American Airlines Passenger Finds Seatbelt Held Together With Tape [Roundup]

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About Gary Leff

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 »

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Comments

  1. Gary, come on you know I love late checkout as much as the next guest (unless they’re waiting for my room) but that analysis shared on LinkedIn is bunk.

    How do I know that? Because the people who did the analysis aren’t qualified in causal inference. They probably just looked at charges to hotel folios post-standard checkout time. Duh, if you’ve already checked out, you can’t charge anything more to your folio so this sort of comparison of folio charges between late checkout guests vs. standard checkout guests will necessarily show that late checkout guests spend more.

    A rigorous analysis needs to address the counterfactual. Did guests spend money because they had late checkout? If you, as a hotel, merely offered to store their bags, would they have spent the same amount of money, because they had free time before their late afternoon or evening flight anyway? What if you, as a hotel, offered to store bags and gave away a token drink voucher (which costs you far less than holding their room past standard checkout time). Would those guests spend even more money and post on Google reviews about how lovely you are because you gave them a “free” drink that maybe cost you 5 cents? Don’t forget this approach makes your bellhops and bartenders happy because guests tip even on free goods and services.

    Hoteliers and their marketing professionals are experts in hospitality and marketing, not in causal inference.

  2. I have no sympathy for some cuck or Karen that can’t directly make a request to a rude passenger or notify a flight attendant, but only can passive aggressively whine on SM. You’re part of the reason that this behavior continues.

  3. On the lady who experienced bed bugs at the hotel in Florida—I believe her. I also know that Floridians are known to engage in psychological warfare against others—such gaslighting is absolutely a tactic. When hotels (or these types of people, generally) are at fault, instead of doing the right thing, admitting liability, taking responsibility, or actually improving anything, they’ll use rhetorical tricks until you give up. We need actual accountability, not this nonsense; not this corruption.

    @Mantis — Classic victim-blaming. Instead, let’s form coalitions of the ‘decent’ to shame rude passengers, both in-person and on-line.

    @Erect — I love your passion. Please keep it up. (Get it?!)

  4. Personally I think that very few people would check out and then ask for their luggage to be held while they shop or eat. Late checkout solves that problem as the luggage remains secured in their locked room. I can see why hoteliers hate late checkout as it is disruptive of work schedules and room schedules. I can also see that it could drive some extra revenue and customer satisfaction.

    Bedbugs are difficult to get rid of but they don’t explode in population overnight. While a given guest could have brought them in, it is just as likely a previous guest did. Further, if the laundry service isn’t dealing with the linens correctly, they may have came from another room. Blaming any specific guest is boorish behavior unless more specific observations have been done.

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