Sep
25
2019
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.
Beijing’s New Airport Leaks American Airlines Plans
Marriott Reveals It’s Stuck With the Name Bonvoy: “It Is What It Is.”
Sep
25
2019
Rebranding a loyalty program just doesn’t make sense when you start with both a recognizable name and a good reputation. You wind up spending nine figures on advertising, merchandising, printing, and education — all to get back to where you started, at best, which is that the median consumer doesn’t even identify which brands are part of the program.
Passenger Banned From Cathay Pacific For Trying to Trick Staff Into a Business Class Upgrade
Sep
25
2019
Self-described “social Influencer” Jacqueline Ng says she “filled out an online form. I emailed Cathay Pacific to try and upgrade to business class.”
She says she got an email back offering an upgrade subject to availability. She showed this e-mail at check-in, and it got her banned from the airline.
Barclays Eliminating Travel Protections and Other Benefits From Several Cards
Sep
25
2019
When Citi eliminated ancillary benefits like trip delay from their cards, including their American AAdvantage cards, several readers picked up the Barclays-issued American AAdvantage card to still earn American Airlines miles while also being able to take advantage of trip delay coverage. That turns out not to have been a good strategy.
Right after American Express announced the introduction of trip delay and cancellation benefits for some of its premium cards, I’ve learned that Barclays is eliminating trip delay and other benefits from its Aviator AAdvantage card – and similar benefits from other cards too.
Class Action Filed Against Marriott Over Resort Fees
Sep
24
2019
The lead plaintiff has stayed at over 45 Marriott properties and contends resort fees are ‘drip pricing’. He claims not to have realized resort fees applied for some of his stays when he made his booking, because those fees are obscured (under “taxes and fees”).
What we can hope to gain from this and the state investigations of resort fees is a change in industry practice where mandatory charges are included in the room rate so that consumers can compare pricing.
One Hotel Employee Worked 32 Straight Hours Taking Care of Guests During Tropical Storm Imelda
Sep
24
2019
t’s the things that people do for each other when disaster hits that’s most meaningful, and in the moment, long before government programs decamp. It’s people like Satchel Smith, who works at the Homewood Suites in Beaumont, Texas, who make a real difference in people’s lives.
American Airlines Will “Absolutely” Fly to India, and Announce New South Pacific Flights Next Month
Sep
24
2019
Based on comments by American Airlines top executives at an employee meeting last week, the airline is working on a Tokyo Haneda shuttle schedule at LAX. They’re preparing to send Boeing 787s into the Pacific. And they’re looking forward to new Boeing 787 aircraft deliveries that they intend to fly 7000 miles – to places like India and Africa.
As Delta Makes Austin a Focus City, American Airlines Talks About Its Future There
Sep
24
2019
Austin has been one of the fastest growing airports in the country in recent years. This year they increased the number of available gates at the airport by 37%. While the amount of long haul international flying is limited, there’s London service from British Airways and Norwegian and Lufthansa started flying to Frankfurt back in May.
Delta has named Austin a focus city. While the largest airlines at Austin, in order, are Southwest, American, United and then Delta the addition of new gates will allow Delta to grow – and the gap between the three large U.S. legacy airlines isn’t that large to begin with.
United is Introducing a New Confirmed Upgrade Program December 4th
Sep
24
2019
United shared this morning that they’re revamping their confirmed regional and global upgrade certificates that Platinum elites and higher are able to take advantage of effective December 4. They’re introducing a new upgrade points system to replace certificates called PlusPoints, and existing banked certificates will convert to PlusPoints at that time.
I received a briefing on the changes from Luc Bondar, United’s Vice President of Loyalty who is in charge of MileagePlus. Here’s how upgrades are changing.
One Blogger Just Finished Visiting Every Country in the World – By Using Miles
Sep
24
2019
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.
