Nov 07 2016

Elimination of the ‘stay’ method of qualifying for Hyatt Diamond status has ruffled a lot of guest feathers, there will be many people who lose status because they can’t meet the new criteria for top elite status with Hyatt under changes going into effect next year.

That’s not the feature of the new program I dislike the most, and indeed those who do qualify still for top elite will be treated even better than before.

I’ve always said that a program decides who they consider to be a customer they want to reward, but once they do they should provide those rewards consistently every time they interact with that customer. And that’s going to change.

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Nov 07 2016

Every time in the past two years that a co-brand deal switched banks they also switched payment networks, That underscores the surprising role that Visa and MasterCard play in putting together your rewards card deals.

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Nov 06 2016

If you have a lot of money sitting around, or investment assets, you can earn miles. Basically just about anyone will reward you with miles for your business and when a lot of money involved so are a lot of miles.

Here are three ways your money can work for your mileage balances.

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Nov 06 2016

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.

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Nov 06 2016

I’ve seen the argument that changes to Hyatt’s loyalty program going into effect March 1 violate the Gold Passport terms and conditions.

The implication is that since this is a(n adhesion) contract with members, it’s a contract violation, and should be legally actionable.

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Nov 06 2016

I had just an overnight in Abu Dhabi. Normally if I’m getting in late at night and leaving the next morning I’ll stay at the Premier Inn attached to the airport. It’s a bit dorm-like but it’s clean and close.

However this time I was landing before 1pm and it was Valentine’s Day. I wanted something a bit nicer and didn’t mind heading farther afield since I had a layover of about 19 hours. I settled on the St. Regis Abu Dhabi.

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Nov 05 2016

So while it should be obvious, a new paper by the University of Chicago’s Dennis Carlton and several co-authors finds that the Delta-Northwest, United-Continental, and American-US Airways mergers haven’t been anti-competitive at all.

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Nov 05 2016

Priority Pass Prestige memberships come with unlimited visits and usually retail for $399. They do not come with free guests.

The Priority Pass Select card that comes with Chase Sapphire Reserve includes unlimited guests (subject to limits imposed by any individual lounge) so is ‘worth’ even more than that.

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Nov 05 2016

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.

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Nov 05 2016

United invited elite MileagePlus members running in the New York City marathon on a first come, first serve basis to join a fuel up dinner tonight — the night before the race — at Del Posto restaurant in New York for a special carbo-loading on Mario Batali specialties. Olympian Meb Keflezighi will be a special guest at the dinner.

United has a VIP race start tent tomorrow morning with special bib pick-up station to avoid lines and private bathrooms. They’re also providing personalized medal engraving, post-race massages, and snacks.

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