News and notes from around the interweb:
- Qatar Airways will extend its QSuites business class to 777-200LRs with the first one debuting Doha – Houston on June 2.
Credit: Qatar - Credit card price protection was killed by bots once cardmembers started actually using the benefit it became too expensive to offer (at previous levels).
- Open Skies between the US and Brazil hasn’t been signed off on yet but should be soon and should mean anti-trust immunized revenue-sharing joint ventures between LATAM and American, Delta and Gol, and United and Azul.
- Tweens: The Hardest Hotel Customers to Please (HT: @ronlieber)
Pink Sands Club Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has a new Texters Treat neck and shoulder massage to “help relax those all-important muscles for texting,” for children 8 and up.
- United has a new partnership with LAX’s celebrity terminal that allows you to buy more expensive premium cabin fares with private terminal access bundled. This is available to and from Aspen; Cabo San Lucas; Hawaii; London Heathrow; Melbourne; New York/Newark; Shanghai; Singapore; Sydney; and Tokyo Narita.
It’s still very expensive though — $1250 for domestic trips and $1495 for international, which is half off the regular price. Premium customers skip the airport where United still has no Polaris lounge, but once onboard they still have United’s old business seats.
- New airline protection rules under consideration in India
- Blue LED lights in Japanese rail stations prevent suicides. Really. (HT: Joe H.)
The BI story on credit rewind is interesting, but a bit shallow. The full picture would also include Extended Warranty Coverage – this is where Amex and Chase shine. Does Citi offer it? IF not then basically your choice is Extended Warranty (Chase or Amex) or Price Protection (Citi or Discover). Not to mention loss/breakage coverage, which might be useful for an ipad but not for a washing machine.