About two months ago I posted that decreased compensation levels are apparently coming to the “new†United Airlines for service failures and other issues. As is widely known, Continental Airlines is stingy when it comes to offering apologies and/or compensation for such occurrences, and this devaluation, if you will, was expected to survive the merger…
Commentary
Category Archives for Commentary.
Just In: Woman breaks into United Airlines World Headquarters in Chicago
That was the headline & article, or so I’d like to think, back in the early- to mid-1980s in suburban Chicago. The story is true, actually, and I know exactly who did it. It was my Mom, and I will always be grateful for having such an unconditionally loving mother that she’d risk trespass charges…
Vintage Airline Seat Map: American Airlines Boeing 707-123
It’s time for another Vintage Airline Seat Map, and I’ve gone even more vintage than normal bringing you an American Airlines Boeing 707 (type 123) “LuxuryJet” from the 1970s. Keep in mind this was back in the days of generous seat pitch in coach, and service to match. First class seated 14 passengers in a…
United adds routes, Virgin Blue rebrands & steps up codeshare with Delta, American wants beauty & Delta gets a tax break
Several airline news stories caught my attention during the last week, and I’ve summarized the highlights below: United Airlines & Continental Airlines added three new routes from their hub at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport (IAH) this week. ExpressJet is operating daily nonstop flights to Cedar Rapids (CID) and Grand Junction (GJT) under the Continental Express name…
Airfare pricing buckets & airline fare basis codes REVEALED!
In this post, I will shed some light on how airlines assign fare basis codes to the various “buckets†of inventory available for sale on any given flight. If you’ve ever wondered what pricing “buckets†are, or just what your fare showing as WAGT14GS means, read on. My recent Mileage Run 101 posts (Part 1…
Travel alerts and travel warnings: The world is still my oyster
The U.S. Department of State issued a worldwide travel alert after it was confirmed a counter-terrorism operation killed Osama bin Laden. The advisory reads: There are two levels of advisories the State Department puts out there: Travel Alerts and Travel Warnings. The former are for “short-term†conditions that pose risks to the safety of U.S.…
Finding better airfares than those published in Sunday newspapers
Many newspapers publish a list of airfares to popular destinations throughout the country and world in their Sunday travel sections, and I’ve always been curious as to their accuracy. Two Sundays ago, the footnote from the Los Angeles Times list of fares read, “Restricted round-trip airfares as researched Thursday, the day before the Travel section…
United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek at Stanford University’s “View from the Top”
On Tuesday, Jeff Smisek, CEO of United Airlines, made an appearance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business as the speaker for the school’s “View from the Top” lecture series. The aim of the student-run program is to bring leaders of business and social sectors in to impart wisdom on the student body, particularly focusing…
Mileage Running 101: How I construct a mileage run – Part 2
As I mentioned in Part 1, I was asked recently about how I construct a mileage run, and although I provided a brief version back in January, I fully detail one of my methods in this two-part posting. Continuing from Part 1: Now that I know the date range, days of week, and fare basis…
Mileage Running 101: How I construct a mileage run – Part 1
Every mileage runner has a tried and true method for finding the best combination of fares, routings & flights when constructing a mileage run, and I’ll share my most frequently used process in the next two posts. I made a similar posting in January, but with less detail, and have been recently asked to expand…