Wouldn’t it be great to pick up pre-ordered food nearby the lounge you’re headed to and get a discount on the meal?
Bringing more airport vendors on the platform means better customer data – with a broader view and greater understanding of each customer, in order to better tailor offers that move the needle on sales – and cross-marketing to existing customers.
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.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary believes a lot of controversial things and says them. I’ve often been skeptical that he even believes what he says – whenever he’s been out of the news for awhile he’ll talk about making customers of the European low cost carrier pay to use the lavatory, which I guess he believes entrenches the belief in customers’ minds that his airline is cheap.
However in a new interview he made made several claims only a couple of which are clearly self-serving.
Malaysia Airlines flight attendant Ina Meliesa Hassim filed a case against her employer after being fired for weighing in 1.5 pounds over the airline’s standard for her height.
She lost the case. The court chairman concludedthat there was just cause for the termination.
Milwaukee airport’s security manager has been fired after falling for a scam, buying gift cards and sending them to someone in Saudi Arabia posing as her boss.
She’s the security director and she’s not careful dealing with online scammers. That’s not a good look, and she was let go for “substandard or careless job performance.” However what she ran into is very common and part of a multi-billion dollar scam that I’ve run into many times over the past three years.
Chase and United have extended their credit card agreement into 2029. United will remain a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner. And Chase is, it seems, paying United more for the miles that it awards to customers – the airline says its bottom line will improve $400 million in 2020 alone.
There’s currently business class tickets between New York and Russia – either Moscow or St. Petersburg – from just $1622 roundtrip with the transatlantic portion of the journey on oneworld member Finnair. That’s an amazing fare, and it’s available exactly when you’d want to make the trip whether you want the best weather or to steal an election.
Last month JetBlue increased its first checked bag fee to $35 but kept it at $30 if prepaid online. Now United has announced they’re matching the move on domestic and short haul Latin America and Caribbean routes.
With United getting rid of bag sizers at the gate and higher bag fees may exacerbate the ‘bring everything on board’ mentality.
The 13,295 square foot lounge is located between the D and E concourses on the top level (you take an elevator upstairs). It features a bar, showers, family rooms, and great views of downtown and of airport operations.
Following a similar move already announced by Hyatt, Marriott is extending elite status by a year for residents of China and its Special Administrative Regions (as well as Taiwan so as not to get in trouble by differentiating it) due to the coronavirus outbreak and concomitant drop in travel to and from the region. This is based on account address date as of February 1, 2020.
Marriott is also extending Suite Night Awards and Free Night awards for these customers won’t expire points in these members’ accounts until February 2021.
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 »
