View from the Wing - Page 939 of 3055 - Thought Leader in Travel

Coach Passengers May Now Use The First Class Lavatory On United Airlines

by Gary Leff on October 29, 2020

lavatory

Oct 29 2020

Airline lavatories are usually pretty simple. To be sure some passengers fail to use them, sometimes they’re inoperative and sometimes other passengers stink them up, but for the most part they work the same way. The only thing that confuses passengers is which one are they allowed to use?

This long-controversial question has been settled on United Airlines: to reduce bunching of passengers waiting in line for the loo, they may now use any lavatory on the plane. This is a coronavirus distancing measure.

United Will Offer Free, Mandatory Covid Testing On Some Of Its Newark-London Flights

by Gary Leff on October 29, 2020

Oct 29 2020

United has a way for everyone to have confidence that travel is safe from the virus – test everyone on the plane before departure – and believes this can open up travel as well as bring back passengers. So they’re offering it free as a trial on several Newark – London flights that customers can choose to book. Now we’re getting somewhere.

American Airlines Flight Attendants Union Endorses Joe Biden

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

Listening to the flight attendants melt down over this, or celebrate in pure joy, is an act of unrivaled schadenfreude. On your next American Airlines flight it may be the cabin crew brawling, rather than passengers in a mask dispute

[Roundup] Americans Can Now Travel To 60+ Countries, Here’s Where You Can Go

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

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.

An Anonymous Airline Pilot Comes After Me In A New ‘Live And Let’s Fly’ Post

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

I hope the anonymous airline captain who authored the latest post at Live and Let’s Fly demanding more respect never happens to be flying an aircraft I’m ticketed on because he’s threatening to make things worse for passengers if pilots are criticized, even when the criticism is justified – as the anonymous captain admits that it is.

He takes issue with my post about the Delta captain who kicked a woman off a flight over her F-12 hat, which she took off as he instructed.

U.S. May Require All Foreign Visitors To Submit Biometrics Before Applying For An ESTA Or Visa

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

passport getting stamped

Oct 28 2020

The federal government is looking to require foreign visitors and prospective immigrants to submit “fingerprints and possibly other biometric information..into a new database” prior to being permitted to submit online visa applications and even ESTA requests.

J.P. Morgan Chase: Airlines Will Get Second Bailout, Come Back For Third Because Why Not?

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

scrooge mcduck diving into coins

Oct 28 2020

Jamie Baker, in a research note for J.P. Morgan Chase, points out that if airlines get another ‘payroll support’ bailout they’d have to spend some of that money on extra payroll. In other words it isn’t all money straight into the kitty.

But will it happen? Baker says a new round of subsidies will happen (“We believe PSP 2.0 is a question of when, not if”). And then expect airlines to come back again for a third round.

First-Ever 100,000 Point Offer For JetBlue Credit Card

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

Barclays is offering 100,000 points as an initial bonus for the $99 annual fee JetBlue Plus Card. The offer is also available for the $99 annual fee JetBlue Business Card.

You’ll generally get 1 to 1.6 cents per point in value redeeming for JetBlue flights. Mint (business class) flights will skew towards the lower end. I value a JetBlue point at around 1.25 cents apiece, so a 100,000 point offer means $1250 worth of travel, or $1151 net of each card’s annual fee.

Massive Delta SkyMiles Partner Award Devaluation

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

One way business class between the US and Europe on Air France and KLM has gone from 75,000 to 95,000 miles. Partner one way awards to North Asia are up to 102,500 miles. And Virgin Atlantic business class one ways booked within 3 weeks of departure can run as high as 195,000 miles. That’s insane.

Wide Open Business Class Availability To Europe, Up To 4 Passengers At Just 34,000 Miles Per Person

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

stock airline bed

Oct 27 2020

Spanish flag carrier Iberia is owned by British Airways parent company IAG. It’s a member of oneworld, and part of the same transatlantic joint venture as American Airlines. They have a nice business class product, and right now they have amazing business class award availability from several U.S. cities for four passengers for next fall.

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 »