Domestic travel is obviously coming back faster than international. Domestic flights in Asian counties is coming back the fastest. In the U.S. people are heading to Florida and other leisure destinations, so that’s where airlines are sending their planes. The cities that make the list though are in many ways surprising.
Aeroplan continues to work well for Americans, I think, and perhaps even for those who fly Air Canada with elite status or their co-brand credit card. Whether they work as well as promoted for the general member in Canada who doesn’t sign up for a card depends on how pricing of Air Canada flights is managed going forward (but the program still appears to be a real improvement over what was offered before, without fuel surcharges).
American Airlines is making its paid premium airport concierge service available to more passengers, at a lower price: parties of 3 or more receive a 50% discount on their booking. The discount applies when spending miles instead of cash too.
This service gets you airport meet and greet and escort through security, to the lounge and from there to the gate (there’s also service for connections and on arrival). It includes Admirals Club access, priority boarding, and assistance with flight re-accommodation during irregular operations.
Three more Admirals Clubs have re-opened – Tampa, Raleigh, and Orange County – joining 21 clubs that had already re-opened. (Two additional airports have service centers to assist Admirals Club members with their travel, Pittsburgh and Atlanta.)
That brings the total list of re-opened clubs to 24 across 20 airports.
The Cathay Pacific route map is about to get much smaller as the Hong Kong-based oneworld airline permanently drops 7 destinations, including three to the U.S.
There’s a long history of loyalty programs targeting people while they’re young, hoping to build a lifetime relationship with a customer. And some of those ideas are resurfacing today.
Seeing more efforts along these lines is a sign that loyalty matters again. When planes were full airlines didn’t have to work as hard building relationships with customers or marketing to fill empty seats. That’s all changed, and we’re beginning to see a renaissance of the frequent flyer program. Hopefully that spirit lasts even once we’re back to normal times and traveling again.
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.
The same rules allowing Delta’s club lounge to serve alcohol despite the Michigan governor’s order closing bars should apply equally to restaurants in the airport for those who don’t have club membership and are willing to pay for a drink.
However it seems a lot easier for people to drink alone, as Michigan’s governor seems to prefer people in her state do, than make a trip out to the airport just for liquor. It would be fascinating to see Delta’s internal data over the next three weeks about whether alcohol consumption continues to track with passenger numbers, or whether it increases on a per-admittance basis in to the club.
RobKAllday posted a video to TikTok showing himself editing a screen shot of his boarding pass to show he was eligible to bring a carry on bag onto his Spirit Airlines flight.
For teaching the internet how to get around Spirit’s carry on bag fees, he’s now banned from the airline.
An Alaska Airlines flight landed on a bear on Saturday in Yakutat, Alaska. The Boeing 737-700 impacted the bear on the left side of the aircraft but continued to land and taxi without incident. They returned to the apron where they discovered a deceased brown bear, a mother whose two year old cub was unharmed.
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 »
