Tag Archives for inflight.
When I was a kid I’d fly and I’d always get wing pins from the airline. If I was bored I’d ask for a deck of cards. I still have several of the decks I received on flights when I was young. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to bring a deck with me, but the airline always had one to give. That era’s over… or is it?
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.
According to the Points Guy website American Airlines will no longer issue infant tickets when you redeem miles for awards on any of their partner airlines except British Airways.
If this were accurate it would be huge news. I had heard nothing of the sort, so I decided to test it out.
When I started predicting seven years ago that inflight wifi would be free within 10 years (so by 2022), people thought I was crazy.
However since that time JetBlue introduced free inflight internet and Aer Lingus has announced usage-capped free wifi. Southwest, Delta and Alaska now offer free inflight messaging. Delta CEO Ed Bastian says they’ll do it in a year or two so by 2021.
Another airline has just launched free wifi.
On the preview flight for the first aircraft with new seats every passenger received a Polaris Bear. United’s CEO Oscar Munoz was with the group, first in the lounge and then on the plane prior to takeoff. He was well aware of the aftermarket for these bears. They were fetching hundreds of dollars on eBay. And I suggested to him that United consider getting out of the passenger business, and just sell bears. The margins are much better. He chuckled and said he’d consider it.
There’s something about a plane, or maybe it’s being away from home, that gives people license to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do in semi-public. And they can escape their usual inhibitions and talk up strangers thinking something might come of it.
However in the air, just like on the ground, giving attention to fellow passengers may be unwanted. I remember talking to a co-worker years ago about the number of times she noticed married men on planes taking off their wedding rings when they sat down next to her. She avoided Southwest Airlines because of their open seating policy, a virtual invitation for men to choose the seat beside her and make unwanted advances.
When American Airlines management ran US Airways their ticker symbol was ‘LCC’ for low cost carrier. They briefly tried to charge for water. They always seem to be looking for an angle to shave cost. And there are a few new ones coming to inflight catering.
A Singapore Airlines passenger took to twitter to share that he had discovered his inflight entertainment system appeared to have a camera installed in it. There has been a ton of media pickup of this.
I’m not aware of any inflight entertainment systems currently in service that are actually ‘spying’ on passengers, though some airlines do have cameras in their cabins.
Southwest Airlines has an offer for a free movie download from Movielink.com as part of their effort to introduce in-flight entertainment. They won’t install movie screens or inflight audio. Instead, they encourage you to download a movie and watch it.
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 »
