Monthly Archives for February 2023.
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant was arrested on January 28 after allegedly attacking guests – shirtless – wit a toilet plunger in a crew layover hotel in Des Moines, Iowa while pulling the fire alarm and partially flooding the property.
There were reports this week that Virgin Clubhouses were cutting Plaza Premium lounge access, it was natural to expect this would affect both American Express and Capital One customers. However Capital One confirms their cardmembers will still have access.
Foreign visits to the U.S. are down substantially compared to pre-pandemic times. That’s bad for airlines. It’s bad for hotels. But it’s bad for the entire U.S. economy, too. And it’s an own-goal, with the U.S. government slow-walking people who want to visit here from around the world.
What TakeOff15 says is you only get the best value out of your miles if you’re a co-brand cardmember. They’re giving even less value to the median member of the SkyMiles program, who doesn’t have the card. And they don’t seem to be concerned that this will erode brand loyalty.
The food and beverage credit is a ‘choice benefit’ and members have been choosing these since the program launched and guests started reaching the required number of nights.
But they haven’t yet been able to spend them. These are $20 credits which can be applied to a stay folio for spending at hotel restaurants, in-room dining, minibar food and beverage items (and can be used to cover tax and tip where applicable). Fortunately they’re now going live in the first wave of a release.
In the 60’s and 70’s the original Diplomat was frequented by Rat Pack types. The hotel closed in 1991 and was acquired by the International Brotherhood of Plumbers and Pipefitters in 1998, torn down, and rebuilt at a cost of ~ $800 million in construction costs and $40 million for the property. That’s about what it’s being sold for today – without adjusting for inflation.
Now one of those March 2020-retired Boeing 757s – which eventually made it from Tulsa to the desert in Roswell, New Mexico – has been opened, as though it were a time capsule. It’s headed off to China for a cargo retrofit. And while the plane has been painted over to obscure its previous owner, the interior is completely preserved.
Inside the Boeing 757 you see the old Collins Diamond business class seats. They lie flat, but the plane lacked direct aisle access for these seats. There were no seat back entertainment screens, either. There was still material in the seat back pockets!
There’s a new Mastercard coming that won’t give you rewards for your spend. Instead it’ll reward the creator of your choice. And in exchange you’ll get access to exclusive experiences from that creator. In other words, it’s like OnlyFans but where you charge your credit card everywhere you spend money instead of charging your card to pay your favorite creator.
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.
A Delta Air Lines flight attendant told a female passenger she had a “stupid face” before kicking a couple off a plane. The incident began when the passengers were using empty space in a first class overhead bin, after first class had fully boarded. And, according to the passengers, the airline promised compensation – but first they had to remove details of the incident from social media.
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 »
