A mega investment shakes up the aviation landscape in the Americas while biometrics continue to grow globally and a new type brings major improvements (and minor cuts) for a growing airline.
upgrades
Goodbye GPUs, Hello PlusPoints: United revamps elite upgrade scheme
United Airlines is adjusting the way its top MileagePlus elite members will pay for upgrades. And, at least to start, none of the upgrade costs are increasing.
Delta’s upgrade efforts continues to spread
Delta Air Lines is selling more upgrades than ever, which is both good news and bad news for the SkyMiles loyalty program. But probably more good than bad.
United Airlines begins its Premium Plus era
Passengers on United Airlines will be able to purchase tickets for the carrier’s new Premium Plus cabin starting on Monday. Flights across 21 routes and 13 destinations will be the first to offer the additional class of service. Premium Plus flights begin on 30 March 2019, with some routes extending into May 2019 for the new service. Initial premium economy operations will center at the carrier’s hubs in Newark, Washington-Dulles and San Francisco.
Lyft Rewards Introduced: Some sort of loyalty??
Ride-hailing app Lyft intends to launch a new loyalty program in December 2018. Lyft Rewards will deliver benefits like ride upgrades or discounts. Probably. The announcement is spectacularly vague about how the scheme will work and even when customers can expect to participate.
Major expansion coming for Delta Premium Select
Passengers won’t pay for more space on planes. This is the commonly accepted mantra and driving logic behind the ongoing “densification” efforts to squeeze more seats onto planes. And, for the most part, that’s proven true. A growing subset of travelers are, however, willing to pay more. Delta Air Lines’ Premium Select will expand across the widebody fleet to capture even more of that revenue.
The flight I chose, and the RPU winner is…
What’s the difference between in-flight comfort and enjoying the trip overall? Just one example: I’m flying coach rather than business class because I know I’ll arrive more alert and happier.