The El Al and Saudia frequent flyer programs were co-winners of an award at the Freddies in Atlanta last week. Here’s the story that led to that, and the staging of the presentation.
About Gary Leff
Starwood’s CEO Has a Unique View on Loyalty
May
03
2015
Adam Aron no longer has ‘interim’ in his Chief Executive Officer title at Starwood. He launched Pan Am’s first frequent flyer program. As Hyatt’s Chief Marketing Officer he launched Gold Passport. I had the pleasure of interviewing him on stage at the Travel Executive Summit on Thursday in Atlanta. Aron was Senior Vice President of Marketing at United and I got to tell the story about his economy meals partnership with McDonalds (the associated happy meal toys available on United’s Orlando flights are still available for sale on eBay). United replaced the galley carts to keep the burger warm while the lettuce and bun stayed cool. He was CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines, of a chain of ski resorts, and later went into private equity. He became part owner and CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers.…
A Credit Card Executive Denied His Signup Bonus and Barclaycard Partnering with American Express
May
03
2015
A credit card executive from one bank tells about being denied the signup bonus for a card from another issuer. Barclaycard and American Express partner in an unexpected way. And what will we see when the United-Chase deal comes up for renewal?
Did American Quietly Improve Million Miler Benefits?
Reports are that American AAdvantage million milers now receive a higher upgrade priority…
Delta Adds More Blackout Dates to its Terms and Conditions
Partner award travel on Korean Air using Delta miles has blackout dates, and those are now more transparent – published in the SkyMiles terms and conditions. Here’s what that means.
United’s Throwaway Ticketing Lawsuit Thrown Out of Court — So They’re Threatening Customers Instead
May
02
2015
United’s lawsuit against Skiplagged, the site that helps consumers save money on airfare through ‘throwaway ticketing’, has been dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. But United is warning their customers that they’ll shut down mileage accounts if you try it.
New Boeing 787 Software Glitch, Woman Arrested for Inflight Theft, and More
May
02
2015
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
What Would it Mean for Starwood to Acquire Another Chain.. Or Be Acquired?
When IHG swallowed Kimpton, I wrote: “I want to be an IHG Rewards Club Platinum” said no Kimpton elite member, ever…
Conventional wisdom is that Starwood is going to do a deal, and the most likely candidate is IHG. Some say Starwood could buy IHG. I could see IHG buying Starwood. IHG is the bigger hotel chain, though Starwood’s market cap is much higher (nearly $15 billion versus ~ $10 billion).
Starwood has struggled to generate growth and Wall Street isn’t happy. Fundamentally that’s why their CEO Frits van Paasschen was out in February…
American Airlines Mileage-Earning Debit Card Devalues June 1
May
02
2015
UFB Direct’s American AAdvantage-earning debit card will reduce earnings effective June 1. Instead of 1 mile per $2 spent on the card, it will offer 1 mile per $3 spent on the card. In addition they will no longer reward miles for “supermarkets, grocery stores, super stores, wholesale stores, discount stores, USPS, and financial or money transfer institutions.” I already found the card and account not to be especially compelling at 1:2. This effectively takes it off the table in my view. That isn’t surprising. Debit cards are no longer financial windfalls for banks. It’s no longer worth incentivizing transactions since the Durbin amendment to Dodd Frank financial reform eliminated the profit for banks from debit transactions. The rewards debit card is almost entirely a thing of the past. Oddly, though the Suntrust Delta debit…
Stack Hyatt’s 40% Bonus on Purchased Points With 20% Rebate on Redemptions
May
02
2015
Hyatt Gold Passport is offering up to a 40% bonus on purchased points through May 31. It doesn’t appear to be one of their usual tiered offers: instead it’s a 40% bonus on purchases of 10,000 points or more. You don’t have to max out the offer to get the highest bonus. With a 40% bonus Hyatt is selling you points at 1.71 cents apiece. I personally value them at about 1.4 cents apiece so this doesn’t make me a buyer (points would have to be priced at less than 1.4 cents for that). You can get more than 2 cents apiece out of your points so if you were going to pay cash for a room anyway buying points can be used to get a room discount. And topping off an account could make…
