Monthly Archives for January 2019.
A week ago the world learned about one of the worst airline passengers any of us has ever come across, a man who flies to Asia and consistently asks for help in the bathroom — help that he may not actually have needed.
He’s been blacklisted by the airline but media reports suggest he’s managed to circumvent the ban and buy himself another ticket on the airline. I’m skeptical.
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.
As in past years, as January approaches there are plenty of Executive Platinum members with systemwide upgrades that are expiring unused.
Fortunately American seems to be willing to extend expiring systemwide upgrades for some members through April 30 if you call and ask.
Hotel loyalty programs face a unique challenge that airlines don’t. Airlines set the rules and provide the product directly. Hotels have to get properties which are often owned and even managed separately to comply, with benefits like upgrades delivered consistently by individual employees at a front desk perhaps thousands of miles away. They rely on individual hotels and even employees to comply.
As a result it can be like playing whack-a-mole with individual properties. And with hotels around the world, members may be experiencing things on the ground that programs don’t know about. Or if they see an issue raised in passing it may not resonate with all of the issues they’re facing.
Hyatt announced today that they would open 40 hotels on the US West Coast by 2021. They’re really just describing the current pipeline and there are a few things to note. We know about several of these properties already.
This significant growth in Hyatt’s footprint, however they’re stretching to get to their 40 and limited service is the name of the game.
Earlier in the month Alaska Airlines needed to bump a passenger from first class on a New York JFK to San Francisco flight for a pilot traveling to a duty assignment. The passenger they downgraded to economy was John Kasich, who just finished serving 8 years as Governor of Ohio and who sought the Republican nomination for President in 2016.
Only Governor Kasich didn’t leave the first class cabin, he sat down in another passenger’s seat instead.
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.
Recently the Wall Street Journal wrote about banks trying to control rapidly spiraling rewards costs. I didn’t take seriously the idea that banks would cut back on rewards to consumers to do this because they are offering rich rewards for a reason: they need to do so to attract consumers which earn them a piece of every transaction (plus annual fees, and interest when they don’t pay off their bills).
Josh Barro though takes on the broader claim about banks backing off of big rewards in New York magazine.
What 2018 Taught Us What to Expect in 2019 The Future of Credit Card Rewards There’s a reasonable risk of recession some time in 2019. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates. Together that means higher cost of capital for banks and greater repayment risk on the credit they extend. As a result I see approval standards for premium rewards cards tightening. Initial cardmember bonuses remain crucial to attracting customers and demonstrating to them that the card has value quickly, in order to encourage moving a new card top of wallet. The fact that Barclays wasn’t successful with Arrival Premier moving consumers to a model of rewarding them after they’ve proven their value to the bank means that issuers can’t move away from big up front rewards. I continue to be impressed by how…
When Delta announced a new boarding process last month I gave it only a minor note since there’s very little actual change despite the hype about colors, simplicity and a better experience.
In an internal memo to employees Delta explains the strategy of their new boarding process — including making it clear to customers what they’re buying when they spend more.
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 »
