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.
Mother May I? US Reminds Europeans to Ask Permission 72 Hours in Advance to Come Here
U.S. travelers are certainly aware of the challenges of dealing with visa applications to visit certain countries, and how much simpler it is to visit somewhere that either doesn’t require a visa for U.S. citizens or allows for visa on arrival.
The U.S. won’t allow foreigners without approved visa or ESTA to board aircraft headed for the U.S. That raises the transaction costs of coming here, which makes doing business with the U.S., spending tourism dollars, and supporting U.S. industry more difficult for little security benefit in exchange.
Hilton’s New Promotion is Great for Short Stays
The road map for where Hilton has gone with their program was laid out by Jeff Diskin, now Hilton Executive Vice President, back in 2010.
He said the Honors program was giving too much basic value to members and it wasn’t generating enough value. They hadn’t been active with promotions. And that needed to flip. That’s exactly what’s happened.
Heartbroken Woman Forced By Southwest to Leave Pet Fish Behind
Everyone eventually has a fish story. Now Southwest Airlines does, too, since one of their passengers is telling the story of how the carrier separated her from her pet fish in Denver, a pink male beta fish named Cassie. She says she travels with it everywhere, but on this day the Southwest employees she ran into wouldn’t allow it. And she loved her fish.
Earlier this year Spirit Airlines told a cancer patient she’d have to flush her emotional support hamster down the toilet if she wanted to fly that day out of Baltimore. While the TSA was happy to screen the pet, Spirit Airlines is just too classy to carry rodents on board or as cargo.
Citibank Cardmember Holiday Gift and How a Buddhist Monk Saved Japan Airlines
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.
Hyatt Will Offer Benefits For Every 10 Nights Stayed, Adjusts Elite Requalification Rules
Hyatt just announced several modest program changes to award members after fewer nights starting next year, and some tweaks to qualifying for elite status including requiring 5 extra nights to re-qualify for top tier status in 2020.
Here’s what’s changing and what they’ll mean to you.
Why You Never Get Stuff Back You Leave on a Plane: Delta Cleaning Crew Steals Passenger Laptop
If you leave something behind at a security checkpoint you’re better off searching for it on eBay than at lost and found.
At American no one will retrieve your missing items because helping customers gets in the way of their operation.
Apparently the reason you don’t get your stuff back if you leave valuables on a Delta flight?
The Ridiculous Reason We Haven’t Learned More About the Lion Air 737 MAX Disaster
Lion Air flight JT610 from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang crashed 13 minutes after takeoff on October 29. 189 passengers and crew were killed in the disaster.
The aircraft’s flight data recorder was recovered last month, and provided useful information to allow for a preliminary report. The cockpit voice recorder has not yet been recovered. Unfortunately investigation of the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crash is stalled.
oneworld CEO Make an “Impassioned Plea” for Qatar Airways to Stay in the Alliance
Two months ago Qatar Airways threatened to leave the oneworld alliance, a threat that their CEO Akbar al-Baker has repeated several times.
Qatar’s CEO did not attend the alliance’s annual meeting in New York where their existing partner Royal Air Maroc announced its pending entry into oneworld. Any exit would logically have been announced at that meeting, though Qatar has mentioned a Christmas deadline for a decision.
Have Elite Status With an Airline or Hotel? You Can Have SkyTeam Status, Too.
Right now SkyTeam member and Delta partner Aerolineas Argentinas is promoting an aggressive new status match offer. They will give you a year of elite status based on the status you have with another airline (that is not a part of the SkyTeam alliance) or a hotel chain. Willingness to match against, say, Hilton Honors is unique, easy, and aggressive.
SkyTeam elite status makes travel easier on Delta.