Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for October 2022.

Flaccid Russian Cyberattack Hits Several U.S. Airports

by Gary Leff

man in suit looking at computer screen
Oct 10 2022

After “Des Moines…?” my immediate thought was to work through whether this was a display of their real capabilities, or a warning shot? But this doesn’t signal they are capable of more. A DDoS attack against a public-facing website is something any modestly savvy teenager could launch. It doesn’t serve as a message that ‘we can reach your systems, and next time will be worse.’

Instead it’s more moderately annoying for the individual airports involved at best, the kind of attack someone would launch who wanted to say that an attack was made without actually doing one.

Continue Reading »

How Capping Credit Card Interchange Hurts The Economy

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Oct 10 2022

Where interchange has been limited, like in places such as Australia, credit card annual fees have risen since spend on the cards isn’t as profitable.

Europe, where interchange is limited and the use of cards as a payment mechanism is less common than in the United States (and cash more prevalent), is much poorer than the United States. That’s hardly the only reason, or the most significant reason. It’s a bundle of policies, and the U.S. would be ill-advised to follow European economic, financial and regulatory policy.

Continue Reading »

If Your Flight Gets Cancelled, Marriott Will Charge You Cash For Your ‘Free’ Award Stay

by Gary Leff

bonvoy
Oct 09 2022

A Marriott Bonvoy member writes about a recent award redemption experience – a flight delay caused them to miss the first night of their award stay, so they got the free night certificate back and the hotel charged them cash for the missed night. They were fortunate the cash amount was only $153. I’ve seen it as high as $2000.

Continue Reading »

Is CLEAR Worth It Anymore?

by Gary Leff

Oct 09 2022

CLEAR is a private, fee-based service that takes your biometrics and lets you identify yourself with your fingerprints or retina scan instead of showing an ID. At airports where they’re located you can then skip to the front of the security line – whether PreCheck or regular security.

However at some airports, like Atlanta, the lines for CLEAR can be longer than regular PreCheck and as a result this confers no advantage.

Continue Reading »

People Have Started Going On Vacation To Sleep

by Gary Leff

Oct 09 2022

When former United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz introduced his airline’s new business class product – from better seats, to new lounges with sit down dining so you could board the plane having already eaten, to new bedding and pajamas – he declared, “Sleep is the new black.”

In an increasingly sleep-deprived world, some people are now making sleep the point of the vacation. That will be anathema to many who believe you should go somewhere and experience the place, not experience sleep.

Continue Reading »

PayPal’s New $2500 Fine For Users Who Promote Misinformation Online

by Gary Leff

Oct 09 2022

PayPal updated its user agreement, and sent an email to business account customers, explaining that effective November 3 customers would be subject to $2,500 fines per instance of ‘promoting misinformation’ or “sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal’s sole discretion, (a) are harmful, obscene, harassing, or objectionable.”

If they deemed you to promote messages they objected to 10 times, or to have spread misinformation (in their sole discretion) 10 times, they could take $25,000 from your account. It isn’t clear whether – if your PayPal balance was $0 – they could withdraw funds from your linked accounts, but other areas of its terms would suggest this possibility. After an online backlash they’ve pulled the language from their update.

Continue Reading »