May 10 2015

The DOT has unilaterally decided to ignore its published rules, and has provided guidance that it will no longer make airlines honor mistake fares — as long as airlines make consumers whole for costs they incur in reliance on those fares.

That’s a bad approach, ripe for potentially even more abuse than the requirement that airlines honor their fares. Here’s how consumers will take advantage of the rule, and other problems with the DOT guidance. And here’s why the DOT may change its mind again any day now…

Continue Reading »

May 10 2015

As part of Cathay Pacific’s revamp of its frequent flyer program, there’s discussion of limiting partner airlines from accessing award space on their flights. This would be a huge deal for AAdvantage members. But how likely is it?

Continue Reading »

May 09 2015

A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.

Continue Reading »

May 09 2015

I’ve argued that the New York LaGuardia Central Terminal replacement won’t happen anywhere close to on schedule. There’s little question in my mind that the project will be a boondoggle.

Indeed, a week ago the project suffered another delay.

But that doesn’t mean, as an op ed in today’s New York Times suggests, that LaGuardia ought to be shuttered and air traffic sent farther outside the metropolitan area.

Continue Reading »

May 09 2015

Most people flying American’s new Boeing 787 aren’t going to be enjoying the flat bed business class seats with all aisle access.

Most passengers are going to be flying in American Airlines 787 economy. In fact, for the inaugural Dallas – Chicago flight on the aircraft I flew in coach myself. I flew up front for the return, Chicago – Dallas. That way, I could experience both and compare.

Continue Reading »

May 09 2015

Readers naturally are wary of fuel surcharges, and I absolutely hate them. But you should be educated about how much they are for different destinations before dismissing them out of hand — some programs that add fuel surcharges also charge much fewer miles. It’s worth learning the sweet spots where fuel surcharges can be well worth the savings in miles.

Continue Reading »

May 09 2015

We blame the airlines for long tarmac delays, when most of the time the drivers are bad weather and airport constraints or government constraints like security or immigration. Entourage’s Jeremy Piven flew British Airways from London, headed for New York JFK, but his flight was diverted due to weather to Philadelphia. He was on BA183, the 8:05pm departure from London, scheduled into New York at 10:45pm. They wouldn’t let passengers off the plane when it landed in Philadelphia because immigration facilities were closed. He shared the ordeal on Twitter. Surely forcing passengers to wait until the next morning for immigration to arrive is the wrong answer. And surely that’s not BA’s fault, either. The government will fine airlines for long tarmac delays, but airports need to be part of the solution and immigration and customs…

Continue Reading »

May 08 2015

The American 787 business class is a gorgeous new product. They offer a fully flat bed, four seats across and all aisle access. Contrast that, for instance, with United which has six seats across rather than four so passengers in the window have someone to climb over. Having shared my story of the American Airlines inaugural Boeing 787 flights, I am circling back to talk about the seats and cabin. How is the seat? And more importantly which seat should you choose? I flew economy on the outbound from Dallas to Chicago, and then I flew in business class Chicago back to Dallas. Here I’m going to focus on the business class product, and will write a separate post on economy seating. Forward Versus Backward Facing Seats In my opinion the best seats are in…

Continue Reading »

May 08 2015

Korean Air is rolling out a new first class suite with doors. That’s fantastic news for an airline that already offers the best first class award availability from the most US cities.

You can book first class awards most of the time you want them, and the product is getting even better.

Continue Reading »

May 08 2015

At the beginning of April I reported that American Airlines would be bringing back entree salads as a lunch choice on flights between 2 hours 45 minutes (1000 miles) and 4.5 hours effective May 1. This was a popular offering prior to September when American and US Airways synced up their meal times, and moved their catering options closer to the US Airways standard. This was a very bad change. I was flying a ton of American domestic flights (with pretty much a 100% upgrade success rate) in April, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I wound up on a lunch flight with the new May catering. Here’s the salad, with goat cheese, apples, and nuts and a vinaigrette dressing. For dessert I was given a choice of a cheesecake or the cookie. And since…

Continue Reading »