Comments

1. No.

   (Answer to “Is Airline Loyalty Even Worth It Anymore?”)

2. Nice ‘twofer’ against American this morning, Gary. Broken seats AND weak coffee. It’s hard to admit it, (and don’t tell @Tim Dunn), but you’re making me feel slightly better about flying United today. *shudders*

3. Someone needs to make a bold statement for Las Vegas like “no more resort fees, lower prices on food and drink etc.” If a business would do that it is going to get the attention not only from the general public but other businesses as well and if it is a major player the other places will be forced to follow suit.

4. The AFAR article was a nice read, was cool to see a familiar name in there as well, heh.

   @1990 — Safe travels, I’m flying United today too! Will look for “990,1” on the upgrade list just in case.

5. @L737 — And, I, too, will keep my eyes peeled for ‘737, L’… I redeemed points to sit up front today (in accordance with @Gene’s WFBF philosophy), so may the ‘upgrade’ odds be ever in your favor!

6. I have been as hard as anybody on AA but I have got to be fair with the shoutouts. Two PLAUDITS. from recent experience.:

   1) PLAUDIT: On the AA app. a flight cancellation and reassignment on a different flight is followed by a list of alternative flights. The process of xchoosing one is easy, seamless, and instant (except meal choices won’t be tranferred, which is trivial). So impressed with this feature and that it got us back from Paris to Dallas eight hours quicker than our original flight (I transferred us from a connecting flight to a nonstop).

   2) PLAUDIT. The service on CDG-DFW on 08/22 at a staff level was excellent. As good as any I have received on the mideast and asian airlines that I reactively favor;

   3) CRITICISM: AA serves substandard pre-takeoff sparkling wine in intl. business class. Emirates, Singapoer, etc. would not. I think it is a cheap Prosecco. To add insult to injury, they refer to it as Champagne (which is misrepresentation). They do serve a Champagne (Nicolas Feuillatte), a respectable, mid-range offering on the wine list. If they are serious about premiumizing (as they claim to be doing) they should serve this pre-takeoff as well.

7. ‘ Vegas is dead to me. We averaged a visit 2 to 3 times a year. Comped rooms are easy but the nickel and diming is just plain crazy. Eating at decent restaurants requires a bank loan to cover the fare. 6/5 black jack sucks and now triple zero roulette is showing up just adds to the squeeze.

8. I doubt that Las Vegas is getting the message yet. Too much money is still coming in. When the customers finally pivot, then the message will be sent. I doubt I will ever again see a Las Vegas like it was 30 and 40 years ago.