Last Wednesday I wrote that Starwood is introducing free internet for all guests and that this follows Marriott and also IHG. At the time I wrote, It will be interesting to see how long Hyatt (which just extended its room type guarantee to all members) and Hilton can buck the trend, or whether they’ll lose business to Marriott, Starwood, and IHG. Now we know, at least for Hyatt. Starting in February, all Hyatts will offer complimentary wireless internet in guest rooms and social spaces (presumably this excludes conference rooms) to all guests. They won’t require a loyalty program account to get the internet. They won’t require booking through their own booking channels, excluding online travel agencies (as Marriott and Starwood policies require), either. Hyatt’s Platinum and Diamond members will receive premium speed at hotels where…
General
Category Archives for General.
Don’t Store Babies Inside Overhead Bins (Don’t Steal Their Nutella Either)
News and notes from around the interweb: Nutella jars seized from pregnant mother because they represented terror risk. (HT: Alan H.) The airport staff was ‘just following orders’ so I don’t blame them per se, although along the lines of questions that are rarely asked, if liquids are so dangerous, why are they tossed together in a bin next to the checkpoint instead of dealt with by a hazmat team? In recommending that you not slam someone’s head against an overhead bin as a solution to kids crying on a plan, @danrothschild reminds me that you shouldn’t put babies inside overhead bins either. Troubling. (HT: Milepoint) Air France KLM is deferring deliveries of Boeing 777s due in over the next two years after revising down profit expectations for the third time this year. (HT: Alan…
Has Barclaycard Started Limiting Targeted Signup Bonus Offers to Members That Are Actually Eligible?
In my post about earning miles by referring your friends to the Barclaycard US Airways card, I point out that Barclaycard has been making an offer of 50,000 miles plus 10,000 miles at card renewal available, marketed to US Airways elite frequent flyers. Many consider the 10,000 mile offer at renewal ‘better’ but as I point out it’s the same as the regular 50,000 mile signup bonus unless you plan to keep the card for a year (and likely pay a second annual fee). Now, I do consider 10,000 miles worth $89 (9/10ths of a cent per mile) but many have long disagreed with me about hanging onto the card for that. But is Barclaycard cracking down on non-US Airways elites signing up for the offer? Commenter tassojunior shares this experience: I used the Preferred…
Exploiting the Freshly Increased Value of Citibank’s Thank You Points
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Citibank Points Have Gotten Much More Valuable This Year Thanks to Airline Mileage Transfers Citibank introduced airline miles as an option for redeeming Thank You points over the summer, instantly increasing the value of their Citi Thank You Cards points substantially. And a month later they even added a transfer partner, signifying that they weren’t done building the program. Thank You Premier and Prestige cardmembers can now transfer…
I Lost a Top Tier Elite Status — and How I Could Get it Back…
You used to be able to
And The Award for Worst Lip Syncing By an Airline Goes To…
Is it just me, or do you get the feeling of being in a dentist’s office rather than soaring with a Thai boutique airline? Bangkok Airways does, of course, have a passion for really bad lip syncing. I’d recommend they take lessons from the professional, skilled lip sync singers of Munich airport. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Air France Forced Down By Chili Peppers, a Wild New MH370 Theory, and Delta Expands Onboard Barbecue
News and notes from around the interweb: A new wild theory from France on MH370: that it was remotely hijacked and shot down by US forces near Diego Garcia. (HT: World Airline News) Is National Car Rental’s Virtual Aisle all that it is cracked up to be? Delta rolls out New York’s best barbecue to more transatlantic flights as a business class meal choice. (‘Best barbecue’ and ‘New York’ is a pretty low bar, and Blue Smoke is way overpriced for what it is, but if it translates to the sky I’m impressed!) Airlines will be compensated because of UK air traffic control meltdown.. but passengers won’t be (HT: Alan H.) Air France flight makes an emergency landing because of chili peppers. (HT: Alan H.) You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals…
Don’t Make This One Simple Mistake on the Phone With an Airline
I gifted a domestic first class award. It was for a fairly well-known personality who offered to speak at an event for a non-profit I’m involved with. A non-stop first class flight was a requirement, and he was doing us a favor after all. Neither we nor I was going to come out of pocket for it (it was basically a transcon and pricey, no discounted first class available) so I offered to burn some miles. I needed to book a one-way flight, since there was saver availability on US Airways for the outbound and saver availabiltiy on United for the return. So I used American miles for the US Airways flight. (US Airways does not offer one-ways at half the price of roundtrip.) A couple of months pass, and I receive an e-mail e-ticket…
You Can Earn Up to 50,000 Miles Referring Your Friends to the 50,000 Mile Bonus US Airways MasterCard
When the US Airways Dividend Miles program is folded into American AAdvantage sometime during the second quarter of 2015, Barclays loses the ability to issue new US Airways credit cards. They’ll keep servicing existing cardholders with new AAdvantage Aviator Red and Silver cards. So they’re trying to sign up as many cardmembers as they can now. First they bumped their bonus offer to 40,000 points and then to 50,000. And now they’re offering existing cardmembers miles for referring friends to sign up for the 50,000 mile offer. Check your email box for your referral link. While I was offered 5000 miles per person I refer, some are offered 10,000 miles. There’s also a version of the card marketed to US Airways elites that offers 10,000 miles on your first cardmember anniversary (and thus for an…
Changes to How You Can Pay Bills With a Credit Card, and Congressman in Trouble Over Travel Forum Posts
News and notes from around the interweb: Congressman in hot water over his postings on Flyertalk Evolve Money stops taking Discover card for some bills, announces they’ll accept Vanilla Reloads Some people are getting 10,000 free points as a holiday gift from Club Carlson. I’ll be satisfied with 2000 free American miles from Citibank. Eastern Airlines flies again United has called for the FAA to investigate how much they’re being charged by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for their Newark flights Park ‘n Fly has suffered an online data breach of customer credit card information You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You…
