Monthly Archives for July 2021.
A US passport is now as powerful as one from Rwanda thanks to Covid restrictions.
In normal times a U.S. passport offers “access [to] 187 destinations around the world.” That’s been cut to “fewer than 60 destinations – a passport power equivalent to that of Uzbekistan. US passport holders have a passport power equivalent to Rwanda.”
Airlines are rewriting history, pretending they used bailout money to be prepared to fly when they really pocketed it for themselves. And the ‘really bad stuff’ that would have happened without bailouts wasn’t ever true.
The narrrative matters because we’re going to see airlines back at the public trough again in the future. Investors know their downside is limited because taxpayers will always be there. And that’s abhorrent.
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.
Guests have different expectations in different parts of the world. Daily housekeeping will remain in Asia, because guests there expect rooms to be clean. However based on U.S. guest expectations rooms won’t automatically be cleaned during a stay in this country. That seems odd to me, since we’ve spent the past 16 months talking about hygiene, learning to wash our hands for a full 20 seconds, and lysoling everything in sight.
I’m not sure how much value ‘fun’ safety videos actually ad. Do they get us to pay attention? Perhaps, but I’m not sure they get us to understand, internalize, and remember the safety information. Perhaps we focus on and remember the non-safety elements to the exclusion of the information that’s more important.
I love creativity in these videos anyway. They’re fun, they make me smile. Queer Eye (née Queer Eye For The Straight Guy) doesn’t do it for me per se, I’m beyond reclamation, but I applaud the attempt nonetheless.
The Marriott Courtyard in Bentonville, Arkansas is currently offering a ‘mules stay free’ rate of $79 per night, and it’s being promoted by the mayor of nearby Pea Ridge.
When have you ever been able to bring a mule to a hotel before? A giraffe, sure, but not a mule.
A comic book store in Houston, the Third Planet Sci-Fi Superstor, is suing the Crowne Plaza hotel next door for negligence because of all of the indignities our superheroes have had to endure from the IHG property’s guests. And they’ve put their suit in the form of an actual comic book, filed with the Harris County courts.
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.
Rental car prices have in many cases become the biggest expense of a trip. Rental companies offloaded vehicle inventories during the pandemic, and didn’t place orders. The market for cars is tight. And travel has picked back up. So there’s more people looking for cars than there are cars. Prices are sky high.
On my most recent trip Hertz was oversold by more than 60 and they had just one car. I got it. In situations like this I recommend tipping. You can debate in the comments whether the current circumstance justifies making more than one rental reservation, from different car companies. That fails Kantian ethics (how would this look if everyone did it?) but it’s a guerrilla tactic in a Mad Max-style world where everyone is out for themselves.
Hilton Honors was a weak loyalty program to begin with. It was less rewarding for your spend than you realized in terms of free nights earned – it offers lower rebates for both general members and for top elites than the other major chains (I show my work) – and more modest elite benefits than Hyatt and even the consistently inconsistent Marriott.
However what Hilton had going for it is breakfast. That was offered at all brands, without exceptions, and offered even to Golds. Gold is more or less a giveaway level, available via many credit cards and historically bundled via a number of promotions.
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 »
