First class upgrades have become nearly non-existent. Delta says only about 12% of their first class seats go to upgrades, while 15 years ago, 81% of first class seats went to upgrades, awards and employees.
That may all be about to change.
Hilton Honors quietly raised free award night redemption prices on the last Friday before the holidays. Since they stopped publishing award charts, they did not tell anyone that they did this, but your Honors points are now worth less than they were on Thursday.
For years, the ‘worst airport gate in America’ was generally considered to be 35X at Washington’s Reagan National airport. There were competitors, like Miami’s D60 and the old D9 at LaGuardia before the terminal was redone. But 35X was the stuff of legend.
Detroit airport is planning to add a cigar lounge, and anti-smoking groups are freaking out, claiming it “would expose millions of travelers and airport employees to harmful secondhand smoke.”
Maybe the most Marriott thing ever is allowing a hotel using their brand to get away with failing to meet brand standards and treat customers well – with a sign about how they aren’t going to do housekeeping, and proving it with a used band-aid in front of it that hasn’t been cleaned up by housekeeping.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
The hotel’s operating income fell by around three quarters compared to 2017. Travel to San Francisco declined, especially business travel, and meetings revenue fell off.
An intoxicated woman refused to pay her bill at a Nashville Airport restaurant. Described as a dine and dash, police were called, and body cam footage of the March 15th arrest is just now available.
In January, eight black men were removed from an American Airlines Phoenix – New York flight ostensibly due to their odor. The men did not know each other and were not traveling together.
The airline has now settled a lawsuit filed by three of the men – and changed their rules for kicking passengers off of flights.
Former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker co-hosted this week’s Airlines Confidential podcast and was asked for his best travel tip. He offered don’t ever check a bag. Parker though goes on to offer something much more important.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
