Tag Archives for first class.
Domestic first class will reportedly be called “Mini Mint” and be introduced in 2026. It’s currently expected that they will use the Collins Aerospace MiQ seat. They won’t reduce total seats on planes, so they’ll squeeze legroom from coach to make room for first class.
An evangelical pastor attacked his wife on Alaska Airlines because she was upgraded, and he wasn’t.
The pair were traveling on Alaska flight 275 from Seattle to Anchorage on Tuesday of last week. Seventy five year old Roger Allan Holmberg Sr. “flipped [his wife] the bird” on board the aircraft and assaulted her upon discovering that she has Mileage Plan elite status.
Donald Trump, Jr. is a fan, “this is the way to do it… I’m a reasonably spoiled individual and this is still pretty spectacular.”
Pro-Trump activist and former Libertarian Heather Mullins complained about her treatment flying American Airlines first class, reporting that a flight attendant skipped over her when taking drink orders because of her MAGA hat.
One of the more shocking things – beyond dirty seats – has been missing seat backs in first class, with seats taken out of service. The response from the airline (and some readers) has been that it’s better to fly planes in this condition than delay flights to address the problem. But I’ve always wondered, what are they doing when the planes aren’t flying to maintain the interiors so that this doesn’t happen so frequently?
American Airlines is the last remaining U.S. carrier to sell a true ‘first class’. Ever since Continental Airlines began selling a ‘premium business class’ that they called BusinessFirst, and dropped first class, the trend has gone in that direction. Delta has had a first class cabin in years, and United’s top product is now business class.
Now American plans to eliminate first class, too. Or do they?
A husband and wife were traveling with two kids. The husband is in first class, wife in coach with the kids. An hour and a half into the flight, the husband heads back to coach and tells his wife, “your turn.” They trade seats every hour, and their kids run back and forth between the cabins.
Bethenny Frankel was a ‘Real Housewife of New York City’ and a ‘Shark Tank Shark’ but she’s also a travel connoisseur. She reviewed the Virgin Clubhouse Newark last summer declaring it “garbouj” and she’s an investor in award search website Point.me.
She flew to Australia for business the long way – routing via the Mideast on Emirates – and brought her daughter in first class.
Last June, Qatar Airways announced a plan to eliminate its long haul first class product, which is currently only available on Airbus A380 aircraft and on ex-Cathay Pacific 777s. But then the airline’s CEO was out under mysterious circumstances. And now the Doha-based global carrier has reversed course and plans a new first class product for new planes they’re considering ordering.
Passengers express frustration as pilots receive upgrade priority over them, prompting a reassessment of the value of top-tier elite status versus the advantages of mid-tier benefits.
While there’s a tradeoff upgrading pilots versus passengers along a certain margin, that’s not the reason most elites are sitting in back most of the time – just a visible lightning rod. Still, re-evaluating loyalty and status makes sense.
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 »
