TSA has one job: to keep dangerous items outside of security checkpoints. That alone doesn’t make us safe, as Brussels and Istanbul airport attacks before security screening made clear. And the TSA isn’t very good at it in any case, regularly missing 90% or more of dangerous items they screen.
At a minimum, though, you’d expect that the TSA itself wouldn’t be the one bringing guns in.
Hyatt launched their earning and redemption partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World a year ago. Initially they only brought about 10% of SLH’s 500+ properties into their portfolio.
Now they’re up to 250 of the roughly 500 SLH Hotels participating in World of Hyatt, including some amazing places to spend your Hyatt (or Chase) points.
I don’t expect a December launch. Launching air service between the U.S. and Iceland in the winter is about the worst idea I’ve heard. Wow Air was once a great low cost carrier, if not a great business. It looks to me as though it could just become the next Avatar Airlines or Baltia.
Swiss only lets Miles & More elite members book first class awards (usually). Air France has had a similar policy for its first class seats. For several years you’ve needed to be a Flying Blue elite member to be able to spend miles to redeem for first class.
American Airlines has restarted their ‘Project Oasis’ retrofit to cram more seats into Boeing 737s. They’re taking these planes out of service for weeks at a time even with their MAX aircraft still grounded.
The first class on these planes is so bad they’ve decided to redo those on aircraft that have already been updated. But since the fixes haven’t been certified yet they’re going to put the wrong first class in these planes, only to change them up again in a year.
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.
MGM and Caesars seem to be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber. In August MGM announced resort fees over $50 a night at 4 hotels. The CEO of Caesars declared that resort fees could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Las Vegas lodging. So what is Caesars doing? Raising resort fees, natch.
American Airlines used to serve the most wonderful baked on board cookies. The whole domestic first class cabin would fill with the smell of fresh baked goodness. It was that smell, even more than the taste, which made the flight feel like home.
After US Airways management took over, and then implemented US Airways catering standards (while meeting in the middle the distance of flights that got meals) in September 2014, baked on board cookies were eliminated. They explained that since legacy US Airways aircraft had just one oven up front, it was tough for flight attendants to heat both meals and cookies at the same time.
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.
The City of Houston had a hiring freeze – no new police, first responders in the event of floods – but managed to create a new $95,000 a year internship for someone the Mayor has “a past working relationship” with, after initially claiming to have no idea who the intern was. The position allows the candidate to decide for themselves whether to stay on at the conclusion of the 12- to 18-month internship.
Curiously, the $95,000 internship isn’t at George Bush International Airport (IAH) or Houston Hobby (HOU) but at general aviation Houston Municipal Airport.
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 »
