Barclays American Airlines Cards: Earn 3x On All Spend

american aadvantage cards
May 22 2020

Barclays is offering their American AAdvantage cardmembers – both Aviator Red and Silver products – triple miles on all spending between today and June 30, 2020. The only unfortunate thing here is that you’re capped at 2500 bonus miles. So if you spend $1250 where you’d normally earn just 1250 miles, you’ll earn 3750 miles under this promotion.

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Air Canada Introduces World’s Second Most Generous Ticket Change Policy

lounge desk
May 22 2020

It takes a lot to get people out of the habit of staying in, and overcoming the fear that’s been built up about regular activities like haircuts, let alone travel. Six weeks ago I wrote that airlines are going to have to extend flexible booking policies or customers won’t have the confidence to buy travel in the face of uncertainty.

We’re now seeing policies become even more generous, and more flexible.

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Dear Hyatt, Please Don’t Impose Coronavirus Surcharges On Hotel Stays

hotel lobby
May 22 2020

This is a horrible idea, that undermines trust in the brand completely. It’s trust in the brand that drives value for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. They really risk undermining their business.

If a surcharge is needed to cover the cost of making a hotel safe from SARS-CoV-2, then it’s not part of a hotel’s basic practices. the room rate doesn’t buy a safe stay. That communication is downright scary. And hiding the ball on price is untrustworthy and what’s needed to bring travelers back more than ever is trust.

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The FAA and TSA Can’t Legally Mandate Masks Or Temperature Checks

May 22 2020

It may be a good idea to mandate passengers wear masks, and to take their temperatures as they arrive at the airport. However it’s a bad idea for government to charge TSA with taking temperatures of passengers who are already inside the airport at security checkpoints.

Airlines have lobbied for TSA to do this, and TSA has prepared to do it, however Aviation Policy News points out that neither the FAA nor TSA have the legal authority to mandate masks or take temperatures.

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Southwest Airlines Shares Internal Plan To Voluntarily Reduce Workforce

May 21 2020

The late co-founder of the airline Herb Kelleher wrote in 2011 about the airline’s legacy of never having to furlough an employee, saying it was because their employees work hard and never forget the customers paying the bills. In the early 1970s they had to return one of their Boeing 737s due to financial challenges, but they kept their employees on.

Of course we’ve never seen travel demand collapse the way we have with the coronavirus pandemic though Southwest Airlines is actually well-positioned relative to its peers to recover.

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5 Reasons New Hotel ‘Coronavirus Surcharges’ Are A Terrible Idea

outside marriott hotel
May 21 2020

Hotels can and should adjust pricing to generate the most revenue they can. That’s called the room rate, and hotels publish numerous different rates every day and vary their rates as needed. They can also incentivize use of on-property facilities, or raise and lower prices at those.

The worst approach would be for hotels to act in a deceptive manner, and undermine trust, when they’re struggling to fill even 40% of rooms and need that trust to get customers to travel let alone choose them for that travel. And raising pricing when occupancy is low, in the middle of a severe recession, seems like the height of stupidity.

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