For A Negative Test To Fly To The U.S. Has Become A Farce

by Gary Leff

Jun 14 2021

Testing is no longer needed for people entering the U.S., if it was ever helpful at all. The current testing rules do little to assure people entering the U.S. are negative, and it doesn’t prevent spread of variants. Now that vaccines are available there’s little reason to impose the requirement, which has amounted largely to theater – whether it’s people shopping for a negative test after testing positive, or receiving tests that don’t actually collect or analyze a sample.

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You Can Lose Global Entry For Complaining About A CBP Officer

by Gary Leff

passport getting stamped
Jun 14 2021

A former Customs and Border Protection officer, now working with Immigration and Customers Enforcement, shared her recent experience having Global Entry taken away from her. It wasn’t because she committed a crime, or forgot to declare fruit she brought back into the country. Instead, she says it was because she complained about an officer who processed her at the border.

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Flight Attendant Throws Towel On Baby’s Face While Scolding Mom For Breastfeeding

by Gary Leff

Jun 14 2021

A woman’s story about being scolded for breastfeeding on board her American Airlines flight is going viral on social media.

Akeia Escobar was flying Dallas – Fort Worth to Atlanta on American Airlines flight AA980 when, she says that a flight attendant told her to “cover up [her] breast.” But her “baby was latched and [her] nipple was not visible.”

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