Marriott is buying Starwood in a deal expected to close in June. Nothing will change right away. It took two years for Marriott to integrate 100 Protea hotels, and Starwood is more than 10 times the size. The data migration project alone is likely an 18 month IT effort. I’ll still be using my Starwood Platinum status in 2017, I’m sure.
Here are the winners, losers, and questions in the deal for customers — and what Marriott has to say to reassure them.
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 brochure for the new Starbucks Rewards program going into effect in April was leaked on twitter.
The program will be going revenue-based. Break-even for status-earning in the new program is an average of $5 per Starbucks transaction. If you spend more than $5 per Star you earn now, you’ll earn status faster. If you spend less than $5 you’ll take more transactions to earn status.
I’ve long said that it’s a myth that the best award availability is right when airline schedules load — the date for which varies, but is often midnight 331 days in advance of travel. People used to get up at midnight, call the airline, and when the space they want isn’t open think, “Drats! Someone must have beaten me to it!”
That’s not how it works at all. Some airlines do of course load some award space when they first add flights into their future schedule. Not all airlines do. And not all airlines load seats and call it quits.
What’s strange though is that it appears there’s not a single saver award in any cabin on any American flight yet for January 2017.
Hyatt Gold Passport has made several (minor) updates to its terms and conditions.
Those paying attention (to blogs like this one) are already aware of the new expiration rules for Diamond Suite Upgrades and restrictions on use of United Club passes coming down the pike.
Nonetheless, when a program updates its terms and conditions it should really tell members it has done so and provide a simple explanation for the updates. Gold Passport didn’t do it. Most programs don’t do it. And I don’t think that’s cool.
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.
Scott McCartney‘s Middle Seat column is on frequent flyers whose other halves aren’t as adept at the airport.
Allow me to emphasize: Checked bags are evil. Not only do they get lost, but they mean you need to get to the airport earlier and you waste time on arrival at baggage claim. Multiply an extra hour per direction out over the course of 30 years worth of trips and you’re talking about a month of your life waiting on checked luggage.
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.
The best use of Chase Ultimate Rewards points isn’t having them just buy you a ticket. It’s transferring your points to frequent flyer programs, to top off an account or just to have enough miles for an award outright.
Once you’ve found the award availability your looking for, you’ll want to transfer points. In many cases the transfer is instantaneous, which is great because that minimizes the risk of losing out on award seats pending a transfer.
Here’s long long points transfers usually seem to take:
When you search for hotels through online travel agency sites, you only thought you were the customer. It turns out you’re the product.
Expedia now lets hotels bid to have higher placement in search displays. So Expedia monetizes your eyeballs, selling a better likelihood you’ll book a particular property to hotels with a product they call Accelerator.
Ultimately online travel booking consolidation can be seen less as exploitive and more as desperation. Hotel chains are consolidating, and they’re paying less. Booking sites are trying to figure out ways to extract revenue as their income per booking is declining and as they face new competition from Google and from other potential competitors in mobile. Still, it’s a risky move that Expedia makes. And the competing claims Expedia makes about it underscores that point.
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 »
