Reader Justin asked, Hi Gary – Do you have any recommendations for points or miles careers working out of Boston? Maybe working in the loyalty space or for a blog? I have a financial services consulting background and recently left my firm. I am an avid traveler and would love a career where I could pursue my passion. I have been reading your blog for over 6 years now and would love any advice you have to offer. Thank you so much! Justin, the best advice I can offer is run. Run away. As far and as fast as you can. The travel industry generally is a really tough place to make money. And while there are certainly large and enduring contracts — such as providing new CRM systems to loyalty programs, and even managing…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for March 2015.
Why Aren’t There Any Good Thai Restaurants in New York?
Reader Andrew said, Gary, would you tell us about your favorite Thai restaurants in NYC? Are any of them the same caliber as Elephant Jumps? Bonus points for being run-down, hole-in-the-wall places. If you want to eat Elephant Jumps’ food you’re going to have to go to Elephant Jumps. There’s unlikely to be a New York substitute. For all of you New Yorkers that have your back up at that statement, I’ll happily concede that the Washington DC area can compete or outcompete New York in probably only one or two other areas — Vietnamese for sure, and I’m tempted to say Ethiopian although that cuisine has been in long-term decline in the District. You’re going to get more hole in the wall places in Flushing than in Manhattan, and in Manhattan on the streets…
You Can Now Use American Miles and Systemwide eVIPs to Upgrade US Airways Flights
With the merger of US Airways Dividend Miles into the American AAdvantage program, there’s no more separate US Airways program. There are no more US Airways miles or elite upgrades. There’s only AAdvantage. US Airways members are now American AAdvantage members. The two airlines remain separate and will continue to operate separately until late this year. American’s new domestic first class product Until now, American miles could be used to upgrade American flights, and US Airways miles used to upgrade US Airways flights. Each airline’s top tier elite systemwide upgrades could only be used on the issuing-airline’s flights. American’s business class seat onboard the Boeing 777-300ER That changes now. American AAdvantage elite status is valid for complimentary upgrades on US Airways domestic flights. American miles can be used (with cash co-pay) to upgrade US Airways…
Resort Fees are Evil (and Actionable), Arming the TSA, New Hotel Bonus Promotion
News and notes from around the interweb: The TSA wants to be armed. In Virginia, the director of the charitable gaming commission used to be armed until my then-boss was appointed to its board and pushed to eliminate this militarization. The TSA doesn’t need its own armed force — there’s already an on-scene armed force in the form of police. The Venetian and Palazzo are being sued over resort fees. While consumers kvetch about well-disclosed checked bag fees, hotels engage in perhaps the most egregious deceptive pricing practice in travel. Club Carlson 5000 bonus points per night promo The airline flight that carried more drugs than people. (HT: Idir) In light of the Germanwings tragedy, Norwegian now requires two crew members in the cockpit at all times. Lufthansa will too. As will Air Malta and…
British Airways Was Hacked and All My Points Are Gone. Here’s What I Had to Do.
I couldn’t log into my British Airways Executive Club account today. And I received an email from British Airways: British Airways has become aware of some unauthorised activity in relation to your Executive Club account. This appears to have been the result of a third party using information obtained elsewhere on the internet, via an automated process, to try to gain access to your Executive Club account. We understand this was login information relating to a different online service which you may have also used to access your Executive Club account. Several fascinating things here: This issue is widespread, reported on blogs and multiple frequent flyer forums. I had people tweet me asking whether my account was involved in the shutdown. They appear to be implyig the hack was of Award Wallet (the only service…
Here’s How the US Airlines Can Compete And Win Against the Big Gulf Airlines (Instead of Lobbying the Government for Protectionist Policies)
Mar
27
2015
I’ve written extensively about the protectionism that US airlines are seeking from the government in bashing Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar — and about the hypocrisy as US airlines lobby for and take huge subsidies while attacking only those competitors they’re worried about for doing the same thing while ignoring the even greater subsidies offered to state airlines that they partner with (Think for instance Delta and Saudia, United and Air India). Gulf Carriers Receive Subsidies and So Do US Airlines There are certainly subsidies that have at various times helped to prop up the various major Gulf airlines, as we’ve seen with airlines around the world. Sometimes those subsidies have seemed larger than life, though it’s easy to forget the privileged position over time of British Airways at Heathrow and the gifting of Concorde. And…
Getting Your Visa for International Travel the Easy Way
The New York Times has a piece on visa services. I contribute, Gary Leff, a co-founder of Milepoint.com, a website for veteran and would-be frequent fliers, and the blogger behind the miles and points site View From the Wing, has directed his readers to Allied Passport and Visa, which has given them discounts. He said the feedback from readers who have used the visa service has always been positive, though he has yet to try it himself because he’s one of those frequent fliers who have not been able to part with their passport. I never used them because I lived in DC where countries all have embassies. Now that I’m only in DC about a week a month I will use them. For the record I’ve not taken any special consideration from them, I…
Hilton Changing Award Categories of Several Hotels — And Why It Doesn’t Matter
After Hilton’s dramatic award chart gutting of nearly two years ago, there weren’t huge changes again this year. And Hilton decided to change the way they made changes to how they re-assign hotels to award categories. Instead of an annual change to tons of hotels (a schedule they really weren’t wedded to in the past anyway) they decided they would make rolling changes throughout the year. And instead of informing all members proactively of these changes, they would just post them on a web page in the name of ‘transparency’. At least they are announcing the changes. And savvy members could create a change detection for the page. Hilton HHonors is making category adjustments to several hotels effective April 8 That said, this time they seem to have posted upcoming changes on Flyertalk but it…
My Perfect Travel Day. Here’s What it Looks Like.
No, it’s not showering onboard an Emirates Airbus A380. I’m not really a destination blogger per se but it really can be all about the destination. Earlier this week I took a helicopter…. …through a rainforest… and landed on a rock. Next to a waterfall… .. where I sat and drank champagne. Business class airfare thanks to Delta SkyMiles and hotel covered by Starwood Starpoints. Brunch where only a handful of people have ever gone? Well, I suppose I could have charged it to my room and convinced the hotel to claim an Instant Award against it. But, well, those aren’t an especially good value use of Starpoints. I feel like I can take the occasional splurge when the air and hotel are covered by points. And wandering around the forest, dipping in the water,…
IHG Rewards Club Unannounced Update to Terms and Conditions
IHG Rewards Club has again updated its terms and conditions without notifying members. This isn’t the big change to points-earning they snuck in just before the clock struck midnight on the New Year. Instead it’s a change to how they reward meeting planners and corporate bookers. Roughly speaking it appears they’re aping what Starwood has done with SPG Pro but they’ve updated their terms and conditions without telling members.
