Stack Several Promotions as Hyatt Adds a New Brand to Its Portfolio and 16 New Hotels

by Gary Leff

carmel valley ranch
May 14 2019

It was only just October that I broke the news that Hyatt would acquire Two Roads Hospitality and the Thompson, Destination, Joie de Vivre, Alila and tommie hotel brands.

Already Hyatt has been integrating properties. Most of Thompson Hotels joined World of Hyatt March 28th. Hyatt has just announced that the previously excluded Thompson Playa del Carmen and Thompson Beach House in Mexico will join effective May 15, 2019.

Today Hyatt integrates a second of the acquired brands — Joie de Vivre — into the World of Hyatt portfolio.

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Review: United’s New Spider-Man Business Class Amenity Kit

by Gary Leff

spiderman amenity kit
May 14 2019

United Airlines has launched a marketing partnership with the new Spider-Man: Far From Home movie being released July 2. The airline has a new Spider-Man safety video, will let you redeem miles for movie tickets, and has a new Spider-Man business class amenity kit.

The airline sent me one of their new amenity kits. If you’re really into Spider-Man or the broader Marvel universe you’re going to want one.

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Now Earn Hilton, Delta, and JetBlue Points – and Credit Card Rewards – When You Ride Lyft

by Gary Leff

uber map
May 14 2019

Hilton and Lyft have launched a new partnership. Just link your Hilton and Lyft accounts and earn 3 points per dollar on Lyft rides and 2 points per dollar on Lyft shared rides. This appears to stack with earning Delta miles and JetBlue points for Lyft rides, with credit card rewards earning, and with free ride credits earned paying with a World Elite Mastercard. Together that makes riding Lyft lucrative.

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Is the Port Authority of New York New Jersey Stealing Money from Newark Airport (and United)?

by Gary Leff

united-plane
May 14 2019

Back in September United threatened to pull out of Newark over $20 million in fuel taxes targeted at its operations. They were never going to leave, but made their (perfectly reasonable) point about New Jersey trying to extract revenue from just them.

United has also complained that Newark airport is overcharging them, and the FAA agrees. This past fall the FAA found that the Port Authority of New York New Jersey which manages the airport “routinely diverted airport revenue to non-airport activities.” There’s a law that lets them do this, but the airport appears to be going well beyond it.

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Flight Attendant Sues Qantas, Says Airline Should Have Provided Training on How to Use Stairs

by Gary Leff

qantasplane
May 13 2019

In 1984 a California man was tossing his toddler up and down in his living room. The kid loved it, and the father went higher and higher. Until the kid’s head hit the ceiling fan. Which was on. And the man sued the ceiling fan manufacturer for failing to warn him that walking with a child underneath a ceiling fan could be dangerous.

In that vein a Qantas flight attendant is now suing the airline after slipping on air stairs, saying the Australian carrier should have provided training on how to use stairs.

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The Worst Airline in America Hasn’t Shown Up at One Airport in Weeks, and No One Knows Why

by Gary Leff

via air plane
May 13 2019

Last summer I found that the worst airline in America, Via Air had an F-rating from the Better Business Bureau and 71% of their TripAdvisor reviews were poor or terrible, compared to 27% for Allegiant, 26% for United and 6% for Southwest.

Now, though, they aren’t just stranding customers. Their cutting flights. And they haven’t even shown up at one airport — and is ducking the airport’s calls and emails trying to find out why.

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Qantas Chartering an A380 ‘Points Plane’ for Redemptions to Tokyo

by Gary Leff

plane water salute
May 13 2019

Qantas needs to position an Airbus A380 to Tokyo for a charter flight and so it’s making at A380 available to frequent flyers for redemption. All seats on the aircraft will be available for saver redemption.

This flight is an interesting frequent flyer concept — and one that’s been done by other airlines before and which will be done by others again.

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