On February 19 I wrote about the massive devaluation to the Wyndham Rewards chart that’s coming March 14. Some properties are going up in price by 87.5%. Equally bad was that Wyndham wasn’t telling us which hotels were changing categories, we were going to have to wait until that happened in order to find out. That, to me, is always the worst form for any program — major changes without advance notice. Now Wyndham has listened and responded to that critique, although I do not find two weeks’ notice to be anything close to sufficient. They’ve come to the comments on this blog (something they’ve done on occasion in the past as well), and shared a list of hotels going up in category (.pdf). I didn’t bother counting how many properties this is — when…
About Gary Leff
Terrorists Dancing on a Plane: How to Get an FAA Investigation Opened in 3 Easy Dance Steps
Mark Twain may or may not have said, Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like its heaven on earth. Although it was certainly Nietzsche who said, “I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.” And Martha & The Vandellas might have sung about “Dancing in the Streets.” But you’d better watch out dancing in the aisles of an aicraft. The FAA has opened an investigation of passengers dancing on a plane. The students – members of Colorado College’s club Frisbee team – made a video of the performance, and that’s what caught the attention of the FAA. “That was my Ultimate Frisbee team and a bunch of random people as well,” 21-year-old senior team captain Dan Eppstein tells the Los…
300 Free La Quinta Points
Through April 15 you can watch La Quinta’s video about California, Florida or Texas and earn 300 points. The videos are about 20 seconds long. Then you’ll be asked whether your trip is for business or pleasure, where in the state you are interested in, and whether kids will be along. That decision tree generates a longer 3-minute video to watch. Finishing that video takes you directly to this page where you submit your information to receive credit. (HT: WideOpenSpaces on Milepoint)
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport: Not Safe for Work
Perhaps it’s the highly sexualized atmosphere of the TSA checkpoints, but apparently there’s been a rash of unauthorized porn filming at airports, or at least at Phoenix Sky Harbor. One video follows a woman from baggage claim, into an elevator and to the top of a parking garage overlooking the tarmac. She then flashes her breasts and says, “Hello, Arizona” before performing sex acts on the man behind the camera. Julie Rodriguez, spokeswoman for Sky Harbor International Airport, told ABCNews.com in a statement that Phoenix Police are “reviewing the facts regarding the websites that you are referring to.” “Such a large public area can be tempting for people involved in this type of activity,” she said, “so the airport urges customers to always be aware of their surroundings and report any form of suspicious activity.”…
Last Day to Use 2012 Hyatt Diamond Confirmed Suite Upgrades
Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members receive (4) confirmed suite upgrades each year, valid for stays up to 7 nights each and valid on discounted room rates. My strategy is to confirm suites, when available, on stays of 4 nights or less using points if I am paying the “Hyatt Daily Rate” since it’s just 6000 points for the entire stay and anyone can do it, status or not. And save the confirmed suite upgrade certificates for stays on discounted rates, like AAA or on a corporate rate. Not all hotels have a ton of suites, and some suites that you’ll get are better than others of course. I absolutely loved the base-level suite at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur. Remember that Hyatt’s diamond confirmed suite upgrades expire February 28. So if you have any in…
Threatened Sequester Travel Disruptions Are Political Grandstanding
Last week I suggested that the FAA’s claims of massive pain for travelers as a result of the sequester was political grandstanding and thoroughly unnecessary. It wasn’t my position that cuts would be costless to them, but that they were contorting themselves to come up with the most painful way possible to account for those cuts. And that there were at least plausible alternatives. Lots of commenters argued that I must simply not understand the sequester, that the money has to be taken proportionally from each program / project / activity. I pointed out that these things are not at all defined in the statute, and it was still up to the Administration then to choose what that would mean for implementation. Even so it still seemed extremely odd that the FAA could come up…
Bits ‘n Pieces for February 27, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Abu Dhabi criminal court enforces price floor for overweight baggage. Hint: Don’t try the $20 trick at UAE hotels, either. (HT: sobore on Milepoint) Earlier in the month Delta and Starwood announced reciprocal elite benefits and the ability to earn points in each others’ programs — in addition to traditional points earning — for elite members doing business with the other travel company. You can now link your Starwood and Delta accounts either on the Delta website or on Starwood’s. (HT: Loyalty Lobby) Lucky runs into Justin Ross Lee at the airport. I met him at the first Frequent Traveler University, but he wasn’t sitting in the lounge in his bathrobe, or stealing bottles of first class champagne to pour for the coach cabin (while claiming to be…
25,000 American Airlines Miles for New DirecTV Signup
I last saw this offer back in the fall, so it’s one that’s run semi-regularly, this time with even slightly lower promotional pricing. The offer runs through the end of April and requires a 24 month contract for an ‘Entertainment’ package (which starts at $30+tax per month for the first year and goes up from there) or a more expensive offering. It’s available to new customers only and oddly enough no credit card is required in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. Not necessarily great strictly as a low-cost mileage purchase deal, but pretty good if you’re in the market for television service. I use DirecTV, much prefer it over my previous provider Comcast, though should probably look at Verizon’s Fios service (which I already use for home internet).
Which Hotel Program is Most Rewarding for Free Nights? (The Results Will Surprise You)
Amidst all the talk of hotel loyalty program devaluation and skyrocketing costs of free nights, I thought it would be useful to run some numbers to see how the programs actually compare in terms of rewards per dollar spent at their properties. So I ran some numbers for the base programs. I wanted to see what kind of return per dollar spent you get in the form of free nights from each of the chains. What hotel program offers a free night after the least amount of spending? What hotel program will let you redeem a free night in a big city after the smallest investment? What hotel program will let you access its most expensive, most aspirational hotels for the least amount of spending? I decided to have a look at the basic programs…
Bits ‘n Pieces for February 25, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: The man who sued Continental Airlines for refusing to accept cash for inflight sales lost. (HT: uggboy on Milepoint) Removing hard inquiries from your credit report. ‘Bumpage’ isn’t as easy as it used to be. Hilton HHonors changed its terms and conditions with no notice to say that elite benefits don’t apply to things that hotels charge resort fees for. That way elites can’t argue that since they get those things free they shouldn’t be on the hook for resort fees. When resort fees shouldn’t be charged anyway, since they’re really just a hidden part of the room rate. Poor form to take away elite benefits on resort stays to extract resort fees from them, and poor form to make changes buried in the terms and conditions of…
