No one likes to start the New Year on the wrong foot, especially if it means you’ll be treated a little bit less special by your preferred airline. But that’s exactly what Matin Nazir is facing.
ELITE
You don’t have to fly frequently to know the airline industry has some of the most ridiculous rules in the travel business. But if you fly enough, you may not have to follow all of them.
I’m frequently accused of using this site as a bully pulpit, which is, of course, completely true.
An offer from American Airlines, which landed in Greg Nieberding’s “in” box last week, looked almost too good to be true.
You’d think reports of superior customer service from an airline like United would be random — a one-off for a carrier that consistently gets inferior scores. Maybe not.
Like most other travel bloggers, I normally ignore any press releases sent to me on Monday night or Tuesday morning, because they’re what I like to call “paper fodder” — failed pitches to the marquee business travel columns in one of the dying national newspapers. But for this one, I’ll make an exception.
The last thing I want to do is start a class war at 36,000 feet. But enough is enough. Some elite travelers have made flying unbearable. Here’s how.
What’s the fastest way to board a plane? A free-for-all, like Southwest Airlines? Boarding by window, middle seat or aisle, like United Airlines? Or by zone, like AirTran Airways?
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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