Starwood got hacked. This came shortly after American, United, and Hilton got hacked. Points are advertised for sale cheap online. Data security is big business, consulting firms have identified a huge mark business opportunity in working with loyalty programs. There’s no way to be perfectly secure, and programs don’t often admit what’s really going on — plenty of blame shifting, talk about the need for strong passwords and changing passwords (blame the customer), talk about third parties getting hacked (blame the partners). Truth is that some amount of hacking risk is a cost of doing business, you don’t want to be ‘too secure’ or you’ll be too difficult to do business with. Customers who have to constantly change passwords that they can’t remember are customers who will be frustrated and won’t engage with the program…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for January 2015.
Passenger Shaming: The Worst Behavior in the Skies Reported On This Week
It’s not just the man who used an airline’s mistaken downgrade as an excuse for groping and sexually insulting a flight attendant. Here are two stories out of Canada this week: Couple Attempts to Hide Acts on Plane via Coat Over Laps Despite Also Being Topless. The New York Daily News leads, ‘Her pants were down around her ankles’: Canadian couple used coat over laps to hide mid-flight sex acts, attendant says.. ..He found the couple in their seats with a coat covering their laps. Lander’s pants were down, her breasts were out of her bra and her hand was near Chase’s crotch, the flights attendant said. ..It’s not clear if the two knew each other before the frisky incident. ..Dunn demanded Lander get dressed and asked her to put her breasts back inside of…
The Sordid Tale That Led to SkyMall’s Bankruptcy Filing, and What Happens Next
The AP’s Scott Mayerowitz goes for the easy opener on news of Skymall’s bankruptcy. Apparently, airline passengers aren’t buying enough garden gnomes, superhero pajamas and heated cat shelters. Sales dropped nearly in half year over year and by three quarters over the past four years. The company believes people flipped through the magazine less and less and personal electronic devices became more common. In addition, gogo inflight internet even allows some free browsing of online shopping sites. The magazine paid the airlines to carry it, in an amount which increased in recent years as fuel costs rose (since paper is heavy). They charged other companies for ads in that magazine, and took a commission on sales, because they in turn provided access to airline passengers which are an upscale demographic and captive (and presumably bored)…
United’s Big New Investment in Inflight Meals — Including Lobster!
Yesterday I noted that American is ramping up its investment in onboard cookies. Implicit is an acceptance that soft product matters, even if the most important things are, in order: Safety Schedule Seat Premium cabins need some minimum standard meal, and minimum standard of attentive service. Onboard entertainment is believed to matter, which is why airlines continue to either install heavy expensive equipment or hand out tablets. Most frequent flyers I talk to say that it continues to matter, though I don’t understand it myself, I’d rather take control of my own entertainment and download shows in advance to my personal devices. I’d take onboard internet over entertainment, even when the internet won’t stream video, every day. On long flights, seat power matters. On my piece on cookies, I noted that United is bringing back…
Are Credit Card Companies About to Start Awarding Fewer Miles for Signups and Spend?
Skift reported yesterday on the renewal of the Delta-American Express co-brand arrangement that’s worth $2 billion a year to Delta. The renewal is for 6 years. The last renewal was in 2008. American Express has also renewed their Starwood relationship. While Skift suggests the renewal “amounts to a 15 percent improvement in terms for Delta” that’s actually 15% better in the first year of the deal, and a 20% imrpovement for Delta thereafter. Despite paying more, Amex Platinum and Centurion cards still receive hobbled access to Delta clubs and Black card members have seen a hobbling of their Delta status. The Skift piece argues that the Delta renewal will set a standard that could be followed by other co-brand deals.
The World’s Busiest Airport Isn’t Atlanta, Double Flight Points Through March, and an Air Marshall Wins at the Supreme Court
News and notes from around the interweb: Double Virgin America points through March 31. Registration required. Some commenters are reporting being told that Chase points transfers to Korean will return on January 25. I reached out again to Chase and got simply, “We anticipate the functionality returning soon.” Supreme Court rules air marshall didn’t violate federal law when leaking TSA plans. The new Vietnam Airlines blog, focused on that nation’s carrier and others in Southeast Asia, has new details on the Vietnam Airlines 787 including new lie flat business class seats and a seat map mockup. Now that Delta offers one-way awards I may wind up trying something like this.. Double American AAdvantage miles between the US/Canada and Asia on American and their joint venture partner JAL (though not on American’s China routes). There’s also…
How Starwood Got Hacked Over the Past Week
Several folks had their Starwood Preferred Guest accounts drained over the past week, many of whom have shared their stories with me. Krebs on Security has the story on how it happened. [A] Starwoods-specific account-checking tool that was released for free on Leakforums[dot]org, an English-language forum dedicated to helping (mostly low-skilled) misfits monetize compromised credentials from various online services, particularly e-retailers, cloud-based services and points or rewards accounts. What it did was simply let folks check to see if data that had been stolen in other hacks could be used to access Starwood accounts. Since people use their email address as a user ID, and the same passwords across many sites, simply taking a database of stolen usernames and passwords will generate a good hit ratio across other sites. Not everyone on one site is…
American Is Replacing Their Unpopular First Class Chocolate Chip Cookie. Here’s Why That Matters.
I read a rumor in my Facebook feed that American was changing its onboard cookies again, and I reached out to see if that was true. A spokesperson told me, “Rumor confirmed. We’re changing cookies.” That’s exciting news, believe it or not, for an American Airlines frequent flyer — both because the cookie they introduced in September wasn’t very good.. but more importantly because of what it shows about how they’re making decisions as they proceed with the merger. In talking with them about the cookie, I learned that: The September-onward cookie “was made with higher quality chocolate and was quite frankly more expensive than what we had been serving on American.” They heard customer feedback that it wasn’t as enjoyable as the old cookie. So they’ve taste-tested a new cookie that’s “going back to…
Eight Ways to Save Money on Airfare… and How Not To Save Money on Airfare
Reader David B. pointed me to Scott McCartney’s column in the Wall Street Journal on what to do — and what not to do — to try to save money on airfare. Here are 8 important ways to save money:
An Airline Completely Eliminates Fuel Surcharges to the US! Plus 50,000 American Miles and More…
News and notes from around the interweb: 2500 bonus American miles every 2nd Marriott stay, up to 50,000 miles for stays between February 1 and April 30. Registration required. The offer details say it’s targeted, but everyone I checked with has received it (and you’ll know if the offer shows up in your account once you register). Immediately after getting some heat, Virgin Australia has decided to eliminate fuel surcharges on its U.S. flights (though it will raise paid fares most of the way back to compensate). Delta stopped adding fuel surcharges to Virgin Australia two years ago. They’re a Starwood Preferred Guest transfer partner as well, though you have to use an eligible address to join the program. New York JFK’s $50 million ‘terminal for animals’ known as ‘The Ark at JFK’. Air India…
