I spoke to an airline industry group last month about the future of social media as a revenue stream. Most industry folks know that they have to have a presence on Twitter, on Facebook, some of them are starting Pinterest pages (I’m still not on Pinterest). They have mobile apps. But one of the best quotes of the weekend from another event I spoke at back in March was, “An app is not an online strategy.” One of the folks on the panel was a top executive from LivingSocial, and he didn’t like one of the first points I made. So far travel providers have seen online distribution channels as a means to segment their customers, offering deep discounts to Twitter followers or Facebook fans, dumping excess inventory to a minority of engaged customers while…
About Gary Leff
Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy
Here’s some great perspective, a three-year old clip from a Louis C.K. appearance on Conan. “Everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy.” Great insight about life, drawing on telephones, banking, and starting two minutes in half the clip is about the ‘annoyances’ we experience during flying. Roughly speaking, since I couldn’t find a full transcript, here’s what he has to say: I was on an airplane and there was high speed internet on the airplane… it’s fast, I’m watching YouTube clips, I’m on an airplane. It breaks down, they apologize, and the guy next to me is like “This is bull…” Like how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only 10 seconds ago? Flying is the worst one, people come back from flights, they tell you their story and it’s a horror story. They…
Up to 50% Bonus on Alitalia Flights Through End of Year
The Alitalia Millemiglia program is offering up to 50% bonus miles for flights taken through the end of 2012. Receive a 15% bonus on your 4th through 7th Alitalia segment credited to the Millemiglia program, a 30% bonus on segments 8 through 19, and a 50% bonus on your 20th segment and beyond. I haven’t found the offer listed in English, and oddly enough the Google translate of the Italian page suggested that the bonus was on Air France segments. Perhaps Google remembers when Air France was trying to buy Alitalia? I’m not a big fan of accruing points with Alitalia without specific, near-term uses. One of the ‘quirks’ of the program, I’m told to comport with Italian law (though I do not know if this is a law that Alitalia has pushed for, or…
US Airways 50% Bonus on Shared/Transferred Miles
During the month of July, US Airways is offering up to a 50% bonus on one share miles transaction. Offer valid for your FIRST Share transaction (purchaser or recipient) made between July 1, 2012 00:00:01 AM PT and July 31, 2012 23:59:59 PM PT. This bonus is only applicable for Share Miles and the offer does not apply to Buy or Gift Miles transactions. Bonus amounts will be awarded upon completion of the transaction. Bonus miles will be awarded to the recipient of the Share. I interpret this as saying that you can only transfer points out of your account to generate a bonus once, and you can only receive a bonus once. It’s an open question whether you can do both with the same account, though a literally reading of the terms and conditions…
American Automobile Association (AAA) Hotel Discounts
Heels First Travel describes getting AAA membership just for the hotel discounts. And that’s exactly what I do. Hilton sometimes has decent AAA rates, though I usually book their MVP rates. At Hyatt, where I stay somewhat frequently, AAA rates are usually approximately the same as prepaid rates but which are cancellable. I’m nearly allergic to non-cancellable hotel rates, unless I’m getting a monster discount such as order of magnitude 50% off via Priceline. I’m usually not willing to book a non-refundable rate for a mere 10% off unless it’s exceptionally close to check-in. So the AAA rate deal is worthwhile to me, I capture the savings while maintaining the flexibility. And after 3-5 room nights booked this way I break even on my annual membership. Now I can’t say I’ve ever been ‘carded’ or…
American Website Now Supports Booking Qantas Award Space
Via Milepoint, and as promised a week ago by AAdvantage President Suzanne Rubin, the American Airlines website is now capable of searching for Qantas (and its Jetstar subsidiary) award space. This is especially useful because while the Qantas website itself is one of the great tools for searching award availability — if you want to search for awards on oneworld airlines, American AAdvantage members sign up for a Qantas frequent flyer account (free for folks outside Australia), and it’s great for finding flights on partners like British Airways and Iberia but which does not include Japan Airlines — there is more Qantas award availability offered to Qantas’ own members than to partners. The Qantas website will often show award seats, for instance from Los Angeles to Sydney, that are available to Qantas members but not…
When Life Gives You a Force Majeure Event, Earn Stay Credit
This was supposed to be my first weekend at home in over a month, and a 10-day stretch without any travel. Weather had somewhat different plans for me. Last night around 10:45pm, I lost power. A major, brief storm took down power for millions of households on top of 100 degree heat. I went to bed, woke up in the morning around 6:30am, and still had no power. An hour later I started planning. I had no internet at home, but my Verizon MiFI was functioning (of course it has limited battery life, and I had no power to recharge it). Power was out at my offices. My phone was fully charged, and I rang up Hyatt — the nearby Arlington and Crystal City properties had no power. I rang up Starwood, there was a…
Coach Pre-Sale for International Portion of Star Mega DO IV Now Available
At the beginning of the month I blogged about the Star MegaDO launch party in DC, that was where details of the upcoming event were revealed for the first time. It’s the ultimate frequent flyer adventure, where 150-200 enthusiastic folks get together, charter an aircraft, and go on behind-the-scenes tours of airlines and aircraft, while picking up swag and tons of miles and elite status along the way. To get a feel for what a MegaDO is all about, you can read a sample of some of the past media coverage. January’s oneworld MegaDO was featured on the front page of the business section of USA Today and also in an Associated Press story that hit about 70 papers. The January domestic charter portion of the trip sold out in under 20 minutes. It’s a hot ticket. This upcoming event in…
My Best Upgrade Yet at My Favorite Hotel in New York
Monday morning, Million Mile Secrets tweeted: As good as @garyleff says they are! http://ow.ly/i/IMrJ He was referring to the lemon poppyseed pancakes at the Andaz 5th Avenue. I read this tweet just as I was walking out the front door of that same hotel. I had checked in late Sunday night for a one-night stay. As regular readers of this blog know, I’m a regular guest at that hotel, it’s my favorite place to stay in Manhattan. The rooms, and the bathrooms, are large by New York standards. All guests receive complimentary internet and non-alcoholic beverages from the minibar (I’m just grateful for the 3 bottles of water, replenished daily). There’s of course a refrigerator in the ‘library’ portion of the lobby to get free coffee, water, and whatnot as well. And there’s free snacks…
A Weekend Stay at the Excellent Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle
I spent last weekend at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle (unsurprisingly located on the corner of Olive and 8th). It’s a lovely hotel, far preferred over the Grand Hyatt in Seattle, and a place I plan to return to when I’m in the area. Everyone was friendly, the rooms still feel modern and new, the restaurant is good and it was conveniently located for me. I had a regular room, though they assigned it on the top (17th) floor. I did have a chance to see one of the suites that are offered when Diamonds confirm their upgrade in advance with a suite upgrade certificate and it was quite nice, a very large living room and dining room area, and an extra large bathroom with separate tub and shower as well as dual…
