Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for October 2018.

As Marriott Workers Strike, Guests Stuck With the Full Bill But Less Service

by Gary Leff

western gaslamp
Oct 12 2018

8,000 Marriott employees are on strike in 8 cities. That encompasses 23 hotels in Boston, Detroit, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Hawaii out of about 6500 Marriott properties worldwide and includes housekeeping, bartenders and others represented by union UNITE Here.

Marriott’s position has been that hotels are open and they’re ready to welcome guests. Guest reports suggest otherwise. And Marriott won’t waive cancellation rules or notify guests in advance about the ways in which stays will be disrupted.

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Marriott Adds Bonus For Staying at Different Brands to New MegaBonus Promotion

by Gary Leff

brands
Oct 11 2018

Last month Marriott launched their first promotion of the ‘new’ program. There was a companion game 29 Ways to Stay for each of Marriott Rewards’ 29 participating brands. It was supposed to launch October 4. It finally launched today.

And Marriott has added on to their MegaBonus promotion, bonus points for staying at their different brands.

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30% Bonus on Transfers from Marriott Points to United (And Other Hotel Points, Too)

by Gary Leff

points miles promo
Oct 11 2018

When Marriott combined programs on August 18th they took all Starwood points balances and tripled them. And they kept the basics of the Starwood points transfers to miles system. So miles transfer 3:1 with most airline partners (instead of the old 1:1, but it’s effectively the same) and transfers into 20,000 miles earns 5000 bonus miles.

In other words, transferring 60,000 Marriott points yields 25,000 airline miles. When you transfer to United you also get a 10% bonus because of the Marriott-United RewardsPlus tie-in. And right now United is offering a 30% bonus on Marriott transfers up to 25,000 extra miles.

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American Sends Bigger Planes to Chicago – Because They’re Taking Business Seats Away From Smaller Planes

by Gary Leff

american plane
Oct 11 2018

American Airlines is taking business class seats out of their Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Those planes are going from 28 business class seats down to 20, so that the “mini cabin” at the back of business class can be used for premium economy.

Chicago is American’s 787-8 city. The airline likes to base a specific aircraft type in each city to the extent possible, because it makes their operation simpler. When a plane goes mechanical, they have more of that aircraft. They have people used to working on those planes all the time. And they have the parts. They also have more crew qualified to operate the aircraft.

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Murdered Oligarch Was Prepared to Testify About Aeroflot’s Role in Russian Spying

by Gary Leff

flight attendants in red
Oct 10 2018

Nikolai Glushkov was preparing for legal proceedings over claims that he looted over $100 million from Aeroflot when he served as the airline’s Deputy Director for Finance in the mid-1990’s. He had run out of money and was preparing to represent himself — until he was “strangled to death with a dog leash.” The Russian government has impugned the circumstances around his death, while the British government is investigating murder and notes that “a black van [was] seen near his home the night he was strangled.” Had his trial proceeded he was prepared to testify that Aeroflot was the centerpiece of Russia’s clandestine services. The airline, Ms. Litvinenko said her husband told her, was a centerpiece of the Russian spy services, which since Soviet days had used its global network of offices and air routes…

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