A Delta Air Lines pilot came into the cabin of a delayed flight to Atlanta to let everyone know that he expected to make up time inflight – and get everyone to their destination on time – but that he had some instructions everyone was going to follow along the way.
While we’re seeing 3-to-1 category increases (seems bad!) it’s interesting that these are very different from similar clusters of increases in the past.
Previously we’ve seen a lot of high end hotels become more expensive as redemptions. This time we’re seeing lower category hotels go up the most. The bulk of the action with these changes are in the bottom half of the chart’s distribution. The biggest grouping of changes is category 3 hotels becoming 4’s, while we also see 1’s become 2’s and 2’s become 3’s.
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.
Marriott has their booking platform for short-term rental stays. They rebate part of the commission they’re generating in the form of points and elite credit. Hyatt is getting into this game as well.
Capital One now has an interesting play in the space. You can already redeem Capital One Venture and Venture X (and equivalent business card) points to pay for short-term rental stays (such as Airbnb). But they’ve got their own STR ‘collections’ now that come with enhanced earning and benefits.
A British Airways manager has reportedly fled to India following allegations that he orchestrated a $3.8 million immigration fraud, leveraging the airline’s check-in systems to facilitate illegal travel and allowing passengers to claim asylum in Canada when they weren’t eligible to fly there in the first place.
Langham hotels is launching a brand new loyalty program – Brilliant by Langham – and it’s a points program with a slate of new elite benefits.
When asked about an upcoming elimination of the checked baggage guarantee, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson responded simply, “We have not made any announcement about a change to our program.” (I said in response, “well, if you’d made an announcement I wouldn’t be asking!”)
U.S. airlines are lobbying against Chinese airlines’ restoration of pre-COVID flights to the U.S., hindered by Russian airspace restrictions and a complex web of political and economic factors, leading to strategic route squatting and financial losses amidst a slow restoration of flights between the two countries.
In May 2020 a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 from Lahore to Karachi aborted its approach because of problems with the nose landing gear. When the crew read their landing clearance, master warning sounds were going off. During their go around they lost both engines and declared a mayday. They came down in a residential area, and burst into flames.
I’ve never seen an incident report so damning of the actions of pilots, ever. One of the things that was uncovered after this incident is that more than 30% of the airline’s pilots had fake licenses.
An American Airlines flight attendant proudly shares how they deliver first class service on a short domestic dinner flight. What’s striking to me is a corner that they cut to get everything out to 20 first class passengers on the Airbus A321 – and that they’re proud of how they do it.
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 »
