News and notes from around the interweb:
- Patio11 on merchant-funded offers justifying higher annual card fees.
Why? Because a lot of the value of those products is free to the bank *if and only if* they can convince third parties to cover the cost of it.
“We will bring you better customers than the ones you will get through other advertising channels. Pay us to do this.”
— Patrick McKenzie (@patio11) June 17, 2025
Bizdev: Times some percentage of portfolio certainly.
Issuer: Of course. Both of us have done this before. We’ll also probably have a contractual guardrail for splitting costs if over or under thresholds.
Bizdev: Because we’re competent?
Issuer: And good at math.— Patrick McKenzie (@patio11) June 17, 2025
- Out from danger, JSX JSX takes a victory lap in D Magazine. (HT: Dan)
“If the other airlines spent half the energy on their own customers that they spent trying to shut us down, they’d probably be in a much better position.” — Alex Wilcox, CEO, JSX
- Airbnb is a marketplace for willing buyers and sellers to match, nothing more. And there are many scammers (on both sides). Caveat emptor!
Important for people to know that AirBnB is great when it works but there is no downside protection. AirCover is a lie. Many such cases. https://t.co/RJVH5ymUxD
— Peter Wildeford (hiring!) (@peterwildeford) June 28, 2025
- 25% bonus from Citi to Leading Hotels of the World not horrible.
- These don’t look bad in the photos… cautiously optimistic!
- I Analysed 25,000 Hotel Names…Why are there so many hotels named after cities they are not in? (HT: Marginal Revolution)
China alone accounts for almost 1000 hotels that include Vienna in their name, far more than any country, including Austria itself.
On the merchant-funded offers commentary, so, it’s like the worst people you know are fighting each other. Cool. Yet, somehow, we lose. Got it. How ‘heartwarming.’
On the hotel names fiasco, yeah, it’s like naming your hotel/spa ‘The Four Seasons’ but it ain’t THAT Four Seasons…
I have $75 off $250 offer on my Hilton AmEx during the Members week in spring. The offer specified Curio hotels as participating. Stayed in Carte Curio Hotel San Diego. Never received $75 back. AmEx agent on the chat said that this hotel was not participating in the offer. Typical bite and switch. Be aware of AmEx offers.
@1990 — juuust great.
Fun fact (unchecked) for DMV natives like Gary: pretty sure no hotels with a Vienna, Virginia address have Vienna in their name — all of them say Tysons! Makes sense of course but thought it was interesting since Vienna was brought up.
@L737 — Hopefully the Wiener Schnitzel is still delicious, regardless!
@1990 — Yum, I actually don’t know where to get some good schnitzel around DC! Have to explore…
@Alexej Smirnov — Ugh. Did you take a screenshot of the offer terms? I started doing that just in case. I got an offer on my Aspire for $80 off $400 Hilton spend. I went to Canada and didn’t get it any cash back, turns out it was for US only. Got my $80 24 hours after my latest trip.
@L737 — For the foodies out there, the Michelin app, (yes, that Michelin, the tire company, and the restaurant review) is actually a good resource. Their ‘Bib Gourmand’ distinction recognizes restaurants that offer high-quality food at a more affordable price point compared to Michelin-starred establishments. I’ve used that when looking for specific types of cuisine in different cities. It’s never let me down; whereas, Yelp, while it used to be more reliable, is completely astroturfed.
Also, pretty sure @Alexej Smirnov meant *bait* and switch. Bah! Good idea on screenshots. Gotta keep a paper/digital trail these days. Look out for yourselves!
@1990 or even worse on hotel names, naming your business Four Seasons Total Landscaping, causing much confusion and embarrassment all around when using it as a rally venue.