News and notes from around the interweb:
- Marriott will take fees for anything. If they can do a licensing deal where they get paid for their name, they’re down. Next up: branded apartments with W Apartments Cleveland scheduled to open late 2027.
- Unfortunately this apparently has to be said.
PSA: Proper plane etiquette:
If you bring your dog on the flight & put it on your lap do not point its butt at the person next to you
Thank you for your attention to this matter
— Molly O’Shea (@MollySOShea) June 23, 2026
- This also needs to be said, as obvious as it may have seemed: don’t get into fights at government checkpoints.
- Expedia is devaluing rebates from its loyalty program eliminating earning from flights entirely, and dropping the rebate on hotels for general members from 2% down to 1% (Platinums do go from 2% to 3%). Golds and Platinums experiencing a flight delay of 90 minutes or more on an itinerary booked through Expedia will get a Priority Pass-accessible lounge pass or – if there aren’t any lounges at the airport – a $20 in Expedia credit.
The program broadly speaking is as weak as the customer service offered by the booking platform. If you’re looking for rebates on flights Bilt Rewards gives you 1% back and even offers direct airline bookings, so customer service is done by the airline.
- Top aide to former NYC Mayor Eric Adams charged in alleged migrant shelter bribery scheme (HT: Paul H) Apparently an ex-Wyndham.
The chief of staff to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with accepting more than $100,000 in bribes “to steer a multimillion-dollar Emergency Shelter Contract” for migrants to a Queens hotel, according to an unsealed federal indictment.
- When you access the Minute Suites at Houston, Baltimore and Nashville with your Priority Pass card there is now a $5 co-pay that isn’t disclosed in the Priority Pass app.
- Walt Disney’s fully-restored private plane
Oof. Everything about Adams seems like it was corrupt. We’re much better off these days. *incoming: people who haven’t visited NYC since the 1970s whining about it*
Yeah, Adams was a corrupt MF and everyone is glad he’s gone. Everyone except the completely 100% corrupt lying Grifter in Chief MF. We’ll be much better off when he’s gone also.
I use Expedia Loyalty program inspires anything but Loyalty. They have a rewards program just to have one and show little desire to better.
Ah.. Carnival, the Spirit Airlines of the seas.
The Expedia rewards on flights was only 0.2% anyway. But, I used them to book an Air NZ flight a few times. I used my 3% on travel card (Citi Costco) and it codes as a flight. So, I’m getting 3.2%. I then enter the PNR in the NZ app, and it works like I bought it directly from NZ. Obviously, that ends now with the 0.2% going away. I stay at a few properties each year that aren’t part of a rewards program. If I can get them at the same price on Expedia, I do. I’m never prepaying, so the stays get me 3% back on my card.
@This comes to mind — You do you, but, if you’re done with the Expedia-angle, since you seem to fly J, wouldn’t Amex Platinum 5x with the International Airline Program (sometimes decent discounts for business class tickets) be a better fit? I wouldn’t bother with CSR or Strata Elite/Prestige, even if they have 5-8x points on their portals, unless you prefer TY or UR. (Oh, wait, I forgot, I’m not worth your time, and you don’t read my stuff… right… *wink*)