Category Archives for Commentary.
No Fly Lists include people added by mistake (FBI agent checking the wrong box on a form or having a name similar to someone else) and even added maliciously (such as retaliation for refusing to cooperate in an investigation).
A “ghost donor” is an identity that makes hundreds or thousands of small contributions to a campaign, and indeed to several campaigns, where the actual person attached to that identity doesn’t know anything about it.
Here’s an Uber tipping scam you need to watch out for. Tipping is still voluntary in the app, and there is no automatic tip for rides. But some drivers, apparently, are warning riders about an automatic “30% tip” if they don’t choose their own tip. That motivates riders to enter a tip.
Here’s an interesting take I came across from the former owner of Eleven Madison Park restaurant in New York. He was able to create a ‘moment’ for diners one time by going outside to a hot dog cart and plating it for the guests. And that was the memory for them of the night.
TripAdvisor was acquired and became part of the same company as Expedia. It was later spun off as a public company. It earns most of its revenue from Expedia and Booking.com, selling eyeballs of customers searching hotels to those platforms. Even reviews got de-prioritized. It stopped being primarily a tool to help customers figure out where to stay.
Now there’s corporate intrigue over where TripAdvisor itself should find lodging. Can it move from Delaware incorporation to Nevada? And what a judge says there may decide whether Tesla can leave Delaware, too, after a judge struck down Elon Musk’s $55 billion compensation package.
The Global Loyalty Organization hosted loyalty leader predictions for 2024. A lot of it was milquetoast, and not really actionable, as so much corporate speak is wont to be. But there were a few real insights here. Four things especially stood out.
You hear the words “mile a minute” and find yourself pondering the concept of earning bonus miles as a function of time.
You answer the question, “How many miles per gallon do you get?” with “It depends on what credit card I use.”…
Following my stab at a list of the 13 best movies about travel, I thought I’d work to come up with the very best songs about travel.
That’s a very different exercise than the best travel songs, this isn’t a ‘play list for the road’ it’s about borrowing someone else’s poetry to describe the travel experience. There’s no question that George Gershwin didn’t write Rhapsody in Blue to be about travel, but it’s equally clear that the 1924 composition has become inextricably linked with United Airlines.
What songs most evoke travel for you and are missing from my list? Which ones here are new to you?
U.S. tipping culture is insane, it’s gotten out of control and what’s worse is that it’s getting exported to the rest of the world. Workers should be paid by their employer, not by an uncomfortable system where customers are supposed to pay extra – on top of posted charges – paying some amorphous amount meant to supplement an employee’s wages.
Some people believe that the scheme is meant to encourage better service, to align incentives, because apparently companies are bad at managing their workers, creating a customer-focused culture, or providing the incentives needed to deliver a quality experience.
The way that I think about negotiation, arbitrage, and frequent flyer miles all tie back to one scene in an obscure 1984 file, Over the Brooklyn Bridge.
Elliott Gould plays a man with a dream to open a restaurant in Manhattan who finds the perfect opportunity. He asks his uncle, played by Sid Caesar, for funding and Caesar agrees — on the condition he leave his Catholic girlfriend (Margaux Hemingway) and marry a “nice Jewish girl.” Seven year old Sarah Michelle Gellar has an uncredited role.
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 »
