American's Preferred Agency Gambit; U.S. Carriers Hike Checked-Bag Fees

Plus, NDC developments, SAF programs and more  

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March 08, 2024 American Sets New Loyalty Restrictions, Plans Preferred Agency Status American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty program members, outside of AAdvantage Business members or contracted corporate travelers, beginning May 1 no longer will earn miles or credits for flights booked outside of American, its partners or a "preferred" travel agency. Keep Reading Emburse Survey Shows Tension from Expense Policies Nearly one in four employees said they have tried to pass a personal purchase off as a business expense amid increased personal financial challenges, some of them a result of their employers' expense policies—or lack thereof. Keep Reading Amex GBT Creates AI Innovation Program American Express Global Business Travel has assembled a team to focus on artificial intelligence adoption across the travel management company. Keep Reading JetBlue, Spirit Call Off Merger JetBlue and Spirit Airlines have agreed to terminate the $3.8 billion merger agreement they agreed to in July 2022, the carriers announced Monday, noting closing conditions unlikely to be met.   Keep Reading FAA: Boeing Failed to Comply with QC Requirements After an audit, the FAA finds "multiple instances" where Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems "allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality-control requirements." Keep Reading United Joins American in Raising Checked-Bag Fees A week following the news that American Airlines had raised its checked-bag fees, United Airlines has done the same, the carrier confirmed Monday. In addition, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue each have raised their fees this year, according to their websites.   Keep Reading Delta Is Last of Big Three U.S. Carriers to Raise Checked-Bag Fees Delta Air Lines joined United and American in increasing fees for the first and second checked bags. Select status tiers are still exempt. Keep Reading Hyatt Reorgs Americas Structure, Adds Execs Hyatt added to its Americas region two subregions: one for the United States and Canada and one for Latin America and the Caribbean. Keep Reading Amex Cards Integrate into Amex GBT Neo1 Platform American Express has integrated into American Express Global Business Travel's SME-focused Neo1 platform to provide U.S. clients a new set of features including virtual card issuance. Keep Reading DOT OKs More U.S. Flights from Chinese Carriers The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved an increase in the allowed number of scheduled roundtrip weekly passenger flights by Chinese airlines to the United States to 50, up from 35, beginning March 31, according to a DOT order filed Monday.   Keep Reading British Airways Unveils £7B 'Transformation' Plan British Airways plans to invest £7 billion over the next two years into an "array of new initiatives to transform the airline," the carrier announced Tuesday. Keep Reading Ryanair to Expand Corp. Travel Offerings Through Kyte Ryanair inks first official deal with a non-GDS air content distribution partner after going dark on Travelfusion late last year. Keep Reading TSA to Test Self-Service Screening in Las Vegas The Travel Security Administration's self-service security lanes are in pilot at Las Vegas International Airport; they're only for TSA Pre-Check members, for now. Keep Reading Amtrak Increases Northeast Corridor Service Amtrak has added multiple roundtrips to its Northeast Corridor service to meet "growing customer demand," the rail provider announced Monday.    Keep Reading AmTrav Adds Controls for Travelers Beholden to GSA Per Diems AmTrav has added a policy option in which clients can set U.S. General Services Administration per diem rates as a maximum hotel rate for bookings, the travel management company announced.   Keep Reading Festive Road Co-founders to Diverge Festive Road co-managing partners Caroline Strachan and Paul Tilstone to part ways. Strachan will command Festive as CEO; Tilstone will found a supply-side consulting venture Temoji. Keep Reading Omni Hotels Names Trip Riggs CFO  Read More Acquis' Sharma Joins ARC  Read More Garcia Joins Altour as Global Sales and Strategy SVP  Read More AHLA CEO Chip Rogers Resigns  Read More Navan Enables Direct Connect for United NDC Content  Read More Atriis Agrees to Add Sabre NDC Content to Platform  Read More Thomalex Integrates Air France, KLM NDC Content  Read More ARC Integrates TAP Air Portugal NDC into Direct Connect  Read More Qatar Offering NDC Content via Travelport  Read More Accelya, Korean Air Partner to Offer NDC Content  Read More Singapore to Charge Passenger Fee for Required SAF Use  Read More Neste Launches Corp. 'Book-and-Claim' SAF Solution  Read More Southwest Launches SAF Ventures Subsidiary, Invests in LanzaJet  Read More IAG to Purchase 260M Gallons of SAF  Read More Capital One Adds Lounge Capacity Tracking, Waitlist to Mobile App  Read More Sonder to Lay Off 17 Percent of Corp. Workforce  Read More Emirates to Add Bogotá Service via Miami  Read More Air Canada to Add Motorcoach Airport Connections  Read More American to Launch Nonstop NYC-Tokyo Service  Read More Oneworld Opens Amsterdam Lounge  Read More United to Add Guam-Tokyo Haneda Service  Read More United to Resume Newark-Tel Aviv Service  Read More Alaska Airlines to Add Portland-Atlanta Service  Read More Delta to Add Los Angeles-Brisbane Service  Read More Duluth Travel Transitions to Sabre GDS  Read More GlobalStar Adds Belgian TMC Triton to Network  Read More Airbase Integrates Sardine for Risk Management Boost  Read More Travelin.AI Signs First TMC Partner for OBT  Read More SITA Invests in Identity Tech Provider Indicio  Read More Amadeus' Outpayce, HSBC Partner for Airfare Conversion  Read More 301 Route 17 North, Suite 1150 Rutherford, New Jersey, USA 07070

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