Program devaluations can kill the golden goose. And, it appears, we may already be seeing that with Hilton. Ric Garrido points to a really interesting article in Hotel News Now on the value and evolution of loyalty programs which quoted hotel program execs on how the programs generate value and on the risks in disrupting that relationship. In general frequent flyer programs are highly profitable. That’s why I’ve been so skeptical of totally remaking their business models (“revenue-based” airline frequent flyer programs). Sure, members can be frustrated with redemptions on the airline side especially, not finding enough seats. That’s mostly an HR and technology problem. Agents aren’t incentivized to work hard for frequent flyers — they don’t get paid a bonus for successfully booking an award, or for spending lots of time on the phone…
General
Category Archives for General.
W Hotels Store 40% Off on Everything (includes Beds and Bedding)
The W Hotels Store is running a 40% off sale on everything through September 4 with coupon code LD4W7. I bought my own bed with a 40% discount — the last time I remember this being offered was March 2012 but I may have missed one or two along the way. It was much more common to see 40% discounts between 2006 and 2009. And I got in before the May 2010 price increase. I bought my Queen Plush Top bed and frame for $720 all-in, free shipping and no sales tax. The same purchase today, with this deal is about $100 more. But still a great value I think. Charges at the W Hotel Store do earn double points on the Starwood American Express cards. I’ve been happy with the purchase. It’s a good…
Bits ‘n Pieces for August 15, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Cranky Flier walks through a few of the markets where the Department of Justice claims that an American – US Airways merger would constitute a violation of anti-trust law. Doesn’t look good for DOJ, and I’m increasingly wondering if DOJ just wanted to get something filed before today’s bankruptcy hearing where the judge was expected to approve the merger — to put a flag down on the play. But the rhetoric of the brief was stronger than I’d have expected if that were true (more difficult to walk back from), so I’m still not sure. Pizza in Motion interviews the heads of the MGM M Life and Hyatt Gold Passport programs for Milepoint.tv Lucky says that the increase in price of Delta SKymiles business class awards for travel…
Delta Increases Price of International Business Class Awards
Delta just dropped a new award chart with increased mileage costs for some international business class routes – the award chart is live now and applies to travel from June 1, 2014 onward. (Travel prior to that date should price at the older levels.) For instance, US-Europe in business class goes from 100,000 to 125,000 miles roundtrip US-Asia in business class goes from 120,000 to 140,000 miles roundtrip US-Australia in business class goes from 150,000 to 160,000 miles roundtrip US-South Africa in business class goes from 140,000 to 160,000 miles They say the need for the change is because their product is so good. In June 2014, we will be the only U.S. carrier to offer full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in Business Class across our entire wide-body fleet. Except… except… United is…
The American/US Airways Merger is Far From Over
The big news yesterday was that the Department of Justice filed suit to stop the American – US Airways merger. Why I Didn’t Expect the Government to File Suit to Stop the Merger I did not expect the DOJ to file a suit to block the merger, I assumed that some negotiation would generate sign-off on the merger. I speculated that the filing of the suit could be a negotiating tactic, but that my initial sense was this was unlikely — they wouldn’t need to go through the effort just to demonstrate their seriousness, and they laid out a fairly broad and sweeping case against the merger that would be difficult to walk back from with merely the sorts of concessions that American and US Airways could offer. Blocking the merger is bad for labor…
Department of Justice Files Suit to Block US Airways/American Airlines Merger
Wow. A DOJ anti-trust suit was’t expected. There has long been the belief that there would need to be some divestiture of takeoff and landing slots at Washington’s National airport for the deal to go through — US Airways is already the dominant carrier there, and had to divest some slots when they did their swap of LaGuardia slots with Delta. So it wasn’t expected they could just combine their National airport position with American’s. But the DOJ position is apparently based on the overall competitive environment. US Airways and American currently overlap on very few non-stop routes, so it isn’t about specific city pairs that will see reduced competition. The European Union has already signed off on the deal, seeking only to deal with the Philadelphia – London route. A DOJ suit clearly puts…
Cathay Pacific Adding Newark Service, and Award Space is Amazing
Cathay Pacific’s new route is Hong Kong – Newark. The flight will be operated by a 777 with 3 classes of service — business, premium economy, and economy. There’s no first class on the Newark route, but Cathay Pacific has my absolute favorite business class, reasonable people can make the case that EVA Airways is better with a very similar seat and as the only airline that serves Dom Perignon in (long haul) business. The flight times are: Depart Hong Kong 5pm, Arrive Newark 9pm (same day) Depart Newark 1:50a, Arrive Hong Kong 540am (next day) These are well timed for connections from other Asian destinations enroute to Newark, and for connections on both ends for the Newark – Hong Kong flight. This won’t really allow for any connections beyond Newark when arriving from Hong…
Bits ‘n Pieces for August 13, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Plane makes an emergency landing in a Wawa parking lot. Frequent Miler covers targeted offers for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa of 70,000 points with fee waiver and 140,000 points without fee waiver. I’d prefer the fee waived version of the card (rather than buying incremental Marriott points at over half a cent apiece, unless using those points as part of a travel package). It’s a great card for regular Marriott guests who don’t stay enough to earn Gold status, and it’s made from some pretty serious metal. Alaska Airlines is offering a 40% bonus on purchased miles through September 30. That prices miles at about 2.1 cents apiece. You can buy up to 40,000 miles (plus bonus) per transaction, and can make as many transactions as you wish,…
Sometimes It’s Worth it Not to Fill Up the Gas Tank Before Returning the Rental Car
Rental car gas: I never “prepay the gas tank” when renting a car, since with most rental agencies you’re prepaying the entire tank and you aren’t going to come out well unless you return the car almost empty. But that doesn’t mean it always makes sense to bother refueling the vehicle yourself. It depends on what the rental company’s penalty rate is. While they may post a per-gallon price, usually you’re going to be charged a per-mile price … if you don’t fill the tank up at all they will multiply miles driven by the per mile gas cost which is based on an average fuel economy and their current price for gas. Here’s the pricing at the gas station next to the rental car return at Miami: Wow. $4.79 per gallon. The default rate…
In China, If You Know Your Air Traffic Controller You’ll Take Off On Time
Via Marginal Revolution. Much of modern air traffic control and the aviation system generally in China was set up in conjunction with Boeing. It was important to describe the process not as modeling the U.S., but as “bringing China up to world standards.” Nonetheless, the Chinese military controls most air space in China. There were excellent discussions of these phenomenon in James Fallows’ China Airborne which I enjoyed reading last year. As a result, with a burgeoning aviation market, congestion around major cities is common. Apparently priority is given to flights with ‘important’ passengers, international flights, and flights where a crew member knows the air traffic controller. The latest statistics shows that the flow of air traffic accounts for as high as 40 percent of the total number of flight delays during the first half…
