Catching up on Delta & Travel News – Zika, Chicago Expansion, $DAL, OLD Jets, Old bills, UA fines, Delta Bereavement Fares & More!

I totally skipped a travel news update in June but with all the goings on it was hard to keep up anyway and this month is just about as crazy. We are living in scary times and when and where to travel will become more and more of a factor. Keep in mind a great deal does not mean, as it once did, book now and ask later! Let’s take a look at some of the headlines that got my attention that you may have missed:

• Delta is looking at a “significant expansion” in ORD as they build new gates. Really? I thought Delta has always struggled to make money in the highly competitive Chicago market. Interesting to see what happens.

• Delta DAL stock has climbed back from the low 30’s to near 40 bucks a share (disclaimer: I do not buy or sell any airline stocks). Despite what pundits say I see the stock going lower even with Delta’s efforts to park jets to keep prices HIGH. At least with less capacity we can look forward to more “fake” upgrade emails that we have been upgraded to C+? Sigh.

• ZIKA is spreading folks. It will be just about everywhere one day. Now “76 of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities now have Zika cases”. It is just a matter of time but expect more and more news to impact where folks decide to travel (i.e. as mentioned a travel deal may not be a deal you want to take).

• We Delta flyers know Delta is KING in the game of flying really old jets (with new seats inside) and making it profitable. There are limits and this is why Delta is dumping all the glorious 747s they inherited from the NWA merger (takeover). Westjet is learning the hard way that flying OLD jets can be costly.

• I warned you about holding old notes because things can happen like a country making them all but worthless. Well it seems you need to be educated what old and new bills look like so exchange centers don’t “sell” you worthless notes. Unbelievable but true.

• Good news the ex-UA CEO is not going to jail but UA is going to have to pay millions in fines. I have not been on a UA flight in years and currently hold zero UA frequent flyer points and have no plans to add more anytime soon. You?

• Maybe not news but interesting to see what people think about working for Delta as well as when Delta chooses to comment back about a job review.

• I guess I did not know that Delta is one of the last airlines to sell bereavement fares. Kinda pointless anyway as they never (or rarely ever) were the cheapest option in your time of sadness.

• Delta, and other airlines, have gone a long way to crushing loyalty. Delta is very slowly realizing this and trying to make improvements this year but needs to make radical positive changes to undo years of destruction. That or just keep parking jets more and more and keep flying full at high prices I guess. When they park them all I guess that strategy will no longer work? Yes? No?

• WoW want to read rant after rant about bad Delta service? This site will make you never want to fly Delta (or any other airline) ever again! I would love to see these folks take these complaints to FlyerTalk and watch what happens.

• Ever pay a bag fee to Delta? Keep an eye on this class action lawsuit on the way. I bet the lawyers make a bundle and if you paid a fee you may get a HOOU. Enjoy? I never pay a bag fee but I am smart enough to have a Delta AMEX card of some flavor always.

So that is what I found interesting over the past few weeks in the travel news space. Did I miss any other ones you found intriguing (and not just for Delta)? I am looking forward to a number of flights in the coming weeks and have already got “fake” C+ upgrade emails from Delta that my seat is upgraded to “Premium Economy“. Really? I am simply SHOCKED Delta has the unmitigated gall to call a C+ standard coach seat PE and to email me I am upgraded when all I did was pick a C+ seat. We are truly in the Twilight Zone of air travel nowadays. Happy Monday everyone. – René