At many congested airports a ‘slot’, or limited number of permissions, is required to take off and land. Generally airlines have slots granted in perpetuity by government and these become properties rights that they can buy, sell, and trade.
However if they don’t use the slots they have at least 80% of the time, they can lose them. These rules have been waived during the pandemic, and the FAA plans to continue extending them.
American Airlines will give out 250 bonus miles for every award segment flown in October, up to 2000 miles for eight segments. Registration required by October 7 in the promotions tab of your account.
Notably the bonus is available for flying the segment rather than booking the flight, so if you book award travel for someone else using your miles they can earn this bonus.
In the end though the city is going to get its way – no Chick-fil-A in the airport – but not because they’re expressing equality principles (they caved on those) but because Chick-fil-A said buzz off.
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.
Two years ago United Airlines flyer Tom Stuker flew his 20 millionth mile. He’s kept up the pace because he just hit 22 million flown miles on United.
Tom Stuler has a Titanium Global Services card and a United plane named after him. Stuker has flown to Australia over 300 times and goes to Hawaii 3-4 times each year. In 2017 he had flown “over 9000 flights” on United.
One of the best deals in travel has long been the annual Alaska Airlines $99 companion ticket that comes with their credit card, since it’s valid for any seat on any flight in conjunction with a paid ticket without restriction – and even earns miles.
Right now though Alaska Airlines is offering companion travel without the $99 payment, without the credit card, and in unlimited quantities.
During the campaign the challenger will traditionally put together a transition team to work on personnel and policy issues, preparing to hit the ground running if they become President. That doesn’t wait until the election. And that team goes looking for ideas and priorities for issue areas and departments.
One new report is likely a source of many of these ideas for Transportation.
Southwest Airlines is offering a 20% discount on Rapid Rewards points redemptions when you book by September 17 (Thursday) for travel through October 31, 2020 with promo code SAVE20NOW. This makes your Rapid Rewards points go farther, worth more.
So if you even think you might want to travel in the next six weeks, Southwest is a great choice and booking with points is better (for those not chasing status or a companion pass) than booking with cash.
At the beginning of the month a passenger handed a flight attendant ‘the worst note ever’. It was so bad – calling the crewmember “a glorified MAID” a “mask nazi” who should be “cleaning motel rooms for $2 tips and meth” and that her life is “a waste.” – that American Airlines suspended the customer’s flying privileges.
Now, if two data points are enough to make a trend, you’re going to be hearing a lot about another customer note given to flight attendant Ariel Ladner on board American Airlines from Tampa to Dallas Monday afternoon.
Last month Southwest kicked an autistic three year old off a flight for not wearing a mask. And then a week later JetBlue kicked a two year old off. Now Southwest has joined the two year old club, kicking a woman and her two year old son off a Fort Myers – Chicago flight on Saturday. The boy was “snacking prior to takeoff and wasn’t wearing his mask.”
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 »
