One of the best airport hotels in the world was the Kempinski Munich, recently rebranded as a Hilton. Price aside (and price matters..) I’ll always pick the property connected to the terminal if there is one, followed by the most recently renovated hotel near the airport. I love airport hotels as a rewards member, where hotel loyalty programs price awards based on a property’s average daily room rate. Airport hotels tend to have low room rates on average, lower even that what consumers usually see, since they tend to have large and inexpensive airline contracts bringing down those rates. Airport hotels can be a steal on points, even as their public-facing rates can be very ‘lumpy’. Currently I view the best New York JFK airport hotel as the Hilton. That’s not saying much. The Hilton…
About Gary Leff
The DOT Wants Delta to Keep Flying From Love Field, Even Without a Leased Gate
Dallas Love Field has long been a source of contention. When Dallas Fort Worth airport was built, incumbent airlines all agreed to move their operations. Southwest Airlines hadn’t yet launched, so was not a party to that agreement. They planned to begin flying from Love Field, and faced lawsuits to block them from doing so. Southwest eventually prevailed, by House Speaker Jim Wright (D-American Airlines) successfully pushed legislation to limit the flights that would be permitted from Love Field. That legislation was subsequently amended and in many ways phased out, but one limitation that came along with liberalization was that Love Field is limited to 20 gates. Whereas once the law hemmed in Southwest, now it’s wholly protectionist, preventing new airlines from entering service there. Prior to the American Airlines – US Airways merger, Southwest…
When Your Airline CEO Adversary Commits Political Suicide, Just Stand Back and Let Him
Delta CEO Richard Anderson overplayed his hand attacking (a limited number of) Gulf airlines (that aren’t also their partners) in his quest to get the federal government to limit their flying to the US by trying to link them to 9/11. It’s on its face absurd to attack Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar in this way, while remaining silent about Skyteam partner Saudia. And surreal to attack the subsidies received by Middle Eastern carriers while at the same time seeking its own subsidies. So while the airline might have gotten some sympathy with the misleading claims about its shrinking market share to India and vicinity (a smaller piece of a larger pie, when they don’t themselves fly to the destinations they complain about), their own statements begin to turn that sympathy towards Middle Eastern carriers. That’s…
It’s Good to Be the King: the Special Travel Perks Enjoyed By the Political Class
When one story comes out, reporters go looking for more similar stories. So post-Bridgegate when there’s word of a federal investigation into United running a flight for the Chairman of the authority that oversees Newark airport to shuttle him to his vacation place for the weekend, and after United ran Atlantic City service as a quid pro quo for support of tax dollars for Newark airport transit projects, it should come as a surprise that there’s more to come out of the New York area airports. Port Authority commissioners got perks at New York area airports. This is perhaps as obvious and to be expected as Mel Brooks’ rejoinder, “it’s good to be the king.” Newly released records show four commissioners at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were allowed to bypass…
No Need to Cancel and Rebook! The Awesome Hyatt 20% Award Rebate is Easier Than Expected
This morning I wrote about an awesome offer from Hyatt. Gold Passport members who have the Hyatt Visa (and you had to have the card at the end of January, unfortunately you can’t just sign up now) get a 20% rebate on points redemptions other than mileage transfers and rental car certificates through July 31. (Registration is required.) The terms and conditions of the offer says, Only points redeemed between 2/17/2015 and 7/31/2015 will be eligible for this promotion. I took that to mean that the reservation had to be made during the promotion period. If you redeemed points prior to February 17, for a stay between February 17 and July 31, you wouldn’t get the points rebate. So I suggested that some people would want to cancel and rebook existing award reservations that were…
A Tourist Authority Gives Up, an Airline CEO Lights Money on Fire, Plus Double Miles and 50% Off Awards
News and notes from around the interweb: Ithaca’s tourism authority gives up — says you should visit Florida this winter. Double American miles between the US and Germany on American, US Airways, and airberlin (HT: Frequent Flyer Bonuses) Blogger interviews the CEO of La Compagnie, the ‘all business class’ airline flying between New York and Paris and about to start service out of London (Luton airport). One question not asked? “How does it feel to light money on fire?” Up to 50% off Qatar Airways Privilege Club award tickets Google’s newest step in hotel metasearch (HT: Alan H.) SkyWest advertises its careers and the opportunity to join the airline with a pretty cool flight video. Of course video of flying says nothing about money, which is what many people work for, so this is unlikely…
US Airlines Want to Ban the Big Middle East Carriers, Because 9/11
US airlines have been out swinging against the major Middle Eastern airlines Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad — arguing that they are state subsidized and competing unfairly against US carriers, and asking the US to terminate Open Skies agreements that permit unfettered access to US markets. The end of open skies with the region wouldn’t much hurt US airlines, since they offer only limited service to the region. But it would hurt US travelers — precisely because US airlines offer only limited service to the region. And US airlines also don’t serve the secondary and smaller cities India and Pakistan these carriers serve, or for that matter Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It’s true that the Middle Eastern carriers have grown. And they’ve thrown capacity in several US markets which pushed down fares, and to my…
Open Citibank Checking Account, Fund With a Credit Card, Earn Points
Years ago you could open a Citibank online checking account and fund it with a credit card. I charged as much as $80,000 in initial funding to these accounts. I earned miles, and wrote a check from my new account to pay off my credit card. Plenty of people did this, and after several accounts Citibank would invite them to no longer fund new accounts by credit card. Chase card charges to fund new accounts are no longer treated by Citibank as purchases. They’re cash advances. Citibank cards have always been treated as cash advances. And Citibank does not accept American Express for funding new accounts. But Doctor of Credit recently pointed out that Barclays charges are coding as purchases. And he verifies that Citi was allowing charges of at least $75,000 when opening an…
American Changing How Elite Upgrade Priority Will Work
American will be eliminating ‘through passenger’ priority for upgrades. The date this change will take place is speculated to be March 11. American’s upgrade priority for domestic flights (which 18 months ago also became priority for international flights) has been: Elite status level Whether the passenger is connecting off another American flight Whether the passenger is full (Y or B) fare [and they haven’t already received a complimentary confirmed upgrade] Time of request There are several things unique about this process. Unlike United and Delta, elites on full fare ticket don’t have a pass to trump the status of other customers. So a full fare American Gold doesn’t receive higher upgrade priority than an Executive Platinum the way they would if flying Delta or United. (It prioritizes loyalty over the course of a year above…
Awesome Offer: 20% Rebate on Nearly All Hyatt Redemptions Through July 31 for Co-Brand Cardholders
Following Hyatt’s announcement of new benefits for Diamond members, they’re out with something for co-brand credit card holders as well. Cardmembers can register to receive a 20% rebate on award redemptions. Here’s how it works: Register by March 31 Redeem any time by — and complete your stay by — July 31, 2015 The rebate will post 4-6 weeks after redemption. Nearly all redemptions are eligible, and there is no limit. That makes those expensive category 7 awards normally 30,000 points per night just 24,000 points (it’s almost like turning back the clock and pretending category 7 didn’t exist). It makes those category 7 suites 38,400 instead of 48,000. Category 7 Park Hyatt Sydney – Save 6000 Points Per Night You can also use it on cash and points awards (you get 20% of the…
