Monthly Archives for December 2023.
Marriott doesn’t appear to be complying with its legal settlement on resort fees. Depending on the property, they still show up as part of taxes which is deceptive. And while Marriott now supposedly lets you include resort fees as part of the total price shown on its website at first display, they are doing this only for paid rates and not for award nights (where they are even more deceptive).
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.
I was heading to DC for work and planned to meet my wife and daughter in New York. Our plan changed a bit, and instead of meeting downtown I needed to heat out to Staten Island (gosh, I hadn’t been there since late 2018 or early 2019). So my plan to arrive at New York LaGuardia at 5 p.m. on a 7,000 mile award wasn’t looking so good. Maybe it would take just an hour to get over to Staten Island, but it could easily take two.
So I checked on Amtrak to Metropark in New Jersey. The 2:15 p.m. would get me in at the perfect time to cruise up to dinner at 6 p.m. if everything was on time.
According to CEO Kirby, passengers bring small wheeled bags on board that are called “roller boards.” What on earth are those?
I had no real complaints about the property, though things were quite confused at check-in over the fold out couch versus rollaway bed in our suite and getting additional coffee from staff in the restaurant after first being seated took some doing. I’d definitely return given the overall elite value proposition here on points versus prevailing rates.
Now at Hyatt housekeeping is supposed to be available at least on request at all of their brands, though full service hotels provide it by default. I’ve been to a franchise Hyatt Place that won’t provide this even when asked to do so.
Another one like this is the Hyatt Place at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Here’s what they tell guests: housekeeping is not an option but you can choose points, a drink at the bar, or to volunteer as a gardener for the hotel.
Hawaiian Airlines has submitted a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that outlines what will happen to HawaiianMiles miles and elite status under the deal to be acquired by Alaska Airlines
Many European readers will love, love, love this – and also those in the Mideast. Royal Jordanian is offering a status match and it means benefits including lounge access when you fly American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar and more.
Bottom-line on this deal, think $149 for 12 months of lounge access and airport priority when you travel with any oneworld airline.
A man searches his hotel room and finds a hidden room – inside a hidden room – and it leads to a tunnel. This is the plot to everything M. Night Shyamalan produced after 2004.
United’s flight attendants union – the same union that downplayed boarding pay at Spirit – wants to one-up Delta, American, and SkyWest.
They want boarding pay like Delta, and like what’s been offered at American (50% pay), but they also want “Ground Time Pay” (50% pay).
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 »
