Downgraded: The mile-high club That’s what airlines need in order to survive the economic downturn: Hookers! “Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania say [Roger] Sedlak used a non-existent airline, dubbed CQ Air, to arrange sex-for-cash trysts in hotels across state lines.” The thing i...

Downgraded: Cocktails as tourist marketing Thailand’s tourist managers have concocted a mixed drink to personify the spirit of the nation, or so they claim in their heavy-handed marketing blitz. A “Siam Sunrays” cocktail “consists of a shot of vodka, coconut liqueur, a dash o...

Filed under: Airlines Here is a bit of feel good news from the travel world - hidden between all the bad news was an announcement from United Airlines that they were going to move 165 call center positions from their International Call Center back to the USA. The new jobs will be added to their exis...

Much like politicians drop negative or uncomfortable news on a Friday afternoon, hoping that the media has checked out for the weekend, United Airlines decided that the wee hours of the morning of Election Day was the perfect time to announce the latest devaluation to its Mileage Plus program. Class...

Dutifully playing follow-the-leader, and jumping into the proverbial meat-grinder, airlines are competing to make a bad scene worse. They’re piling on: adding fees, reducing benefits, and devaluing frequent flyer miles even more. And that’s just today. Yeah, it was a bad day. Round one: ...

Ted is shutting down. Ted is sorry to leave you. Ted can’t pay the bills. Ted is dead. I will weep no tears for Ted, the low-frills airline-within-an-airline created by United, which is being shut down as part of a larger reduction in flights, aircraft, and staff. I admit I initially thought t...

Downgraded: Short flights on United Watching United and US Airways devalue their frequent flyer programs is like watching a tennis match, with the two players volleying back and forth. Every time one airline does something, the other does it a few weeks later. Lather, rinse, repeat. The latest: Afte...

Downgraded: Monkey life-chances I really can’t add more than this fine opening sentence: “A small monkey stashed in a man’s hat during a flight to New York has died, but federal health authorities don’t know why.” Upgraded: Vengeful idiots A passenger who missed his Sou...