Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

Another Hotel Program Devaluation Without Warning…

by Gary Leff on March 15, 2007

Mar 15 2007

Sometime this morning Priority Club changed their redemption chart. For example, some Holiday Inns jump from 15,000 points to 25,000 points. And some Intercontinentals go from 30,000 points to 40,000 points. The Boston, DC, Vienna, and Tahiti properties are notable among them. There’s no chart of changes by property, so I’ll just be piecing together which ones have changed. Naturally, there’s a Flyertalk discussion and folks are none too pleased. Bumping the prices of some hotels by a third is bad enough. I understand it (there were some great values there, and great values don’t last). But it’s disappointing. However, making the changes without any notice whatsoever is criminal.

Rhapsody in Blue on a Plane’s Videoscreen

by Gary Leff on February 5, 2007

Feb 05 2007

There’s something calm.. and peaceful… and home about this clip. If you’re a United frequent flyer you’ll certainly agree.

Rate Glitch Update: Holiday Inn Phuket

by Gary Leff on March 7, 2006

Last month I reported on a rate glitch at the Holiday Inn Phuket — THB0.01 per night from May through October — and the rate was available for more or less a full day. No one has been cancelled that I’m aware of, whether they booked at the Priority Club website, Travelocity, or elsewhere. The hotel did say at first that there was an error that they couldn’t honor, though they didn’t cancel reservations. Now, as reported by several Flyertalkers, the hotel has explicitly acknowledged that they will be honoring this “once-in a lifetime, special room rate.”

My Greatest Fear

by Gary Leff on February 7, 2006

Feb 07 2006

My greatest fear is that the awards offered by airlines and hotels will go away, that the great values will disappear. What if I can’t use 60,000 Cathay Pacific miles to fly British Airways business class to Europe anymore? What if 90,000 United miles no longer buys a business class ticket from the US to Australia? I have this recurring nightmare, I hope speaking it aloud doesn’t make it more likely to come true, and fortunately it’s just my worrying and not something based on insider information. United’s award chart is so much better than any of their U.S. competitors’. Many other airlines devalued their award charts in the past few years while United was in bankrupty (the Qantas term for it was ‘rebalanced’). United didn’t make award chart changes, I assume they didn’t want…

Sick of Priority Club’s Inconsistency Awarding Points for Hotel Stays

by Gary Leff on January 20, 2006

Jan 20 2006

Priority Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental, etc.) is probably worse than any other chain with respect to hotel properties complying with the terms and conditions of their loyalty program. One specific area where this manifests itself is upgrades for elite members (Platinums can never really know what to expect at a Holiday Inn, and Royal Ambassador treatment varies markedly at all Intercontinentals — is there an upgrade at all? is it to an executive room or a suite or two room categories or…?). But what bothers me most at the moment is their decision to award points and stay credit on any given rate. You just never know whether you’re going to earn points. And even if you think you should, reporting a discrepancy after the fact may or may not be met with…

So how many miles do YOU have?

by Gary Leff on January 11, 2006

Jan 11 2006

Randy Petersen reported some fascinating pieces of data about Delta frequent flyers: The largest current SkyMiles balance is 21,846,145 miles. …Most transoceanic segments in 2005: 61 Most miles flowm: 519,676 I have miles in my accounts. And I’m known to fly occasionally. But I’m a nobody. Nothing. A gnat. No, not even a gnat. Gnats have wings and can fly.

Barclay’s Card is Better

by Gary Leff on January 4, 2006

Jan 04 2006

The Arizona Republic compares the two USAirways co-branded credit cards and correctly sides with the Barclays/Juniper Bank Mastercard product that I’ve been touting the past couple of days over the stale Bank of America card.

Northwest’s Customers are Just Dying to Earn Miles

by Gary Leff on December 13, 2005

Dec 13 2005

Northwest now requires travelers seeking a bereavement fare to join its frequent flyer program first. Jokes about bereavement fares are probably in poor taste, so I’ll leave it at that.

Swan Song?

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2005

Oct 28 2005

Delta is considering dissolving its “low cost carrier-within-a-carrier” called Song. The wisdom of these operations has always been questionable at best. Delta used to offer a similar product to and around Florida. They resurrected the idea with Song, and expanded it to cross-country flights. USAirways used to have Metrojet. United had “Shuttle by United” on the West Coast. There’s still the occasional 737 in Shuttle by United colors (with less legroom and no ability to serve hot food) disappointing frequent travelers when they’re surprised at the gate. There’s the familiar joke about United’s current attempt, Ted, that it represents “the end of UniTED.” Continental had Continental Lite. It’s very hard to market two distinct products under the same brand. It’s hard to offer operational independence. And with different pay scales and work rules (the real…

Online Dirty Tricks at American Airlines

by Gary Leff on October 18, 2005

Oct 18 2005

The Wikipedia entry on the Wright Amendment (the law which restricts destinations of flights taking off from Dallas’ Love Field, which serves — and was intended — to protect American Airlines from Southwest) was edited by someone using an American Airlines domain. Someone using an Internet service provider registered to American edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia last week to describe Southwest Airlines as “a notoriously litigious company constantly seeking to change laws to gain an advantage.” For a time, the site also said Dallas-based Southwest is “known for its PR machine and litigious nature.” American dismisses the event as actions by rogue employees that it cannot identify.