Flying Blue Unbundles Awards, Alaska Adds Europe, and Who Really Deserves That Upgrade?

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Who actually deserves that empty first-class seat—and should an airline ever downgrade a passenger to make room for its own crew?

Ed and Richard kick things off with two very different upgrade situations on American Airlines. Richard found himself first on the upgrade list with two seats remaining, only to see those seats occupied by non-revenue flight attendants. That leads into a much bigger debate over a family reportedly downgraded from business class on a Miami–Milan flight to accommodate deadheading pilots. The guys discuss the important difference between deadheading and non-rev travel, whether award passengers should be more vulnerable to downgrades, and why these decisions can undermine airline loyalty.

Then, Flying Blue is introducing Light, Standard and Flex award tickets, effectively bringing the unbundling trend to award travel. A Light business-class award can mean no advance seat assignment, no lounge access and no changes or refunds. Flying Blue elites retain some benefits, but Ed and Richard worry about what this trend means for everyone sitting on a pile of airline miles.

They also react to Starlux selling miles for a whopping four cents apiece and do the math on whether buying enough for a business-class award could possibly make sense. Spoiler alert: they're not reaching for their wallets.

Plus, Alaska Airlines is expanding its international ambitions with new Seattle flights to Paris and Athens, and the FAA has Ed and Richard debating one of the most pressing issues in aviation: apparently, your pre-departure beverage could be an evacuation hazard.

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