On this morning’s United earnings call Senior Vice President Andrew Nocella announced that they’ll be adding a plane with new Polaris business class seats every 10 days through 2020. If that turns out to be accurate it’s a real acceleration of pace for an airline that’s only retrofitted half a dozen planes in the two years since the product was announced.
Meanwhile two new Polaris lounges will open next month.
Last week Hilton shared the details of their second quarter promotion, however it wasn’t yet available for registration. Now it is, and you should register, even if you don’t expect to stay at Hiltons in the coming months — because if your plans change (even with a last minute stay because of a forced overnight when your flight cancels) you’ll never remember to register on the spot. It takes seconds now then it’s now.
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.
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.
Three women who are believed to work as lap dancers brought their own Grey Goose vodka onboard easyJet flight EZY8709 from London Gatwick to Tenerife on Friday.
Their foul language drew complaints, and attention to the booze they brought onboard, so flight attendants confiscated the Grey Goose. It’s unclear what transpired next because they managed to get their alcohol back. And that’s when things spiraled out of control.
JetBlue’s flight attendants voted to unionize and will be represented by the Transport Workers Union. Over 85% of eligible flight attendants voted, and nearly two-thirds of those were in favor.
Southwest Airlines flight 1380 from New York LaGuardia to Dallas Love Field made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after blowing an engine.
Reportedly “Shrapnel hit the window causing a serious injury.” One passenger said “there was bloody everywhere.”
The specific changes they’re making create winners and losers compared to the programs that are offered today. At reader Alex‘s suggestion I decided to walk through in a nutshell my first thoughts on how each group benefits or sees losses in the new program.
A week ago I reached out to Hilton again because The Niepce Paris Hotel, a new Curio Collection property, wasn’t offering any standard or premium reward night availability for the entire year. I wanted to know whether this hotel was excluded from Honors reward redemption — or whether this is something they might fix.
Marriott did a deal with both Chase and American Express for credit cards. Chase gets the bulk of the personal business, but American Express gets to issue a premium personal card. American Express gets the small business cards. And cardmembers keep their legacy products.
Both banks are issuing new products, and making changes to existing card products too. So in addition to speaking with Marriott about the changes I reached out to Chase and American Express as well to learn more and they were both forthcoming.
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 »
