Alaska Airlines has formally signed its agreement to join oneworld, and expects to become an alliance member by end of year. While they’ve been talking about joining for two years the plan to do so was only announced in February meaning they’ll be delivering on the promise in under a year rather than the standard expection of 18 months.
Net net joining oneworld should be good for Alaska, it remains to be seen whether it’ll be good for Mileage Plan members.
According to an internal memo the airline is onto the tricks customers are using to pretend to comply with the mask requirement and they’ve got procedures for that. Two year olds will now have to wear masks. And perhaps most significantly, there’s no longer a medical or disability exception to the mask requirement – anyone who cannot wear a mask (or remove their mask themselves) is simply not permitted to fly.
IHG hotels has announced a face mask policy for guests in the U.S. and Canada. This follows similar moves by Marriott and Hyatt. Hilton says they’re going to get their act together and follow suit, while Hyatt says if you don’t have a mask they’ll give you one. But what will enforcement look like?
This morning United Airlines announced two new ways they’re upping the ante on masks.
So surprising absolutely no one, American Airlines after close of business announced two new ways they’re upping the ante on masks.
Qatar has the best business class product in the world in its ‘QSuites’ — revolutionary suites with doors and movable partitions that allow two and even four passengers to travel together in their own space. Right now there’s strong availability on routes with QSuites especially as we look out to the end of the schedule – March through June 2021 – for four passengers from most of the U.S. cities they serve.
This is a tale of two travelers. They both started out making a smart decision about their flying during the pandemic. They’re both flying Delta first class, but they look very different.
Is it just the guy who’s in the wrong here, are these two passengers illustrating both ends of the spectrum of American reactions that helps to explain why we’re so polarized and cannot seem to get anywhere?
Kayak.com publishes daily data on consumer flight searches and this has been a reliable early indicator of future load factors, though of course people do book tickets and cancel more often now given the uncertainty in the world and greater flexible change policies that airlines have offered.
Something strange happened yesterday. On July 21 people searched for international travel 15% more than last year. What in the world is going on?
I’ll be talking miles and points live today on Spencer Howard’s Instagram Live today at 4 p.m. Eastern. Spencer writes Straight to the Points and sends out a free award availability alerts newsletter.
American Airlines has been one of the most aggressive in restoring its schedule. As Senior Vice President Vasu Raja has explained, with the federal government picking up payroll costs through September, at $35 oil their break-even load factor is 25%. So they added a bunch of flights to the schedule, restoring 55% of 2019’s capacity.
A month and a half ago I said to expect that travel wouldn’t rebound as quickly as some expected. Even at low break-even levels American is finding they need to scale back their flying again.
The Park Hyatt Maldives is discounting to $2495 for a 5 night stay for two people ($499/night) including tax which equates to a rate of $402 per night. You can add additional nights for $499 each, again tax-included, and this covers double occupancy. And the deal – for a pool villa, not a base villa – includes breakfast and dinner.
I’ve stayed at the property five times. It’s one of my favorite places. There are just 50 rooms on the island, each one is a standalone villa and the villas themselves are largely the same but for location and whether there’s a pool. Service is generally good and friendly, and it’s a great place for social distancing. You can hang out at the main pool, or with this deal at your own pool.
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 »
