Visa Revamping Rates Charged To Merchants, May Affect Card Bonuses Some Banks Can Afford

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Feb 06 2020

Visa is adjusting merchant swipe fees across the board for the first time in a decade. The fees grocers charge will go down. Rates will also be lower for health-care, education and real estate, areas where Visa would like to win market share away from checks. Meanwhile the fee for online (‘card not present’) transactions will go up.

Banks want to bonus small dollar, frequent spend like groceries to get customers in the habit of using their cards, keeping them top of wallet for unbonused spend. The categories where this makes sense to banks though will change based on the revenue associated with each type of transaction.

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Father Can’t Sue Southwest For Allowing 14 Year Old To Fly Without Permission

by Gary Leff

Feb 06 2020

The conniving 14 year old gets short shrift in all of the legal maneuvering. He was being watched by his grandfather and “asked his grandfather to go to Starbucks to get him a Frappuccino.” While the grandfather was gone the boy went to the airport. He was apparently in league with him mom who bought him a ticket to New Orleans. The father, alerted to the plan, called the police and drove to the airport before the flight took off. Southwest let the boy travel.

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Lots Of Misinformation About New Limits On Award Redemption At Many Marriott Hotels

by Gary Leff

Feb 06 2020

Yesterday we learned that Marriott is going to let former Starwood hotel brands limit award redemptions on high demand dates during the year, matching what legacy Marriott brand hotels could do.

There’s been a lot of misinformation spreading since the change became public (on blogs, Marriott still hasn’t told its members) so I wanted to correct these misimpressions.

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5 Reasons The Trump Administration’s Ban On Global Entry For New Yorkers Is Bad Policy

by Gary Leff

passport
Feb 06 2020

In December New York State law began allowing undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses and stopped sharing applicant information with immigration enforcement agencies.

Wednesday evening the Trump administration announced that because New York passed this law, “New York residents are no longer eligible to enroll in these Trusted Traveler Programs” including Global Entry.

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Boeing 737 Broke Apart After Overrunning Runway In Istanbul

by Gary Leff

Feb 05 2020

A Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 touched down in bad weather at Istanbul’s second airport (Sabiha, code SAW) after flying from Izmur, Turkey. Flight PC 2193 overran runway 6 and hit the airport’s perimeter wall. The plane broke into 3 parts. An engine that separated caught fire.

There were 183 passengers and crew on board. It took nearly five hours to free everyone from the wreckage. One person is reported to have perished, and 157 taken to area hospitals. All six crew on board were injured.

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Analysis Of Marriott Hotel Redemption Category Changes Coming March 4

by Gary Leff

art installation
Feb 05 2020

Marriott has an award chart with each hotel assigned a category from 1 to 8. That determines the price you’ll pay in points for a standard room, as long as that room is available.

Every year Marriott re-categorizes hotels, moving them up or down, largely based on whether the rates are expected higher or lower than the previous year. There’s some wiggle room for adjustment, but changes largely track the hotel market. Here’s what’s happening March 4, 2020.

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LAX Is Looking For Volunteers To Help Them Stress Test Their New Concourse

by Gary Leff

Feb 05 2020

LAX is nearing completion of its Midfield Satellite Concourse. This is a 12 gate extension connected to the Tom Bradley International Terminal via a 1000 foot tunnel. As the airport prepares to open this new concourse this year they are looking for 500 people to become actors, playing the role of passenger. This will let them stress test the terminal.

Want to be one of the lucky few to see the new concourse before almost anybody else?

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