American Airlines – Your Mileage May Vary

J.D. Power 2018 Report Is In: The Best Airlines In North America

The responses of the annual J.D. Power 2018 North America Airline Satisfaction Study^SM have been tabulated and analyzed and the top U.S. airlines have been announced. Alaska Airlines won first place for traditional carriers for, hello, the 11th consecutive year (!!!), and Southwest was named best of all the low-cost airlines for the 2nd year in a row (it upsurped the title from JetBlue in 2016). Here are the rankings:

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How To Understand Airline Seat Class Names

Have you ever felt like this when booking airfare? “I’d like to book a seat in Basic Premium Extra Plus Comfort Class that includes exit row seat assignments but without an extra carry on bag.”

Knowing what class of airline seat you were buying didn’t used to be hard. There were only two or maybe three classes to choose from. First Class. Business Class and Coach. Yep, that’s Coach. Not Economy. Not Main Cabin. Not Core. Just plain old Coach. And do you know what? Everyone was fine with that. No one was complaining that the names were inappropriate. You knew what class you were in and everyone was happy.

Flash forward to today and there are numerous names differentiating the seat choices offered by each airline. None of the names are the same and names that happen to be similar can still mean very different seat types. American Airlines leads the pack with eight different types of categories. United follows closely behind with seven and Delta has six. Southwest Airlines is the easiest to understand, as they only have one class of seat which they don’t even bother to give a name 🙂

Here’s my attempt to make sense of all of these names, from top to bottom.

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How Our Friends Flew From The US To All 3 Disney Parks In Asia Without Winning The Lottery

Going to see the Disney Theme Parks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo are bucket list trips for many Disney fans. However most people never try to make the trip because it seems out of reach to them. The excuses that people most often give is that the flights are too long or the airfare is too expensive.

When I saw a post on Facebook from one of my friends saying that he and his wife just returned from Japan, I commented that I was so happy for them. I know they’re big Disney fans and I was thrilled they got to see Tokyo Disney. We talked a bit and I discovered that, in fact, they just returned from an epic 10 day trip where they visited all three of the Disney theme parks in Asia. On top of that, all their flights were booked with miles and they flew exclusively in business and first class the whole way. #FTW

It’s with his permission that I’m now going to share how they were able to go on this trip and pay almost nothing out of pocket for airfare. I’m quiet jealous of some of the flights they took, and am remembering that Sharon and I still haven’t been to Hong Kong or Shanghai.

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All About U.S.-Based Lifetime Airline Passes

I don’t know about you, but for me, I think the ultimate in travel luxury would be a lifetime pass, or its equivalent, to something. Walt Disney World sold such things to select visitors and associates in the 1970s and 1980s, and Disneyland has been known to give them out to “significant” guests (i.e. the first guest, the 100,000,000th guest, the first child born at DL, etc.). The U.S. National park service used to offer a Golden Age Passport that got seniors free entry for life into U.S. national parks, but they discontinued the program in 2007. I think the most valuable would be a lifetime pass to an airline – and there used to be such a thing!

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American Airlines Is Tracking Complainers, The Sex Toy That Went Through TSA Screening & More…

Hi friends! Here are the articles we’ve recently seen, written by others, that we learned from, made us think or maybe made us chuckle a little bit. We hope you enjoy them!

We like to read about what items people bring with them on vacation as we’ll occasionally pick up a hint here and there.
Fixed value points can come in handy when booking a cheap flight/hotel but you don’t want to put cash out of pocket.
Are overwater bungalow worth the extra money? As the article says, the water is beautiful from your bungalow, the beach, the restaurant and the lobby so why pay 3x as much for a room?
Alaska Airlines continues to boost its “Most West Coast” efforts, expanding its Wine Flies Free program to cover the entire region. It’s a great program, as it’s both customer and local business friendly.
United Airlines finally has started a WiFi subscription program on its fleet. I don’t fly enough for this to make sense for me but I’ve had about the same luck as Ed from Pizza in Motion of getting the Wifi on the plane to work.
Sharon’s found her dream job. Too bad about them wanting someone with experience.
Once you sign up for Global Entry (or PreCheck), it’s important to let the airlines know your KTN (Known Traveler Number). Here’s a step by step breakdown on how to do it for the major US airlines.
American Airline employees can now give you compensation if you complain about a real problem. Of course, employees are worried that people will abuse the system because “customers suck.” Not to worry says management – they are tracking “constant complainers” and will flag them in the reservation and onboard system. Does this make you afraid to complain even if you have a legitimate concern?
And finally…the source of the clickybait title that I could couldn’t resist…a father pranked his son by putting a sex toy in his carry on before he went through TSA screening. Because of course he did. 🙂

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Airlines Have Tweaked Basic Economy So They Can Get Even More Money From You

It’s been six months since I’ve looked into the big three airlines’ basic economy fares. In the meantime, we’ve flown on a basic economy flight on Delta and decided that as basic passengers with no status, these fares are not for us. We’d rather pay extra for the pleasure of being crammed into a regular economy seat but at least we’d be able to pick which seat we’re sitting in and have the pleasure to bring a carry on bag we can put into the overhead bin.

Each airline has made changes to the restrictions on basic economy fares so I think it’s time to look back at what’s changed. The BOLD TYPE indicates the changes since we’ve last checked.

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Airlines Donate $28M, Guns At Airports, A Funny Review of 1st Class, & More!

Hi friends! Here are the articles we saw last week, written by other travel bloggers and article writers, that we learned from, made us think or maybe made us chuckle a little bit. We hope you enjoy them!

The TSA discovered a record number of firearms at airport checkpoints in 2017 – and our hometown airport of Orlando, as well as our neighboring Tampa airport made the list. Way to go, fellow Floridians!
My former home of New Jersey is now the only state left that doesn’t let you pump your own gas (yes, that is a thing)
Sometimes I’m reminded of old articles I found funny and the review of a First Class flight on China Southern, written by Lucky (from One Mile At A Time), has to be towards the top of that list.
I like to read what other people have to say about customer service and Ben from No Mas Coach! had an interesting take on Alaska Airlines’ email responses to several of his concerns (spoiler: they all sound the same.
Can you wear an Apple Watch (or other Smart Watch) through TSA? Here’s a non-scientific test from Ed from Pizza in Motion.
United, known more as a follower than a leader, has stolen borrowed elements of IHG’s Accelerate promo and launched their Mile Play promotion.
Loyalty Traveler stayed at a Key West hotel with Best Western points and it looks as if it’s a great deal.
Gary from View from the Wing flew on American with a basic economy ticket and said it wasn’t that bad. He was also on a short flight and is an Executive Platinum flyer so his flight might be a bit better than the average flyer.
Heels First Travel caught The Art of the Brick exhibit featuring several LEGO creations at the Portland OMSI. While you’d think it would be mainly for LEGO enthusiasts, some of the creations are fascinating.
I’ve loved the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum since I was a kid and hearing that airlines donated $28 million dollars to help with a renovation makes me want to go back.