News and notes from around the interweb:
- Two people met in a long TSA screening line and wound up marrying and other tales from Washington Dulles airport.
- “A bartender at a Delta SkyClub in Seattle told me that incorporating a personal Venmo QR code into his work has drastically improved his tips.”
- Customer sues to make Qantas honor lifetime club membership that was issued in error They lost, but Qantas customer service along the way was (characteristically) atrocious. (HT: One Mile at a Time)
- A quarter of all Chinese arrivals in South Korea are testing positive for Covid but no evidence of new variants.
- Prediction that we will see generous status match offers come spring
- First class side of Cathay Pacific’s ‘The Wing’ lounge in Hong Kong fully re-opens, no longer restricted to passengers heading to China.
What’s it going to cost you to attain/maintain tier status? What value are you receiving from tier status? One individual incurred a net cost of $4k to $6k every year to maintain Delta Diamond. How many first class upgrades would that buy? Absolutely nuts what people do.
Status is given out to corporate flyers for free anyway, numbers will not go down.
@ Gary — If Venmo gets them more $$, more power to them. I don’t use these things, but awesome for those who do!
@Gary – speaking of status. I just saw this on Facebook- what gives ?
Never seen anything like it . No idea how this is offered / possible. What is this ?????? Do you know anything about this ?
http://Www.airlinestatus.com
Hopefully there will be some useful status match offers.
Given that tips subsidize the people that serve us, I’m all for anything to make it easier. Good for the bartender to utilize the simplicity of a QR code.
@Kevin L – that’s not given at all, people are willing to work at a certain wage and the wage can be paid by the employer or the customer or both. Tipping ultimately subsidizes the employer, allowing them to attract workers at lower wages.
I keep an envelope with fives and ones. Tips are part of life, especially when traveling and you’re at the will and mercy of hospitality workers.
I tip cash generously in the SkyClub, hotel rooms and restaurants but I suspect I’m in the minority because so few use cash. If Venmo is the next best thing for these workers, then God bless their ingenuity
I saw QR codes to tip at the Aspire lounge and San Diego. While cash is best, if you forget tip money, I think it’s a better idea than what people used to have to do at the United Club – ask the bartender to charge $0.01, and the guest adds their tip to the tip line.