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Starwood, Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton Announce Their New First Quarter Promotion: Double Points Across All Brands

by Gary Leff on December 15, 2016

picture with stairs around it in a hotel

Dec 15 2016

Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood closed in September and they immediately made it possible to match status across the programs, and to move points back and forth at a ratio of 3 Marriott points to 1 Starpoint.

They’ve begun to align their programs in some subtle ways. One of the first things, even before the merger, was Marriott offering 4pm late checkout to Gold and Platinum elites, introducing experiential redemptions in the vein of SPG Moments and testing a concierge program for top elites similar to Starwood Ambassador.

You Can Now Apply for Barclaycard American AAdvantage Cards Again!!

by Gary Leff on December 15, 2016

Dec 15 2016

Barclaycard used to issue US Airways cards, and those became American AAdvantage cards with the merger. But Citibank had the exclusive right to issue new AAdvantage cards. So once the US Airways Dividend Miles program ended in March 2015, existing cardholders got to keep their cards but no one else could sign up.

Today is the first day that new Barclaycard American Airlines AAdvantage cards are available.

The Simple Trick to Beat Jet Lag Every Time

by Gary Leff on December 14, 2016

Dec 14 2016

There are two things you need to do to avoid jet lag. Adjust to the local time of your destination as soon as possible, generally as soon as you board your flight. That means eating on your new local time, and sleeping on your new local time. And stay up until bedtime at your destination the day you arrive. If you go to sleep at noon, you’re going to be off for days. You need to force yourself to power through.

What Should You Expect From a Hotel With No Water?

by Gary Leff on December 14, 2016

Dec 14 2016

I couldn’t use the shower, but I used the sink, washing my hands by pouring some water over soap to lather my hands and then pouring bottled water over my hands.

And I was able to use the toilet, I got one flush only so I used it… judiciously.

How Starwood Almost Caused Me to Lose Half a Million Miles

by Gary Leff on December 14, 2016

Dec 14 2016

Last month I wrote about a unique Starwood Platinum benefit that lets you keep airline miles from expiring. Starwood has a wide array of airline points transfer partners, and Platinum members can transfer as little as one point to most of them.

So where any activity is enough to keep a mileage account active, moving one point over is almost free.