1 Million People Flew Yesterday And That’s A Little Scary

by Gary Leff

Nov 21 2020

Thanksgiving air travel is going to set 2020 records, and the confidence level for that can be adjusted up significantly after 1 million people cleared TSA security checkpoints yesterday.

We’re now at a place where intertemporal substitution makes a great deal of sense. We’ll travel less now, and travel more in the summer. We’ll go out to eat less now, and go out to eat more in the summer. I simultaneously cannot wait for travel to recover and also hope it waits until 2021 to do so.

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Mask Disputes On Planes Are Set To Skyrocket By Late Winter

by Gary Leff

Nov 21 2020

Once so many people have either had Covid-19 or been vaccinated against it that it’s equally likely that someone is vulnerable to it as not, restrictions on those who aren’t vulnerable to the virus (and therefore cannot spread it) are going to be harder to maintain. We’re going to see more people rebelling against mask requirements on planes in late March than we’ve seen so far.

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The Worst Airport Gate In America Close To Being Shut Down

by Gary Leff

gate number
Nov 21 2020

The worst airport gate in American, Washington National’s gate 35X, is officially put to rest and will no longer cause misery to travelers.

With fewer flights, American Airlines 50 seat regional jet departures have been moved to the main terminal, instead of having to take an escalator down to a dark and dingy holding pen before being driven to bus gates.

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5000 Free Miles From Underrated Star Alliance Frequent Flyer Program, Just For Signing Up

by Gary Leff

Nov 21 2020

Aegean Miles & Bonus is one of the most lucrative Star Alliance frequent flyer programs. Awards booked through them across Star Alliance partner airlines require fewer miles than in most other programs. So when they’re giving away 5000 redeemable miles just for signing up by December 1 those miles actually get you much closer to an award than you’d think.

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Passenger On Delayed Flight Arrested For Telling Gate Agent “This Airline Should Be Bombed”

by Gary Leff

Nov 20 2020

On Monday a frustrated passenger on Thai Vietjet’s flight VZ305 from Phuket to Bangkok decided to unload some steam and muttered “I think this airline should be bombed” as the gate agent checked his boarding pass.

A deleted scene from the sitcom Friends offers a pretty good reason why he shouldn’t have been arrested for this.

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Got A Mastercard? Fly 2 Roundtrips In 90 Days For American Airlines Status Up To Platinum

by Gary Leff

economy seats
Nov 20 2020

American Airlines is offering the easiest Gold status I’ve ever seen from a public offer, and a path to Platinum with just two flights as well. Just sign up for Mastercard Travel. Details of the promotion are available under ‘latest offers’ but there’s no registration required. And you don’t even need to be a current elite frequent flyer with another airline.

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Odd: Marriott Says They’re Fulfilling Suite Upgrade Requests At The Same Rate As Last Year

by Gary Leff

Nov 20 2020

I’ve heard from a number of Marriott Bonvoy Platinum and Ambassador members who have shared that they aren’t getting upgraded like they’re used to. That seems surprising at first. With the hotel industry in an unprecedented crisis of low occupancy, an upgrade should be easier than ever to come by!

I asked Marriott about this, and a spokesperson confirmed that members aren’t being upgraded more frequently this year – but they’re also not having their requests denied more often either. Here’s what’s happening.

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American And Alaska Announce Reciprocal Elite Upgrades, Access To Extra Legroom Coach Seats

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Nov 20 2020

At some point in 2021 “Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum members will be eligible for free domestic upgrades on Alaska and MVP Gold 75K will be eligible for free domestic upgrades when traveling on American.” And “[w]hen the long-haul international flights launch” that are part of the partnership, Seattle – London and Bangalore then Alaska’s MVP Gold 75K members will be able to upgrade on American’s international flights. There will be access to extra legroom coach seats as well for top- and mid-tier elites.

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