Delta’s surprise announcement that it will spend $1.9 billion to acquire a 20% stake in LATAM is a shrewd move that will simultaneously strengthen Delta while hurting the competition. Yesterday, Delta announced it would form a significant relationship with...
Motive? Why Would Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants Sabotage Oxygen Tanks?
Cathay Pacific has sacked two flight attendants for allegedly tampering with oxygen tanks onboard and more are under investigation. My skepticism centers on motive. Why would a FA do this? Seven times in the last month, Cathay Pacific has...
United 737-800 Diverts After Passenger Gets Stuck…In Lavatory
A United flight was forced to divert after a passenger became stuck in a lavatory. Ready for a laugh? Let’s cut right to United’s statement on the incident: Flight 1554 from Washington D.C. to San Francisco diverted to Denver...
United CEO Flies Economy Class, Experiences Flight Diversion
Once in a while even the CEO of an airline has a miserable flight experience. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz shared of a recent flight diversion with CNBC. He did not disclose where his flight departed from, but shared...
Upgrade Scam Leads To Ban On Cathay Pacific
Fraud is never a good idea and certainly never worth an upgrade to business class. One woman had to learn the hard way. Jacqueline Ng is a self-described “social influencer”. She told Christopher Elliot that she emailed Cathay Pacific...
American Introduces In First Class What Delta Will Offer In Coach
American Airlines is trialing two cocktails in premium cabins this week on one longhaul route. As it happens, Delta has already announced it will offer the same beverage to all passengers…in economy class. This week, American is trialing two...
Another Positive Upgrade Policy Change From United Airlines
Overlooked in the big announcement yesterday from United introducing PlusPoints was a re-classification of four routes, which will effectively halve the cost of an upgrade on them. Starting on December 4th, United will move from a system of Global...
Air India Faces Harsh Fine For Serving Meat To Vegetarians
Air India was hit with a hefty government fine after it served a dish containing meat to unsuspecting vegetarians. Chandra Mohan Pathak and his wife were flying from Chicago to New Delhi on India in late 2016. They had...
Condor Survives After Bailout From German Government
Condor will survive the winter after the German federal government and the State of Hessen announced a so-called bridging loan to keep the carrier afloat. Condor is a profitable airline and forecasts stability and growth in 2020. But parent...
21-Year-Old College Student Runs Texas Hotel Alone…For 32 Hours…During A Tropical Storm
Satchel Smith’s eight hour shift turned in a marathon 32-hour effort at a Homewood Suites in Beaumont, Texas. By the time his shift had ended, he was hailed a hero for single-handedly caring for so many hotel guests. Tropical...
Delta’s New JetBlue Containment Strategy In Boston
Delta is boosting transatlantic flights from Boston by 30%, with new service to London, Manchester, Paris, and Rome starting in 2020. Make no mistake, the move is targeted at JetBlue. Delta has built up its focus-city in Boston to...
United Introduces PlusPoints, A New Upgrade Currency
United Airlines is jettisoning regional and premier upgrades for a new points currency called PlusPoints. Believe it or not, the news is actually quite positive. On December 04, all your regional or global premier upgrades will vanish from your...
Review: Hyatt Place Yerevan
Centrally located with comfortable rooms and a very hospitable General Manager, I appreciated my two-night stay at the Hyatt Place Yerevan and recommend it. We wanted to make this a three-night stay, but the hotel was sold out our...
End Of An Era: The Amtrak Dining Car
Amtrak is “reinventing” dining on its longhaul train service. Dining cars are out on many routes. “Flexibility” is in. Driven by cost-cutting and a desire to appeal to millennials, Amtrak will close onboard kitchens and shift to pre-packaged meals...
Is The Future Of Condor In Lufthansa’s Hands?
The collapse of parent company Thomas Cook has not affected Condor…at least not yet. What will happen to another storied company that now faces uncharted waters? While all Thomas Cook flights have been suspended, Condor flights continue to operate as...
With Thomas Cook Collapse, UK Prepares For Largest Evacuation Since World War II
The United Kingdom is assembling a fleet of jumbo of jets to rescue more than 150,000 stranded travelers around the world in wake of the Thomas Cook collapse. The evacuation will mark the largest peacetime rescue mission in British...
An Irish Lunch On Aer Lingus
Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago. Aer Lingus...
Muslim Executive Platinum Passenger Say American Airlines Cancelled Flight For Flushing Toilet Twice…
Abderraoof Alkhawaldeh is a motivational speaker and an American Airlines Executive Platinum member. He claims that AA cancelled his flight because crew members were suspicious of him and another Muslim passenger onboard. The incident occurred onboard AA5886, a Mesa-operated American...
Uber Charges More When Your Battery Is Low?!
Does Uber charge you more if the battery on your mobile phone is low? NPR interviewed Keith Chen on its Hidden Brain program, who is head of “economic research” at Uber. He said: When your phone is down to five...
SkyTeam Responds To Rebuff From Delta CEO Ed Bastian
Delta CEO Ed Bastian expressed indifference bordering on hostility to the SkyTeam alliance this week even though his airline is a founding member. Now SkyTeam has hit back, gently, with a reminder of the value that it brings travelers....
