When the Marriotts and Hiltons of the world actually owned the hotels that they marketed, there was better alignment of incentives for maintaining and extending their brands (and they found it much easier to deliver promises to guests on-property). An ‘asset light’ model where the chain simply rents out the brand can work – but needs a laser-like focus on defending and growing the value of the brand, not merely living off of and depreciating it.
Shockingly someone is selling ConciergeKey status on eBay! They’re asking $2000 and say that there are 10 available.
This is actually for a ConciergeKey challenge offering 3 months of status, and keeping the status through the end of the current member year (March 31, 2023) for $15,000 spend with the airline in those 3 months.
Capital One Venture X is the premium version of its signature Venture product And I’m sort of amazed at how much they’re including at the price point.
For travel rewards fans this is going to be a strong card to consider – and it hits high marks for all of the reasons you may want to get and use a card – a (very) big initial bonus, strong earning for your spend, and great benefits.
This has to be the most absurd fee ever charged by an airline. Startup carrier Breeze Airways, founded by the creator of JetBlue and several other airlines around the world, will hit you with a $27 “technology development fee” when buying a ticket. The reason why – and how to avoid it – will really take you beyond the looking glass of the U.S. airline industry.
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.
You can earn 20,000 Etihad Guest miles per 3+ day Avis rental. This is in addition to the usual base miles earned renting cars. I’m not sure I’ve seen a richer rental car offer since 2008.
Many readers can get a business card and probably should. Getting a small business card is one of the things you should do as you start your business. It’s often the first resource many business owners look to as they start to grow. A small business card allow you to separate business from personal expenses and builds the credit history and identity of your business.
It also opens up a whole world of additional rewards possibilities. Here are my favorites right now – and the two major benefits of a small business card over a personal (consumer) card, in my opinion.
The member was completely locked out of their account while the account was placed under audit. They thought their account might get closed through no fault of their own.
In the end it didn’t take 45 days for the investigation as they were told to expect. Their account was taken of of audit, and points were returned, after 44 days.
It has seemed like the card hasn’t added much (aside from merchant-funded offers such as with DoorDash, Lyft, and Peleton) in several years. They haven’t repeated the card’s big initial bonus offers from when the product was introduced in 2016. And readers relay that it’s been tough to get approved for the card.
So it really struck me that Chase has shifted to a mode where it seems that they’re looking to acquire new customers for the card.
Uber is terminating its rewards program. They’re dropping elite status. Customers who earned benefits – even just earning them this month – won’t receive their promised extra points, better customer service, or priority on airport pickups effective September 1. In fact there won’t even be any more points-earning.
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 »
