Citibank is devaluing ThankYou Rewards transfers to Choice Privileges and Preferred Hotels effective April 19, cutting the Choice ratio by 25% and the I Prefer ratio by 50%. The change wipes out value from these niche hotel partners. Preferred had been one of the program’s sweet spots.
Lufthansa is testing less cleaning in coach on 20 short-haul routes while continuing to clean business class between flights. The move turns cabin cleaning into a class divide, with premium passengers still getting tidy seats while travelers in back may find dirtier lavatories and trash in the seat back pockets.
Hyatt is quietly surveying some of the biggest changes elites have seen in 10 years, including the idea of a new elite tier above Globalist and turning some current perks into one-stay rewards instead of benefits you enjoy on each stay. The survey also raises the possibility of premium suite upgrades even as they pursue cost cuts in the program.
Chase has brought back a 100,000-point bonus on the Ink Business Preferred, giving small-business owners and those of you with a side hustle one of the strongest bank card offers available right now. The card’s $95 annual fee is low for a bonus this large, and the points can be transferred to valuable airline and hotel partners like Hyatt, United, Air France KLM, British Airways, and Singapore Airlines.
Delta has already made clear it wants Austin to become a major growth city, with more gates, more lounges, more flights, and even Seoul in its sights. After adding flights to American’s Miami hub it is now adding Phoenix. As American is distracted by its fight with United at Chicago, Delta is encroaching on American’s hubs.
Citi premium card looks complicated at first, but the real value is straightforward once you know how the credits post. The Strata Elite’s hotel, Splurge, Blacklane, Priority Pass, and Admirals Club benefits can make the first cardmember year far more lucrative than the $595 fee suggests.
Air India sent passengers on a flight to nowhere after dispatching a leased ex-Delta Boeing 777 that did not have enough emergency oxygen for the route it was flying. Much of the early coverage blamed the aircraft type or Canada paperwork, but the real problem appears to have been that this specific subfleet was not properly configured for the terrain-critical routing.
A Frontier Airlines passenger being removed from a flight under police escort suddenly turned and attacked another traveler who was filming her from a nearby seat.
Denver Airport lost power, the trains went down, and passengers were suddenly stuck with no easy way out of the terminal. Plus, Chicago making hotel taxes the highest in the nation, a line to enter the American Airlines Admirals Club in Miami, and more stupidity.
Canadian and U.S. fighter jets were scrambled to escort two flights bound for Montreal after authorities realized one passenger was traveling under a false identity after using stolen Aeroplan points to book the trip.
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 »
