Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for July 2018.

8 Things I Learned From United’s Earnings Call

united
Jul 18 2018

United Airlines held its earnings call this morning. The airline’s stock price jumped with release of their performance for the second quarter and during the call.

Since earnings beat estimates it was a more upbeat call than many of United’s recent run-ins with the investor community. It also largely focused on how they plan to drive earnings growth despite potential geopolitical and fuel price challenges.

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Hyatt Introduces New Earn or Burn Points for Experiences Website

tours and adventures promo
Jul 18 2018

For a company invested in being an experiential brand outside of hotel stays, trying to earn a revenue premium by ‘helping you be a better you’ through acquisitions live Miraval and Exhale Spas, Hyatt has been behind its competitors in offering experiences outside of its hotels through its loyalty program.

More options are better, and it’s worth giving these a scan. There isn’t the exceptional value, scale, or true scarcity to the bulk of these experiences. But some of them are going to be interesting, and the value per point is fair though not outsized.

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Bikini Airline Orders 100 Boeing 737 MAX Planes

vietjet calendar cover
Jul 18 2018

VietJet’s CEO became Southeast Asia’s first self-made female billionaire. The airline is a discount carrier flying narrowbody aircraft mostly domestically although with several routes now into Asia.

They’ve branded themselves the bikini airline. And the airline’s CEO sees the campaigns and onboard stunts as empowering. Vietnam has a very conservative culture, and the public bikini stunts rebel against traditional notions of female dress in that society.

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Delta Agents in Seattle Fired For Giving Out Upgrades, But They Say It Was Another Reason

airplane seats
Jul 17 2018

Four Delta agents in Seattle were fired and were told it’s because they were giving out upgrades.

When flights are oversold in coach but have empty seats in business class, airlines pick out passengers to give ‘operational upgrades’ to. Some airlines will ;prioritize this based on elite status, but that’s not always the case.

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Plutonium Stolen From the Parking Lot of the Marriott San Antonio Northwest

marriott hotel
Jul 17 2018

On a mission to recover radioactive materials, two Department of Energy employees from the Idaho National Laboratory drove to San Antonio. Materials had been loaned to a private research lab, and their job was to get it back and transport it security to a government facility.

They brought with them specialized radiation detectors. And to calibrate the detectors they have to bring along some plutonium, too, and also cesium. These are the materials used in nuclear weapons or dirty bombs.

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