News and notes from around the interweb:
- Expedia is changing Expedia Rewards again, they already made the program so weak I stopped worrying over it. However if they really do ‘integrate all their online booking properties’ into a single rewards currency the big loser is Hotels.com members. The hotels.com program isn’t as valuable as it once was, but it’s still a 10% rebate every 10 nights, and under the Expedia Rewards model it’ll give less.
By the way Chase is in the process of moving away from Expedia for its travel portal, back to CXLoyalty which they acquired a year ago.
Expedia Dancers Are Outdoors Since Their Points-Earning No Longer Covers A Room, Flickr: Juggernautco - Air Canada’s Aeroplan program has put off revenue-based mileage-earning for Air Canada flights (and partner flights on Air Canada tickets) until “at least the end of 2022.”[v]volving customer needs and preferences as we exit the pandemic” and that it was more important to focus on other tech projects. They commit to “a reasonable advance notice of this change” when it does finally happen.
- Family of man dissected in Marriott ballroom says they didn’t give consent. (HT: T.)
Event organizers sold tickets for up to $500 to the public to view in-person the autopsy and dissection of a human body. The event is part of the Oddities and Curiosities Expo, which travels across the country.
[The body] was handed off to a private company that the family thought would use his corpse for medical research. Instead, Saunders ended up in a Portland Marriott hotel ballroom as the centerpiece of an autopsy and dissection before a live, paying audience.
Arne Sorenson did once take a stand for not judging which groups choose to hold events at Marriott properties. The only lesson I draw from this is “donating a body to science doesn’t mean what you think it means” – perhaps more valuable to know than you’d have thought.
- Amex cardholders can get 6 free months of MyPanera+ coffee membership. Sign up by January 31, 2022. After your trial they charge you $8.99+tax per month. This gets you unlimited coffee or tea every two hours with unlimited refill.
One Mile at a Time correctly notes that American Express is not paying Panera for this benefit, but assumes “there’s not any money directly changing hands here.” I’m not so sure, given it’s only a 6 month membership cardmembers get before getting charged I’d guess American Express is being paid to market this to their customers.
- Love this.
I still want to cancel the [Insert product]. Thanks though!!!! pic.twitter.com/FEFsQpzBzn
— Emily McNutt (@mcnutt_emily) November 3, 2021
- I registered for this targeted Hyatt offer, but sadly I probably won’t stay 10 nights with Hyatt by mid-January (let alone 50!). It’s precisely that travel drops off heavily during this period that explains the offer.
This year, those attending the Oddities and Curiosities Expo in Portland, Oregon, witnessed a retired anatomy professor conduct a live autopsy on a corpse. It is good to know you can earn and enjoy Marriott Bonvoy™ Benefits while at the same time increasing your knowledge of human anatomy. I recommend washing your hands and sanitizing your table before dining at this property.
According to medpagetoday.com, here is a link to more information on the live autopsy of a COVID victim held inside the Portland Marriott Hotel during the Oddities and Curiosities Expo in Portland, Oregon.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/95443?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2021-11-05&eun=g1765328d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Top%20Cat%20HeC%20%202021-11-05&utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition
Hyatt has excluded the vast majority of its customers from that promo you mention above as well as from the 12k points for 5 nights promo.
The promo from Hyatt was narrowly targeted. The vast majority of Hyatt customers have not received any Hyatt points promo for the November-January period.
Have all the big bloggers in this space been whitelisted for this Hyatt promo round? Most of us traveling peons have not.
No idea. Doesn’t help me to be included I will not earn the bonus but I have I think 86 elite nights this year and am a US resident if that has anything to do with it
You asked if Expedia could get worse. No one should be booking with Expedia. Check out Facebook pages “EXPEDIA VICTIMS” and “Expedia Travel Complaints”.
Expedia.com is rated Bad (1.1/5) and expedia.co.uk is rated Bad (1.3/5) on Trustpilot.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index and Statista show customer satisfaction with Expedia at its lowest level ever.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) records Expedia.com’s customer rating as 1.05/5. The BBB has issued a warning:
“CURRENT ALERTS FOR THIS BUSINESS
Pattern of Complaint:
On July 28, 2021, Better Business Bureau recognized a pattern of complaints from consumers regarding Expedia.com’s customer service and service issues, product delivery issues, and refund/exchange issues. Consumers state Expedia has severely extended wait times when attempting to call customer support, and/or they cannot connect with a supervisor for escalated situations. Further, consumers allege confusion between Expedia.com and vendors regarding the refund policy. Consumers further assert Expedia.com is not honoring the contractual promise of product or services purchased, and claim they receive inconsistent information from customer support representatives regarding refund/exchange policy.”