Yesterday I wrote that Hyatt would be launching a new ‘lifestyle brand’. All of the major chains want one, they’re all trying to build one. They’re notoriously difficult – the notion of cool changes, it needs constant updating, and major lodging corporations aren’t always well-suited to capture whatever it is that that is. And when they build these brands, they can wind up adding to brand confusion with too many choices that aren’t clearly differentiated in consumer minds or aren’t well tied to the main brand (can you name all of Marriott’s brands — such that you’d always know when to add your Marriot Rewards account number, or if you’re a Marriott loyalist know to choose each of their brands over a competitor?). I suggested yesterday that I wasn’t sure how an upscale lifestyle brand…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for January 2015.
Starwood Introduces New Platinum Benefit Choices for Those That Are Frustrated With Suite Upgrades
Starwood updated its terms and conditions to detail a new offering for Platinum members who stay 50 nights in a year with the program, allowing them to choose Suite Night Awards or something else. What Are Suite Night Awards? For the past 3 years Starwood has offered (10) ‘Suite Night Awards’ — an opportunity to confirm an upgrade up to 5 nights prior to arrival, rather than at check-in. These aren’t confirmed upgrades in the sense that Hyatt offers them to Diamonds. They aren’t confirmed at booking, where you get to guarantee them at the time you make a reservation. These should be thought of as ‘an opportunity to express a preference for when you get upgraded’, ten nights a year where you get to have priority for your upgrades. The problem seems to be…
Marriott Brown Palace Denver Just $41 All-in Per Night Including Breakfast and Upgraded Rooms!
Extreme Hotel Deals finds this rate, $41 per night, at the Marriott Brown Palace Denver on Fridays and Saturdays between May 8 and October 31. Indeed, $41 is all-in with taxes and there are multiple room types available with breakfast even thrown in. This is a well-regarded property, though I haven’t stayed there. It’s among the better ranked for the area on TripAdvisor, and part of Marriott’s “Autograph Collected”-branded properties. I would wait several days after booking before making non-refundable travel arrangements around this rate to ensure that Marriott plans to honor the bookings. Most of the deals I find at Extreme Hotel Deals aren’t especially useful to me, single night offerings where it’s unlikely I’ll be in a city when they’re available. Nonetheless I find their email list interesting at a minimum. You can…
Hyatt Launching 20 New Hotels as Introduction to a “Lifestyle Brand”
The Wall Street Journal covers plans for Hyatt, Loews, and Langham to launch new ‘lifestyle brand’ hotels in 2015. Hotel chains have shifted their idea of luxury to meet what modern consumers want. Younger affluent customers aren’t necessarily looking for ornate or historical French design or formal service. Even Ritz-Carlton has tried to update itself. W Hotels, I think, did a fantastic job catching the moment in the late 1990’s but has struggled to keep pace with the potential of the market or update itself to remain relevant. In trying to be “cool” and not just offer a luxury experience catering to a younger demographic, it winds up chasing its tail. Here’s the thing about “lifestyle” brands. Cool doesn’t last. The Ian Schrager hotels aren’t great places to actually stay, at least anymore. The original…
How to Survive Flying Through This Week’s Historic Storms and Other Weather Events
I went on television earlier today to talk weather and navigating flight delays and cancellations. I’d sum up my advice as, expect the unexpected, be proactive, and be nice. There are five basic things to do to travel well through flight delays and cancellations
Another Airline Abolishes Fuel Surcharges, Etihad Lights Money on Fire, and Another Flight to Cuba
News and notes from around the interweb: Etihad’s quest to build its own fourth global alliance buy buying stakes in money-losing airlines that will continue to lose money, but can be used to redirect traffic through Abu Dhabi, continues with Alitalia. Cranky Flier dissects the Alitalia turnaround plan and finds it strangely like all the past failed turnaround plans. Etihad is just the latest (and possibly last) deep pocket. If you have an award on Etihad, check your flight schedules. They’ve just re-timed a bunch of flights for March 29-onward. That’ll create better connectivity to some destinations, but may be highly inconvenient for folks who already have travel plans. Speaking of bailouts, Thai Airways will get one instead of being allowed to file bankruptcy. According to the Prime Minister who installed himself in last year’s…
Inside Flyer Ceases Publishing After 29 Years: Randy Petersen Retires
Inside Flyer magazine’s blog offers the story of Randy Petersen’s retirement from magazine publishing. The magazine launched a number of other activities that continue and thrive today. During our time, InsideFlyer accomplished something that no other publication of its kind has–we left a legacy. Among the things InsideFlyer created, funded and willed to be relevant to the frequent flyer included the Freddie Awards, FlyerTalk and BoardingArea, along with its grandchild Milepoint.com. On their consumer advocate legacy, InsideFlyer beat back the introduction of a Saturday night stayover requirement on flight awards from United Mileage Plus in 2000, we led the rollback of the US Airways Dividend Miles elite change to drop status bonus miles, we provided the major funding and support for SaveSkyMiles which beat back an effort by Delta to offer fewer miles flown on…
Finally, One Card to Replace Them All?
I was very excited about 15 months ago when Coin launched for pre-order. It looked so cool, one card that you load your other credit cards onto via an app. You could carry the one and swipe it, you flip between cards that it represents with a button. This would be convenient for cleaning up my wallet, and for managing gift cards I thought. There’s no EMV chip, it holds up to 8 cards, and the two-year battery isn’t rechargeable. Supposedly Coin was going to be shipping last summer but it’s going to be this summer before I get mine. I should probably cancel the order, though I’m curious to try it out, even though it appears to have been surpassed by other offerings that should be in the market at the same time. I…
Taking Advantage of a Legal Loophole: You Can Avoid Paying Fuel Surcharges on Award Tickets If You Know Where to Start and End the Trip
Fuel surcharges are the bane of many frequent flyers, junk fees adding hundreds or even a thousand dollars onto award tickets by many frequent flyer programs around the world. Airlines like fuel surcharges because: Changing the fuel surcharge in a market can raise or lower every ticket price in that market, no need to re-file every single fare. They allow an airline to raise price even with many fixed-fare agreements. And, of course, because they can be charged to frequent flyers trying to redeem a captive points currency. US frequent flyers — who don’t participate in mileage programs based outside the US — don’t have to deal with fuel surcharges very much. American adds them to awards on British Airways (and to a very modest extent on Iberia) Alaska adds them to awards on British…
Saying Goodbye to the Sheraton Yankee Clipper
I’m not sure what rock I’ve been under, that the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort was sold and is now B Ocean Resort. The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort has also been sold, but it hasn’t been reflagged. Starwood of course lost the iconic Diplomat hotel outside of Fort Lauderdale to Hilton. But seeing the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort leave the fold struck me, in part because it flew the Sheraton flag since 1956. The Sheraton Beach Resort is the former Sheraton Yankee Clipper, and the Westin Beach Resort is the former Sheraton Yankee Trader. Both hotels received makeovers in recent years, in my view the Westin a nicer one than the Sheraton. But it’s the Sheraton that holds the most memories for me because it’s where I stayed as a high school debate…
