Hyatt sent out a marketing email to some Diamond members yesterday pitching them on their co-branded Chase credit card. Only they got one important detail wrong. The card is supposed to come with first-tier Platinum status. The marketing email offered Diamond status for as long as you remain a cardholder Not bad for a $75 annual fee! The terms and conditions, not just the marketing copy, were quite clear about Diamond status. Nonetheless, it was too good to be true and a mistake, as Hyatt posted to Milepoint. We’d like to apologize for an erroneous email sent yesterday to some Diamond members regarding the Hyatt Credit Card. This email had a statement that the Hyatt Credit Card includes Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status, which was incorrect. The Hyatt Credit Card includes Platinum status. All of…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for November 2013.
New Website Finds the Lowest Airfares By Identifying Throwaway Segment Opportunities
Skiplagged is a new site that helps you find the lowest airfares including the kinds of fares that Kayak will not come up with… hidden cities and throwaways. Instead of having to come up with cheaper cities to fly to through the city you’re actually planning to go to, this site does the work for you and suggests the itinerary. I’m not sure the website will last because it is helping customers to act contrary to the ticketing rules of airlines (and they certainly won’t be able to sustainably earn commissions from driving bookings, if that is indeed their model). Last summer I wrote an extensive primer on hidden city and throwaway ticketing. Airlines often price tickets from one city to another through a hub cheaper than flights that terminate at the hub. Flying United…
US Airways Can’t “See” Many Award Seats on Partners, And Won’t Put on Glasses
US Airways Won’t Let You Book Some Award Seats Their Partners Offer US Airways has had ‘issues’ with redeeming miles going back three years. It started with Lufthansa First Class It began with Lufthansa first class on transatlantic flights. Lufthansa offered the award space to its partners, but US Airways agents wouldn’t ‘see’ that space. At the time I asked two top Dividend Miles executives (who are no longer with the company) and they claimed they weren’t intentionally blocking the space the way that United used to do. Instead they claimed IT issues, but which they didn’t seem all that eager to fix. Commenter Sean M. speculated at the time that it was an ‘AVS sync’ issue, which seemed plausible, TAM had something similar when they joined Star Alliance. Their process of syncing inventory live…
One Card to Replace Them All (in Your Wallet)
So I don’t think card issuers are going to like this, since they want their plastic in your wallet. Airlines and hotels want to generate loyalty from having their brand in your wallet. But those of us who have wallets stuffed full of cards — I have 12 in my wallet now, more in a zipped pouch, and still more in a safe — could really benefit from this to reduce sheer bulk. “Coin” is the size of a credit card. It’s electronic. And it ‘carries’ up to 8 cards and lets you toggle between them, so you can choose which one to pay with. It doesn’t display the card number on a screen though so this won’t help you place online orders. But you won’t need to carry all of your cards when you’re…
And I Would Have Benefited from Bluebird, Too, If It Wasn’t For You Pesky Kids!
Not everyone likes miles and points collectors abusing the American Express Bluebird product. First of all, I want you to know my attitude towards credit cards and money in general. #1: Feel lucky when you are approved, good credit is a stroke of luck. #2: people who care more about the rewards than the credit line must already have so much money they dont know what to do with it. Now. You people are RUINING bluebird/serve by making amex’s security dept so paranoid that every linked credit or debit card or every vanilla reload is an attempt at getting points rather than legitimate usage, that me, a person who couldnt get a credit card if my life depended on it because george bush gave me a 399 credit score, gets limited every time I try…
My USA Today Op-ed: American/US Airways Should Respect Their Customers if They Want to Succeed
I offer this wish for the US Airways-American Airlines merger in today’s USA Today: respect your customers and don’t make short-sighted decisions at their expense. We can expect them to retain American’s IT infrastructure. That’s important. Integration of computer systems means pain for passengers. It can mean less pain (Ameriacn’s system), or a whole lot more (the US Airways system). Don’t dismantle American’s premium product. US Airways tried to charge for water in coach back in 2008. US Airways doesn’t serve meals in first class on 3 hour flights. US Airways has less legroom upfront and no extra legroom seating. Turning American into US Airways will chase away customers and cost higher-revenue business travelers and corporate contracts. Be honest with your customers. Don’t promise them “changes you’re going to like” the way United did before…
How to Use Your Miles or Earn More Miles in Support of Typhoon Relief
There are several miles and points offers — either for earning points for making a gift, or for using your points to make a donation — that support typhoon relief. Mommy Points covered this yesterday but since Hyatt and Hilton have added options since then I wanted to share the opportunities as well. Some of these are a reasonable idea, and other offers should be avoided. United MileagePlus United is offering miles based on how much you give to the American Red Cross, Operation USA, and AmeriCares. $50 donation yields 250 miles $100 donation yields 500 miles $250 donation yields 1000 miles That’s not a lot of miles for your giving, you don’t do this for the miles but if it gets you to pay attention to charity and pushes you to make a gift…
Matt Lauer Walks Into An Airplane Lavatory, and…
Lauer recalls on the Tonight Show: “I get up to go, and [a] guy kinda beats me in there, in the bathroom. So, I’m waiting and then someone waits behind me, and maybe one other person. The guy comes out of the bathroom, I acknowledge him and I go in. I shut the door,” Lauer said. “And there’s no turbulence by the way. This guy has urinated all over the seat of the toilet.” And thus the dilemma. “I can’t leave, because now they’re gonna think, ‘Matt Lauer peed all over the seat!’” Lauer said. So he felt he had no choice but to clean up this other guy’s mess. Me thinks he’s going on national television protesting just a little too hard that “wasn’t me.” But in any case that’s why you always wear…
Alaska Airlines Devalues its Award Chart
Alaska Airlines is increasing the price of some awards effective January 14 on its own flights and at this point not on partners. And the bulk of those changes are in the price of “rule-buster” (or extra availability) awards. Earlier this year I declared the death of the ‘double miles’ award, the idea of spending “double” so that any member could get any seat on any plane. Only American still offers this, and I predict that will not last. “Last seat availability” potentially trades off with a paying customer, it’s expensive for an airline to offer, and mileage programs have been bumping those prices up. Here Alaska is doing it even more than they already had done before. For Domestic (48 US states plus Alaska) awards they are increasing just the price of these last…
The Hyatt Gold Passport Devaluation is Really Just a 4% Hit to the Cost of Award Nights
The Hyatt Gold Passport award chart devaluation was big news this week. Coming after a huge devaluation from United and an interim devaluation from Delta, because they couldn’t wait for their June 1 and onward devaluation to take full effect, and in the context of this year’s total gutting of Hilton HHonors, I was prepared to hate — though possibly overreact — to what Hyatt has done. My major reaction was likely because the biggest increases in award nights, while centered on only 13 hotels, are increasing the costs of the precise hotels that I want to redeem for. And of course they’re increasing the cost of upgrades on paid nights as well. But if we’re going to understand what Hyatt has actually done, I think it also makes sense to look at the overall…
