• Podcast

DLD 395: Ripe for disruption

• August 4, 2022
• Tagged as: 737 MAX 7, 777X, 787, A330-900, A330neo, A350, Aeroplan, Air Canada, Air France, American Airlines, awards, Boeing, British Airways, business class, crash, Delta Air Lines, Frontier, IAG, Iberia, International Airline Group, jetblue, Krisflyer, merger, points, rewards, routes, seating, seats, singapore airlines, Spirit Airlines, Virgin Atlantic

More leisure travelers than expected, plus some gardening tips. Oh, and lots of airline news, too.

• Podcast

DLD 376: Point.Me to the awards

• March 10, 2022
• Tagged as: award, awards, Cape Town, CPT, Delta Air Lines, dining, jetblue, merger, podcast, points, reward, rewards, Russia, special guest, Sunwing, ukraine, United Airlines, WestJet

A good award search tool is something of a holy grail in the miles & points space. Point.Me is pretty darn close, if not entirely there.

• Podcast

DLD 375: Lasha Tumbai

• March 3, 2022
• Tagged as: AAdvantage, American Airlines, Avios, awards, Eastern Airlines, ETOPS, frequent flier, frequent flyer, podcast, Qatar Airways, reward, rewards, ukraine, Upgrade, upgrades

A bit of a challenge this week to get past the very real suffering of war and have a conversation about what it means in the context of aviation. But we’re trying.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 374: Your airline is intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your ticketing plan

• February 24, 2022
• Tagged as: 787, A380, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, ATL, Atlanta, Avelo, awards, BDL, Boeing, Breeze Airways, British Airways, California, Cape Town, Cathay Pacific, certification, CPT, Delta Air Lines, EWR, Hartford, Hawaii, Heathrow, HKG, Hong Kong, HVN, LHR, New Haven, Newark, podcast, rewards, routes, Trip Report, United Airlines

Should you subscribe to an airline’s recurring payment offerings? Probably not. But we’re going to talk about it a bit.

• Podcast

DLD 349: It’s a conspiracy!

• September 2, 2021
• Tagged as: 787, 787-10, 787-9, A321neo, A380, Air New Zealand, alitalia, awards, cash & points, Chicago, cruise, Delta Air Lines, frequent flier, frequent flyer, ITA Airlines, O'Hare, ORD, podcast, points, Qantas, rewards, singapore, Singapore Air, singapore airlines, South African Airways, United Airlines

Kicking off the show with a bad conspiracy theory about hurricanes probably isn’t our strongest play, but here we are. It gets better pretty quickly.

• Podcast

DLD 313: A different set of codes

• October 15, 2020
• Tagged as: Alaska Airlines, alitalia, awards, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Hertz, IATA, MileagePlan, podcast, points, rewards, Southwest Airlines, Trip Report

We’re about more than just airplanes, especially these days. But don’t worry too much; air travel still dominates the conversation this week.

• Podcast

DLD 312: In search of inaugurals

• October 8, 2020
• Tagged as: AirAsia Japan, American Airlines, award, awards, frequent flier, frequent flyer, inaugural, podcast, reward, rewards, routes, Thai Airways, Trip Report, United Airlines

Booking inaugural routes is almost as fun as flying them, right?? Plus A321Ts parked, AirAsia Japan dying and United’s November growth plans.

• Podcast

DLD 299: Openings and closings

• July 9, 2020
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 747, 747-8i, Air Canada, American Airlines, award, awards, bankruptcy, Boeing, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, EasyJet, Finnair, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Heathrow, joint venture, lavatory, LHR, lounge, lounges, Norwegian, points, Qantas, reward, rewards, Ryanair

More openings than closings should be good news for lots in the industry, though things remain precarious on many fronts.

• Podcast

DLD 298: Mixed awards, mixed messages

• July 2, 2020
• Tagged as: Air Canada, Air China, award, awards, bankruptcy, cash & points, China, China Eastern, China Southern, jetblue, LIAT, Pakistan, podcast, refunds, reward, rewards, routes, TSA

When an airline says it is concerned about passenger safety and then increases the number of seats sold that can be hard to reconcile. But at least they’re leaving it members of their cabin crew to keep posting anti-mask FUD on social media, right??

• Podcast

DLD 242: Cutting profits, cutting losses

• May 9, 2019
• Tagged as: Aer Lingus, Aeroflot, awards, bankruptcy, Bombardier, business class, crash, Delta Air Lines, Etihad, EuroBiz, first class, Heathrow, Jet Airways, Korean Air, LHR, Moscow, premium cabin, rewards, SkyMiles, SSJ100, sukhoi

Cutting money-losing programs makes sense in many cases. Selling off a profitable segment of the business is less normal. But here we are.