As Bruce Schneier says when you ask amateurs to do frontline security you get amateur security. See something say something usually fails. You get too many false positives that it becomes noise and not intelligence and amateurs don’t actually know what to look for.
United is already planning to expand the Chicago lounge due to crowding. And they’re planning to open up these new premium lounges in Houston, Newark, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington Dulles, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London.
However none of these additional lounges will open before the end of the year. And in fact while two months ago they were describing the San Francisco, Newark, and London lounges as opening ‘early 2018’ they’re now describing those as just 2018 .
Four years ago United removed the ability to see Singapore Airlines award space on their website. When most airlines are trying hard to get partner awards bookable online so members don’t have to call, United made the choice to take away access to Singapore space online so members would have to pick up the phone (and likely so members wouldn’t even know it was an option).
At the time United claimed this was based on an agreement they made with Singapore Airlines. Singapore called this out as a lie saying the decision was United’s and one “we have no influence over.”
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.
I spent the weekend at the Andaz 5th Avenue in New York. I used to stay here all the time but haven’t been in quite awhile, not since Cornelia Samara left as General Manager to open the new 1Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.
Most of the time in New York I’ll try to stay as close as possible to my meetings. That’s meant that I’ve even stayed at the Hyatt Herald Square semi-regularly despite rooms better suited for elves than people.
Delta has been very forthright about how they see their most frequent customers, and the perks those flyers value most.
Two years ago they made clear that they saw the end of first class upgrades coming. Delta’s CEO just made the point again in no uncertain terms.
When Marriott first introduced mobile check-in at certain hotels, they apparently weren’t pre-authorizing guest credit cards for the stay. I’m told a not insignificant number of people checked in under false names and loaded prepaid debit cards with very low balances, just walking away from their hotel bills.
It’s the modern hotel equivalent of ‘dine and dash’ although a hotel guest in Guizhou, China shows it’s still possible to just go old school.
Whether you are a current Hyatt Visa cardmember or you get a new one this month as long as you register by October 31 you’ll receive a $50 rebate on $300 or more in spend with Hyatt Place and Hyatt House through January 1, 2018.
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.
Kuala Lumpur is one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s probably my favorite food city, from satay to prawn mee to amazing roti.
And I’m giving away a 3 night weekend stay at my favorite hotel in the city which has great views of the Petronas towers. Oh, and the room comes with club lounge access too.
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 »
