Monthly Archives for June 2017.
The Chairman of China’s Anbang Insurage Group, which owns the Waldorf=Astoria New York and other hotels in the U.S. and which tried to buy Starwood ultimately being outbid by Marriott, has reportedly been detained.
This card launched around 8 months ago with a big signup bonus and strong points-earning. But it’s a $95 annual fee card, not a $450 annual fee card.
It comes with an 80,000 Point Signup Bonus: Spend $5000 on your new card within 3 months and you’ll get 80,000 points. As you’ll see below, that can even be enough for a roundtrip business class award ticket between the US and Europe.
On Friday I reached out to American Airlines because they were collecting carrier-imposed surcharges when using AAdvantage miles for British Airways awards even on an itinerary where there are no such surcharges.
And there’s already a resolution — great responsiveness on American’s part for their members.
Hyatt informed its hotel owners last week that it intends to terminate its distribution agreement with Expedia. This is a negotiating tactic to drive down the commissions it pays.
If they don’t reach a new agreement by July 31, then on August 1 we’ll see Hyatt properties disappear from Expedia and related brands (Hotels.com, Orbitz, Hotwire, Travelocity, Wotif).
A week ago two passengers joined the Mile High Club in their seats while onlooking passengers filmed it (and flight crew refused to get involved).
Here’s the not totally safe for work video — and the rest of the story.
You know how some kids just have to touch the stove when their parents tell them it’s hot?
Right after an announcement that passengers shouldn’t touch the emergency exit door unless it’s an emergency a passenger on Xiamen Airlines flight MF8118 on Monday opened an exit door deploying the slide — because she was ‘curious’. She faces detention and significant costs.
Etihad launched San Francisco – Abu Dhabi in November 2014. They reduced frequency on the route to 3 times weekly back on February 1. Now they’re eliminating the route entirely October 29.
Surveillance video shows 71 year old Ronald Tigne shoved to the ground by a United Airlines customer service agent.
He says he asked the employee “for a new boarding pass because the one he had was garbled” but that the agent replied, “Can’t you see we’re busy?” (though the agents weren’t helping other customers at the time). Mr. Tigne told the agent to “wipe that smile off his face” and the agent is said to have responded, “I’ll kick your…” and that’s when he shoved the man to the ground.
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.
A woman onboard American Airlines flight AA329 from Dallas to Minneapolis this morning died in the lavatory.
A passenger seated near her said she went to the bathroom “about halfway” into the scheduled 2 hour 23 minute flight.
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 »
