
Frequent Miler
(Avianca Lifemiles added) US Bank launches transfer partners. Now transfer to Accor, Flying Blue, and Ethiopian
Update 8/29/26: US Bank has now added Avianca Lifemiles as its 5th transfer partner. Points transfer 1:1 from the Altitude Reserve card (and likely also from old FlexPerks cards). It is great to see U.S. Bank expand partners already. Hopefully, this is an indication that we will continue to see...

View from the Wing
United Wants American Airlines Out Of Chicago—AI Backs Its $1.1 Billion Loss Claim By Inventing $2.8 Billion In Costs
A Claude-assisted analysis finds United earns 10.5% more per passenger-mile in Chicago, then swaps in modeled revenue and assigns American $2.8 billion in missing expenses. The data support United’s pricing advantage—not a $1.1 billion avoidable loss.

One Mile at a Time
Weekly Review: August 29, 2026
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far! I have roughly another week at home before I take my next trip, which reminds me, I need to actually finalize those details. Before I kick off that journey, I hope to finish up my current trip report series. On...

The Gate with Brian Cohen
Noisy Musical Dripping Shower in Hotel Room. With Short Raw Video.
Design can enhance functionality aesthetically for the improvement of an experience; but sometimes when design takes priority over functionality, the results may not be the most efficient or effective — such as with a noisy musical dripping shower in a hotel room of which a short raw video was taken...

View from the Wing
American Airlines Fixes A Bizarre Upgrade Glitch—You Keep The Seat, It Keeps Your Money
American Airlines has fixed a strange systems problem that stripped away a paid upgrade when a customer later used a systemwide upgrade elsewhere on the same itinerary. The passenger now keeps the upgraded seat—but American also keeps the payment.

View from the Wing
Bilt’s Authorized User Strategy Doubles Transfer Bonus Caps And 3X Spending—Here’s How My Wife And I Use It
Bilt lets adult authorized users receive points and Bilt Cash in their own accounts. I’m using that feature so my wife and I each get five Points Accelerators and separate Rent Day transfer bonus caps—then adding reciprocal Palladium and Obsidian cards.

Paddle Your Own Kanoo
American Airlines Bolsters Maintenance Workforce to Combat Broken Seats, Wonky Tray Tables And Defective In-Flight Entertainment Systems
American Airlines has hired more than 60 additional maintenance technicians to finally get to grips with what the carrier’s frequent flyers, pilots, and flight attendants know all too well… the upkeep of its airplane cabins hasn’t been a big enough priority for far too long, with broken seats, wonky tray...

One Mile at a Time
Is American Really Losing $1 Billion A Year At Chicago O’Hare? Here’s What The Data Shows
Currently, Chicago O'Hare Airport (ORD) is probably the most fiercely competitive airport in the country. Both American and United have hubs there -- United has gained a huge advantage in recent years, though American is now trying to win back some of the market share it has lost.

Paddle Your Own Kanoo
Two Airlink Embraer E-Jets Perform Stunning Flyover of DHL Stadium in Cape Town, But Were the Planes Dangerously Low?
Two specially branded Airlink Embraer E-Jets performed a stunning low-altitude flyover of the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday just before kick-off between the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks as part of a new rugby tour called ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.’ The flyover was...

Economy Class & Beyond
Last Week at Economy Class and Beyond (29th August)
It’s still Saturday… is it? To paraphrase Ford Prefect from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Time is an illusion, Time zones, doubly so”. Hello from Tokyo. Its… I’ve lost track of the time, but it looks like Saturday, so it must be time for Last Week at Economy Class...

Live and Let’s Fly
One Final Lufthansa A340-600 Flight…And An Excellent Business Class Experience
My “final” Lufthansa A340-600 flight from Frankfurt to Washington in business class greatly exceeded my expectations thanks to the excellent service and superb new “Project FOX” soft product onboard. Lufthansa A340-600 Business Class – My First Impressions My “long way home” was all about this flight…one final flight on the...

View from the Wing
American Airlines Admits It Has Too Many Broken Seats And Too Much Duct Tape—Airdrops 60+ Technicians Into 6 Airports
American Airlines is launching OneCabin on September 14, adding more than 60 technicians and dedicated repair teams at six hubs. The overdue program targets broken seats, failed entertainment systems, cabin appearance and duct-tape repairs.

One Mile at a Time
American Invests In Improving Aircraft Cabin Maintenance & Cleanliness
American Airlines has been making a lot of improvements as of late. Or at a minimum, the airline has been making a lot of positive announcements, though it'll take years for the airline to fully see them through.

View from the Wing
Spirit Airlines Flight Attendants Fight To Keep Their Private Records Out Of Google’s $10 Million AI Deal
Spirit’s archive includes payroll, tax, training, disciplinary and medical-leave records alongside 500 million Teams items. The union probably cannot stop the bankruptcy sale, but it has a strong chance of forcing employee-specific safeguards before Google receives anything.

Live and Let’s Fly
Delta Air Lines CEO Wants Delta In The Same League As Singapore Airlines And Emirates
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian wants his carrier mentioned alongside the world’s best airlines, including Singapore Airlines and the leading carriers of Asia and the Middle East. What makes that especially interesting is that United CEO Scott Kirby said something remarkably similar to me in Denver just hours apart....

One Mile at a Time
Dolly Parton International: Nashville’s Airport May Get A New Name, And I’m All For It
Country superstar Dolly Parton tragically passed away on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80. She's an absolute legend who was widely loved, and she had a huge impact on the country music scene, and beyond that, dedicated so much time and money to helping others. There's now a...

View from the Wing
American Airlines Tells Flight Attendants: Be Resilient And De-Escalate, This Banner Explains Why Service Still Lags
This training banner captures American’s HR-first approach: it names traits employees should supply, while the airline still lacks a reward-backed performance system and a CEO-led mission that turns better cabins into better service.














