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British Airways increase Chicago flights
British Airways is scheduled to increase its daily service from London Heathrow to Chicago from twice to three times daily, beginning 11 May 2024. The A380 is disappearing from the route and will be replaced by the B787-10 with Club Suites, B777 with Club Suites and B787, which currently shows old Club World for next summer.
Avios is showing availability most days in the summer with four seats in business class. There is virtually no first class availability, but there is first class for sale on all the aircraft currently.
Will IAG buy TAP?
Yesterday, Portugal’s cabinet approved selling at least 51% of TAP Air Portugal, effectively privatizing the airline, with TAP staff receiving 5% of the proceeds. The airline was nationalised during Covid in 2020. TAP, who are part of Star Alliance, has modernised a lot in recent years with new A330neo aircraft and good business class seats. They consistently offer very cheap business-class prices, but unfortunately, I have heard a lot of complaints about the service when things go wrong and inconsistencies in the quality of onboard service.
Portugal’s Finance Minister, Fernando Medina reportedly said that rather than merely being financial investors, bidders would also need to be key stakeholders in the aviation industry. Medina declared, “We are not going to sell off TAP to the highest bidder simply.”
IAG CEO Luis Gallego expressed interest in the news on Wednesday saying that the Portuguese carrier would fit with IAG’s profile. A representative for Lufthansa told Reuters that the sale was “interesting for us.”
After years of losses, TAP finally reported a profit of €66 million (£57.2 million) in 2022.
Hyatt announces new rental platform
In a copy of what Marriott has done with its Homes & Villas, Hyatt has announced plans for a new short-term vacation rental platform, Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt, that will feature private homes and remote hideaways in the United States. When the offering launches in the coming weeks, World of Hyatt members will have direct booking access to a unique collection of short-term private home rentals from beachfront to mountainside ski chalets, where they can earn and redeem points.
The homes will be in key travel destinations like Hawaii and Colorado, with plans to grow the platform globally. Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt member benefits will include earning points and tier-qualifying night credits on stays, as well as standard tier bonuses and the ability to redeem points for stays at home rental properties.
While the options are currently limited to the US, hopefully, they will eventually expand to Europe, which will be a valuable addition to Hyatt’s footprint here.
6 comments
Let’s hope for the consumers sake that any IAG bid for TAP is unsuccessful, given how they’ve trashed BA’s services and reputation in the past decade.
@JJ Seems an eminently reasonable comment!
I have flown with TAP long haul back back in March. I must point out that “good business class seat” is an under statement. It is cramped and narrow and I am on 5’10”. The service I was given onboard was unflattering. It was a cheaper seat pricing compared to BA or Iberia. I would pay more and avoid flying with TAP.
Surely the European Commission won’t let IAG buy TAP, handing over the whole of the Iberian peninsula to one entity? I really hope it either stays in *A or if it must, move to Sky Team – along with SAS!
It’s a good point James but I think they might let them, time will tell.
It would also give IAG a near monopoly on flights between Europe and South America, that can’t be good for business!
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