A man posing as a guest at the St. Regis Bal Harbour charged $1,238.10 in food, drinks and clothing to another guest’s room. He was caught when he walked past as the real guest disputed the bill—and records matching his name and birth date suggest this may not have been his first hotel scheme.
A Marriott hotel offers 50 Bonvoy points—about 30 cents—to skip daily housekeeping. The original 500-Starpoint pilot paid 30 times more.
United will let passengers who object to Palm Beach airport’s new Trump name switch to Miami or Fort Lauderdale without repricing amidst passenger complaints.
Video from SFO shows a United agent suggest calling ICE because a customer “doesn’t act like a citizen,” then approach and reach toward his phone.
Airline workers lost a COVID vaccine discrimination appeal after judges found no plausible religious hostility since exempted employees could work with masks and monthly testing. Then the court exposed their lawyer’s fake AI-generated citations—including a second batch submitted after the problem was flagged.
HG’s booking flow offers 3,000 bonus points for $20 and 5,000 for exactly the same price. The inferior choice is a psychological decoy—not a mistake—and the unusual elite-status credit helps explain why even sophisticated members buy these packages.
JetBlue plans to offer bonus points to customers who finance flights at checkout, even though interest rates can reach 36%. Also: a fake DoorDash restaurant scheme, a pilot writes “I’m Bored” in the sky, a ¥1.67 trillion Hyatt quote, JetBlue route cuts and California targets a luxury hotel for price gouging.
The 18,000-square-foot Chase Sapphire Lounge opens July 16 across from Gate D25 in DFW Terminal D. After a preview, I’d rank it as Dallas’ best bank lounge, with elevated food, a dedicated whiskey room, bookable facials and relaxation pods, showers and Chase’s first grab-and-go experiment.
American Airlines turned a nonstop San Francisco–Philadelphia flight into a planned Dallas stop so dozens of World Cup fans stranded by another delay could reach the France–Spain semifinal. They arrived before kickoff, but the plane reached Philadelphia 2 hours 21 minutes late and some passengers misconnected.
American Airlines is defending its right to refund only 40% when it downgrades a passenger, even if that leaves the carrier keeping thousands of dollars. It now promises a different calculation, but wants regulators to dismiss the complaint without making shortchanged customers whole.
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 »
