rare photo of American Airlines CEO Robert Isom at a gate points to the work still required: persuading 130,000 employees to deliver the premium airline the company is finally building.
A Marriott Platinum member says severe weather diverted her flight and the AC Hotel Kansas City Plaza canceled her prepaid four-night stay and kept $596.76, while an identical amount later appeared pending. When she asked for a receipt, the front desk told her to “get the f— out”—but a hotel bartender says the viral clip omits repeated confrontations.
American Airlines downgraded a family from business class to make room for deadheading pilots, choosing them because their tickets were booked with miles. The $600 voucher offered doesn’t replace the mileage refund required after an involuntary downgrade.
View From The Wing has obtained the first video inside American Airlines’ completed Boeing 777-300ER retrofit, showing its enormous 70-seat business-class cabin installed. The first aircraft, N718AN, is back in Dallas ahead of an expected early-September commercial debut.
A woman used her own miles and money to move herself and her husband from Delta Comfort+ to lie-flat Delta One on a 10-hour family flight. Her mother-in-law said first class wasn’t for “kids”—and wanted to know who would help with the baby left in back.
Starting September 1, Delta says FAA enforcement will require carrier-provided cups and glasses to be collected before pushback, while passengers may keep identical drinks they brought aboard if properly stowed. The 34-year-old rule is about evacuation safety and could make already-inconsistent predeparture beverages even less reliable.
Thrifty Traveler Premium’s biggest percentage discount of the year brings flight deal alerts down to $90.99 for the first year, with flight-and-hotel alerts available for $132.99 through Sunday.
A United Polaris passenger says he opened freshly packed bedding on a San Francisco–Tokyo flight and touched dried feces—then spent nine more hours in the same seat because the cabin was full.
A couple flying to Las Vegas to elope wound up married at 35,000 feet by an ordained Southwest pilot, with 178 strangers watching and a toilet-paper dress and coffee-stirrer bouquet supplied by the crew.
Sean Duffy’s long-delayed family road-trip series is finally online, complete with Trump cameos and sponsor placement paid for by companies his department regulates. It looks less like tourism promotion than a corporate-funded vehicle for the Duffy family brand—and for the Transportation Secretary’s extraordinary public flattery of the President.
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 »
