Monthly Archives for February 2017.
The last thing Uber needs is more negative attention, especially after the story about having a hostile workplace towards women. But it looks like they’re going to get some.
Marriott announced David Flueck today as Senior Vice President, Loyalty. I spoke with David this afternoon about what comes next as they work towards a single loyalty program across Marriott, Starwood, and Ritz-Carlton.
These aren’t many hotels that are changing category, but Club Carlson’s category changes were posted online (and they go into effect tomorrow, March 1.
Hotels in the US and Asia are going up. Hotels in Europe, Mideast and Africa are mostly going down. In all 13 hotels are going up in category, 7 are going down, for 20 total changes.
In the fall Wyndham Rewards added 17,000 properties for you to redeem points at, allowing redemptions at timeshare and managed vacation rentals.
They’re running a 72-hour flash sale where 15,000 homes across Europe are 15,000 points per night, instead of 15,000 points per bedroom.
British Airways OpenSkies has a sale fare that lets you stack two discounts and get the price between New York (Newark and JFK) and Paris-Orly under $300 roundtrip.
There’s also a broader sale between several US cities and several cities in Europe for about $400 roundtrip on American and Delta for outbound travel in early May or for mid August through December.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Sometimes terrible immigration stories are terrible, or byzantine because our federal immigration service is just that — this was just as true before January 20 as after. Not every awful immigration story is a result of the Trump administration.
On Wednesday a French academic expert on the holocaust was detained at Houston airport for 10 hours, and threatened with deportation.
A couple of years ago a member of the state legislature went public with threats from Delta: members who didn’t support fuel tax subsidies for the airline could lose flights to their districts. (Delta rewards favored politicians, too.) The special tax break expired.
For those who can earn top tier in the new ‘World of Hyatt’ program (60 nights or $20,000 in spend) the changes going into effect March 1 are probably an improvement such as an upgrade benefit based on availability that no longer excludes suites, the ability to earn more confirmed suite upgrades by staying more nights beyond the minimum required to qualify, and especially having a dedicated concierge to handle all things Hyatt-related.
At the same time it can’t be emphasized enough that the changes to Hyatt’s loyalty program are going to mean big cost savings for hotels.
Female flight attendants for Aeroflot — who call themselves “old, fat, ugly” — have written an open letter to Vladimir Putin complaining that the airline has sidelined them from flying international routes.
Aeroflot is, the female flight attendants women claim, literally sending them to Siberia.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
