American Airlines AAdvantage is losing its Argentina co-brand credit card partner. According to an internal American Airlines memorandum reviewed by View From The Wing, Santander Argentina bank “is ending its credit card participation in the AAdvantage program” effective August 13, 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.
Airlines For America, the major lobbying group whose members include the six largest U.S. airlines, announced today that face mask aren’t just required on board by their members but this time they mean it.
Only it’s not what crew are being told, such as this communication sent to American Airlines flight attendants today.
The extra passenger on board the Boeing 757 was identified when she was found sitting in another passenger’s seat and refused to move. A flight attendant asked for her ID and she “showed them a photo of herself on her phone.”
The FBI didn’t press charged. She has, however, received a TSA ‘warning notice’ “which goes on the woman’s record.”
United Airlines shopped the MileagePlus loyalty program around to lenders to raise cash, and they had to present a lot of internal data as part of the process. Now that the transaction is moving forward, they’ve had to make this data public.
Here’s how the $5 billion loan is going to work, and some facts about the program they hadn’t previously revealed.
Marriott is making it easier to qualifying for a higher level of status this year – and a side effect is all current elites get free credit towards lifetime status, and many may receive additional ‘choice’ benefits without even staying at any hotels.
The Bonvoy program is also putting award nights on sale for stays through July, by letting you book rooms at off-peak redemption prices this month.
By now most people who pay attention to travel, or who are traveling, know that U.S. airlines by and large require passengers to wear masks. Allegiant is an exception.
Here’s an observation, though: they do not provide much guidance on what constitutes a mask. They also do not provide much guidance on how you’re required to wear the mask. And some passengers see a loophole.
British Airways boss Alex Cruz penned a rather remarkable piece in response to criticism in the U.K. over plans to renege on labor deals, firing everyone and rehiring a portion of staff at lower pay. He declares that the business is facing challenges, and that they will do the bare minimum legally required of them.
In the spirit of understanding just how countries that are working to ‘crush’ the virus are approaching opening, and the hoops they’re requiring people to go through, I was fascinated by the “fast lane” jointly announced by Singapore and China to provide for essential business and official travel without a 14 day quarantine.
Calling is a “Fast Lane” is like calling a dump truck a sports car.
There are reports across social media of flights where the majority of passengers aren’t wearing masks, even though masks are ostensibly required by nearly all U.S. airlines. It isn’t just people forgetting, or not bothering, there are many people voicing strong objection online to be required to don a mask. And I’d like to better understand the reasons why.
You’re going to take the mask off to eat and drink, but why not put it back on when you aren’t doing those things? What’s the actual reason, and why is that reason more compelling than potentially reducing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus? I appreciate comments, especially from those who are opposed to mask wearing on planes.
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 »
