IHG Rewards Club Points Will Become Redeemable at 500 Mr. and Mrs. Smith Luxury Hotels

by Gary Leff

Sep 23 2019

Starting “early next year” IHG Rewards Club is introducing a new earn and burn relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels. There will also be some form of elite benefits at Mrs. and Mrs. Smith properties, because IHG says that their “most loyal members” (presumably Spire Elites, but also “including InterContinental Ambassadors and Kimpton Inner Circle members”) “can expect free room upgrades whenever available and a free gift, called a Smith Extra, on arrival at each Mr & Mrs Smith hotel.”

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What’s the Worst International First Class in the World?

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Sep 22 2019

Now that BA has finally gotten their act together on internet – fuel surcharges on award tickets aside – I’d fly them over American, though I do think Qatar Airways QSuites is better than British Airways first class (and the new ANA business class seems like it may be as well).

Since I rank both Air China (as well as China Eastern) over American, and British Airways as well, is there any airline besides TAAG Angola at the bottom of the list if we were to put together an argument for absolute worst international first class in the world?

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The Great ‘Book Direct’ and Hotel ‘Best Rate Guarantee’ Scam

by Gary Leff

Sep 22 2019

The truth is that hotels do regularly sell rooms cheaper through third parties than they do on their own website, they just work really hard to disguise it and to gate off consumers from accessing those cheaper rates – because they want to fill incremental rooms that would go unsold, but without undercutting the prices they can book the rest of their rooms at.

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Gold Smuggler Caught Because He Was Unwilling to Pay Overweight Checked Bag Fees

by Gary Leff

Sep 22 2019

A man running a gold smuggling ring out of Singapore has pled guilty to corruption after airline check-in counter staff flipped on the operation. Apparently he wasn’t just shipping his gold as checked luggage, he was too cheap to pay the excess baggage fees and bribed counter staff to understate the weight of the bags on Tigerair flights to Chennai.

If he had been willing to pay for his checked bags, he might not have been caught.

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Flying While Muslim is Hard in This Country

by Gary Leff

american eagle plane
Sep 21 2019

Two Muslim men had their American Eagle flight cancelled last Saturday because one of the men – an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member – used the plane’s lavatory while the flight was delayed on the ground, and because passengers and crew don’t like flying with Muslims.

The cause of the concern? When the man visited the lavatory he flushed twice.

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