View from the Wing Archives.
Delta SkyMiles has been underdelivering for a quarter century, and somehow customers kept swiping the cards anyway. But when someone with 2 million miles says she still has to pay retail to get to France, you have to ask whether the “SkyPesos” problem is finally becoming obvious to normal people.
American Airlines spent years ripping seatback entertainment screens out of domestic aircraft and telling passengers their phones were good enough. Now its customer chief says “stay tuned,” suggesting one of the airline’s most visible passenger-experience mistakes may finally be getting reversed.
Delta built the strongest airline in America by being better than everyone else at the basics and then layering on a premium halo.
That halo still matters, but it is starting to outrun the product underneath it. United is improving faster, Delta’s operational edge is not what it was, and the airline that spent 20 years building the title now looks increasingly vulnerable to losing it.
Chicago is exploring selling sponsorships and naming rights across O’Hare and Midway—everything from terminals and people-mover stations down to restrooms, trash cans, and pet relief areas. A new RFI asks brands what they’d pay for and how they’d activate it, as the city looks for ways to offset major expansion costs—while keeping the O’Hare and Midway names themselves off the table.
Southwest’s new debit card lets members earn Rapid Rewards points — and even Companion Pass credit — on everyday spending. But the real story is what it signals: a new wave of debit-based loyalty products that could upend how travel rewards work.
Delta is celebrating a 100th birthday it doesn’t actually have—because when the history is sorted out, United Airlines will officially take that title as America’s oldest carrier next year.
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.
Who’s going to want to do their sports betting as the casino? Do it through your brokerage account and there’s no tax penalty. In fact, there’s a tax advantage!
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced a partnership with DraftKings at his CES speech in Las Vegas back in January. Since inflight gambling is illegal, I assumed this would mean earn Deltaing SkyMiles for sports betting through DraftKings. After all, you can earn Marriott points with BetMGM already today.
However Bastian actually said that they would integrate DraftKings into their inflight entertainment system.
While Delta has been quiet about the particulars, CEO Ed Bastian actually said that their DraftKings partnership is going to integrate with their inflight entertainment system. Here’s what that means.
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 »
