In early 2020 white collar professionals stopped going to the office. People worked from home, and went online. They stopped flying. And there were varying schools of thought on how much they’d return to office and return to business travel.
Some people were waiting for the economy to tighten, expecting employers to insist that everyone go back to office and get back on the road. Others thought it was just a matter of time.
Delta Air Lines and El Al announced a partnership in June. That partnership is now live and it means the end of El Al’s relationship with Alaska Airlines.
Some people like to give out chocolates to their flight crew, or agents in the airline lounge. Others prefer to hand out small Starbucks gift cards. This isn’t expected. Most people do not do this. But for those considering it, is it a good idea? Is it appropriate?
People complain that room service is too expensive, sometimes takes too long, and isn’t always good. Many people think, do I really want a mediocre hotel’s mediocre food when I have the miracle of choice delivered at my fingertips?
But when the hotel isn’t providing an experience that’s differentiated from Airbnb, there goes their competitive advantage.
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.
They refuse to show a Jewish sitcom and thinks that this isn’t ‘taking sides in the conflict,’ indeed perhaps the most objectionable thing is British Airways not wanting to take sides against Hamas, terrorism, and the mission to cleanse Jews ‘from the river to the sea’ (and, indeed, beyond).
The best loyalty program deals ever are the ones that really scale – earning millions of miles at a reasonable cost by thinking outside the box and thinking big. Sometimes these deals work out, and other times they wind up in court.
Chase travel did $8 billion in sales in 2022 with 40% growth in number of customers purchasing travel through their portal. They have had public goals to hit $10 billion in sales this year and $15 billion in sales by 2025.
Chase Travel believes they’ll pass American Express and become the third largest travel agency within two years. Last year they were less than 8% behind.
I first joined AARP because of the discount their members get buying British Airways tickets. I’ve stacked the AARP and Chase discounts during BA sales to buy very cheap tickets, which I’ve then upgraded to first class using points. The hotel deals are great, too. And most people don’t realize you don’t need to be old to join.
The Wall Street Journal covers a trend in younger people joining AARP to take advantage of discounts, as effective methods of saving money become more focal in an era of inflation.
For years airlines ‘gave away the value of seat assignments for free’ to customers. That’s no longer true. And the tax code encourages airlines to charge for seats, too. That’s because base airfare for domestic flights is taxed at 7.5%, while fees aren’t covered by this excise tax. Airlines have an incentive to move money from the fare into fees.
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 »
