May 04 2015

It was a sort of clever idea at first, “May the 4th be with you!” But brands spend a lot of money on consultants and ad firms to try to graft onto internet members. And so brands can’t stop tweeting about Star Wars Day. Denver international Airport got into the meme (though I sure hope they didn’t spend a lot of money doing it, they need all the reserves they can get to deal with continued baggage system problems). A full set of photos are available on the Denver airport’s Facebook page. Check them out. Really. Here’s a taste: I’m left with several questions. No doubt you can add your own. Denver is a United hub. Is that Jeff Smisek guiding in the plane? What does it say about TSA that Darth Vader brought to…

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May 04 2015

Hyatt’s 40% bonus on points purchases, stackable with a 20% rebate can certainly be a good deal — especially for elites, redeeming cash and points, at expensive hotels. Thinking about how to really make the most use of this, I started to ponder the 55,000 point per year purchase limit for Gold Passport points (which used to be just 40,000). Just like you can scale the Starwood 25% bonus on purchased points using family accounts, you can exceed Hyatt’s purchase limits using multiple accounts. And they don’t even have to belong to family members. I find that most people aren’t aware of Hyatt’s generous rules for transferring points between members. Any two members may transfer points with no fee by filling out and submitting a form to Gold Passport. That’s right – you can combine…

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May 04 2015

When Etihad first announced their A380 Residence concept last year, Emirates didn’t want to be left in the dust and announced same day that they were doing the same thing. At the time it seemed like they simply didn’t want to let themselves be one-upped. They ‘announced’ they had similar plans but had no details or renderings. Now Skift reports that it could debut as early as this year. “In the last two or three months, it has been in the final stage,” [Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president of commercial operations] said, adding that the new cabin will be unveiled “hopefully” this year and at “almost the same pricing” as current cabins. “It should be more commercially viable for passengers.” …Emirates’ product will be “more like if you’re in a railway…

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May 04 2015

The new American Express free to join coalition loyalty program Plenti has officially launched and is taking signups. I broke details on it back in mid-March. I’m looking forward to earning points (worth a penny apiece) for activities across retailers I undertake already — like earning off of my monthly AT&T bill and for buying gas. Initial direct earning partners: Examples AT&T: 1 point for dollar on monthly wireless bill (requires paperless billing) and 1 point per dollar on devices, accessories, and other products at AT&T-owned store locations. Exxon: 1 point per gallon of gas and 2 points per dollar on non-fuel purchases. Mobil: 1 point per gallon of gas and 2 points per dollar on non-fuel purchases. Rite Aid: There will be rotating product offers. Enterprise, Alamo and National: 1 point per dollar on…

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May 04 2015

Last year Club Carlson reduced elite bonuses, moved many hotels up in reward category, and introduced a new more expensive top redemption tier. A month ago Club Carlson announced the elimination of the last night free benefit on award stays for members with their co-brand credit card. Now — effective June 1 — Club Carlson is changing categories for hundreds of hotels. Via Well Traveled Mile, 212 hotels get more expensive and 117 get less expensive. The increases are centered in Europe (where 128 – more than half the total – go up and only 27 go down). Asia Pacific gets less expensive (9 go up and 40 go down). None of this should really be surprising. The Club Carlson program was ‘overindexed’ (to use Jeff Diskin’s the awkward phrasing). You can generally expect offerings…

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May 03 2015

No more route or codeshare restrictions, you can now earn American miles for all Etihad flights on paid eligible fares. That’s good news for the American-Etihad relationship, and the likelihood of maintaining that relationship.

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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?

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