Merrill Lynch has downgraded American Airlines stock to a ‘neutral’ rating just as airline CEO Doug Parker elected to take all his compensation in stock.
Remember that neutral means sell (and sell means build a shelter and accumulate canned goods and bullets). Historically an investment firm wouldn’t rate a sell (or likely even neutral, since ‘buy’ is considered neutral) if they hoped to get business from that firm in the future.
The Hyatt Visa has a fantastic new offer: no fee the first year (then $75), 2 free nights at any Hyatt, a $50 statement credit and 5000 points for adding a no fee authorized user to the account. That’s a huge improvement, and totally worth getting… even if the card is only ‘ok’ for ongoing spend.
Starting October 1 the transfer ratio for American Express to both British Airways and Iberia (whose points transfer to British Airways) will drop to 5-to-4. It will take 250 Membership Rewards points to get 200 British Airways or Iberia points. My prediction for Chase transfers is a bit different.
A Florida man allegedly made and cancelled Choice Hotels reservations, and in the process picked up enough points to redeem for nearly $50,000 in gift cards. Choice’s IT, it seems, let him do it. Instead of taking responsibility for their mistakes, they’re suing.
Sometimes mileage-earning strategies even wind up in criminal court… Should they?
In undercover tests the TSA failed to detect weapons and explosives 95% of the time.
I’ve had some time to think about this result, and what it means… and most importantly what the government’s reaction may be.
Already the TSA’s acting director has been reassigned because someone must take responsibility and goodness knows it won’t be the people who designed our current approach to security.
Etihad Guest has been a surprisingly generous program, more so than their competitors in the Middle East region in my opinion.
They’re a Citibank ThankYou rewards transfer partner, and their award availability is good (I’ve always booked my Etihad awards through American AAdvantage, however).
Effective July 8, Etihad is making some major changes to its frequent flyer program — along the lines of rewarding premium fares more than cheap ones (although rewarding everyone less overall) and becoming less generous especially for premium cabin upgrades and redemptions.
I had an opportunity to see American Express Centurion lounge Miami last night and try the food since I was invited to the pre-opening party there.
The food was outstanding, especially the beef short rib and the fried chicken. There’s a spa, a kids room, and shower room. And gorgeous floor to ceiling windows spanning much of the lounge that overlook airport operations.
For sheer contrast with the rest of the Miami airport, this lounge is an amazing respite and a real win now that it’s opened.
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
Hyatt has been exceptionally generous in being willing to give elite members of other hotel chains temporary top tier status in the Gold Passport program, while offering an expedited way to keep that status. And they even gave these temporary Diamond full confirmed suite upgrades as though they had earned the status for a year. This was exceptionally game-able. Plenty of folks signed up for a credit card that gave them Hilton Gold status and leveraged that into Hyatt Diamond — maybe transferred some points into Hyatt from Chase Ultimate Rewards, booked cash and points award stays, upgraded them to suites at booking and enjoyed free breakfasts during their stays. Suite at the Park Hyatt Chennai Complimentary Diamond Room Service Breakfast at the Park Hyatt Vendome, Paris Complimentary Diamond Room Service Breakfast at the Andaz…
The US Airways Dividend Miles program has been folded into American AAdvantage. And now only Citibank has the right to issue new American AAdvantage personal (and small business) co-brand credit cards. Barclaycard used to issue the US Airways card. Existing Barclaycard US Airways MasterCard cardholders became Barclaycard American AAdvantage cardholders. Barclaycard can’t issue new accounts, but they can continue to service existing customers. And they have a suite of (4) personal cards to offer existing customers: Here’s a description of all four. Roughly speaking the two bottom tier cards are legacy offerings geared towards US Airways cardholders whose cards had been issued by Bank of America (a portfolio Barclaycard recently acquired). They’re meant to mirror the offerings those customers already had. Aviator Red is What Most Former US Airways Cardmembers Have, or Will Receive Most…
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 »
