Good morning, and welcome to today's community discussion thread! Today's posts will appear here throughout the day, but this thread is for going off-topic. Did you love/hate something about today's coverage? Are you tracking other news I missed? Or, do you just have a general question about rewards travel? This is the place for your wandering thoughts.
Today's posts on OMAAT:
- Buy Wyndham Rewards Points With Up To 90% Bonus (0.68 Cents Each): Worth It?
- How AI, Diversified Points, And Flexibility Got Me To Paris For The NFL Game
- Amazon Air First Officer Repeatedly Warned Captain Of Excessive Speed Before Fatal Miami Crash
- Atmos Rewards Summit Card 25K & 100K Global Companion Awards: How To Earn & Use Them
- Riyadh Air Hafawa Lounge Riyadh Airport (RUH) Review: World-Class Experience!
- How To Pre-Order Meals In American Airlines First & Business Class
- United’s Mileage Sale: When Buying MileagePlus Miles Actually Pays Off
- Airline Award Ticket Changes & Cancellations Fees: How Much You’ll Pay
- Big Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card Welcome Offer: 100K Points + Free Night Award
- Hilton Honors Amex Welcome Offers Just Got Bigger: Points + Free Night Award
Daily threads stay open for a week, so it's never too late to jump into a recent conversation.
I think you should cover the stuck AS 789 in Rome. Has been similar issues to the Vietnam airlines issues apparently.
or the lack of AS implementation of the full program that was promised ”later in 2026”. Yet nothing yet.
@isaacc Thanks! I see the AS 787 has been grounded, but may I ask where you got the details about it being a VN-style issue? And which "later in 2026" issues are we talking about with Atmos Rewards? I'm sure I'm missing something, so happy to investigate. 🙂
@lucky I'm guessing @issacc is talking about the implementation of the choice for status earning (distance, price, segments). Ironically, I saw a prompt in the Alaska app yesterday (in the Account tab) to make the choice, though it would error out if you clicked the link. It's gone now, so I guess not ready for primetime yet.
@isaacc Had been following that, too (FR24, Reddit, FlyerTalk). N780HA (ex-Hawaiian 787-9) had a technical issue (allegedly tied to the brakes, according to user williwaw on FlyerTalk who cited a gate agent, so take that if you will *cough* hearsay *cough*) around September 2, 2026; subsequent delays (parts logistics, crew availability, staffing, etc.) canceled it through at least September 10, impacting some of Alaska Airlines TATL and SEA-HNL operations (which points to a potential issue with them running too tight a schedule with too few aircraft). The same airframe had an earlier incident on July 19, 2026, as AS181 (FCO-SEA), when it suffered an engine-vibration alert, returning back to FCO. As far as comparisons to the Vietnam Airlines incident (VN-A867, operating as VN34 from MUC on August 15, 2026), I think that's merely speculation for now.
As we approach the commemoration of the 25th anniversary, each evening on September 11, since 2002, from dusk to dawn, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum operates the Tribute in Light installation in Downtown NYC. Last night (September 9), they were testing the lights, so I took a photo (attached). It's a powerful sight each year.
Interestingly, the light installation sits atop the Battery Parking Garage near the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (formerly the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel) entrance, a few blocks south of the actual memorial, which can make the perspective a bit confusing at times. The building in the foreground is 50 West Street (residential), while the new 1 WTC is to the left-center (its spire lit red).
What happened to Alaska Horizon last night ... 50 cancelations.
Ben, did you notice that Flying Blue started selling bundle fares? I guess we can blame Tiffany for this:(
now there is another AS 787 stuck at FCO...there is now 2 grounded in FCO with alaska
@isaacc Yikes. They only have 5! Gonna really start to wreck their operations more broadly…