Effective Monday American Airlines has taken away the tool airports, flight attendants, and reservations used to compensate customers when a crew member spills a drink on them, their seat is broken, or their inflight meal didn’t get loaded onto the aircraft.
To save money, instead of compensating customers when things go wrong, employees are supposed to show they care and acknowledge what the customer is saying… just not do anything about it.
Say cheese! The Department of Homeland Security revealed in a ‘privacy impact assessment’ published last week that TSA will begin using facial recognition for identity verification at airport security checkpoints.
They will photograph each passenger and determine whether it matches the photo associated with the identity document used for screening.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is against social distancing on planes and won’t block middle seats. The airline offers hand sanitizer and masks, but doesn’t want to make passengers wear them.
I wish I knew who created this video, but it’s a brilliant send up of the Qantas approach
In the President’s state of the nation address he explained the carrier was a money loser even after a cost-cutting campaign prior to the current crisis. The airline has reduced labor costs while grounded but hasn’t laid off any employees.
With a per capita GDP of around US$6000, subsidizing money-losing aviation just can’t be a priority no matter what IATA thinks.
Hyatt is offering triple points June 15 through September 15, 2020 beginning with your second stay during the promotion period. The bonus is available at all Hyatt properties, and even at MGM and Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties that participate in World of Hyatt.
Members of Hyatt’s program with any status at all can earn 2500 bonus points with their first stay during the promotion.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
IATA, the world airline trade association, has an interactive chart you can click through to see the current COVID-19 travel restrictions that each country has in place. I’ve definitely bookmarked it.
In an environment where every guest matters, with rooms that are empty, the high cost of room service is going to be an expense that fills rooms at the margin. Each property will have to figure out how many extra rooms they fill this way, because they’re looking to lose some business to hotels that still make room service available.
And for really premium hotels, understand that room service is a tremendous indulgence. Those that do it well can really earn outsized guest loyalty by creating an emotional connection. What more power way is there to do that than food?
British Airways charted a course of cost savings by firing all of its flight attendants and then offering to rehire about 70% of them back, in some cases for 60% less money.
Undeterred, British Airways is now saying that if their pilots don’t give them all the concessions they demand, they’ll just go ahead and fire them too and rehire back a portion at lower pay.
A guest at the Holiday Inn Express in Henderson, Kentucky called hotel staff for help getting into their room’s safe. The employee opened the safe, “found what they believed to be illegal drugs,” and then locked it back up for the guests. That’s when things went south.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
