Monday I wrote about how the Andaz West Hollywood keeps World of Hyatt members from using their points.
The hotel benefits from being a Hyatt. They attract stays from guests loyal to the brand, and looking to earn elite night credit when staying in the area. But they appear not to want to honor the other end of their obligation by redeeming free night awards.
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.
Several frequent flyer programs around the world let you put your status on pause, or extend your status, when you experience major life events. It’s not nearly as common in the U.S., perhaps because we’re not as focused here on accommodating new births or medical issues as people are in Europe or Australia.
It makes all the sense in the world for a travel loyalty program, though. A customer who was incredibly valuable before having a child is likely to be incredibly valuable once the get back on the road.
Have an important stay coming up where elite status — club lounge access or breakfast, a room upgrade — would be nice? Hilton will give you free 90 days of status if you have elite status with any chain.
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.
Branson has a well-known love of the Caribbean and is considering flying between the US and several Caribbean islands through a new investment. He’s reportedly in negotiations to invest in and grow LIAT.
A woman and her travel companion were removed from Air New Zealand flight NZ424 from Wellington to Auckland for refusing to watch the airline’s safety video.
The woman was first reading a book and then looking at her phone. When the pilot announced they’d be returning to the gate, though, the woman did start talking on her phone — she “loudly tried to make a booking with Jetstar.”
Andaz West Hollywood appears to be placing a 3-night minimum stay requirement on their entry level room types throughout the year.
What seems odd at first glance, until you dig deeper, is that they are imposing these 3 night minimum restrictions on both revenue bookings (paid reservations) and award bookings (free night awards) for the 1 King Bed and 2 Queen room types. And they are not doing this for the rest of their rooms.
In 2009 a class action lawsuit was filed over the change in expiration rules. The case settled last summer. Aeroplan has now posted miles to member accounts.
If nothing else this reset the expiration of miles in my Aeroplan account. Not as lucrative as the British Airways fuel surcharge class action but better than a hole in the head, as my grandfather used to say.
The AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard has a new best-ever offer with an initial bonus up to 75,000 miles.
What’s cool is that you can also get the American AAdvantage small business card from Citibank, the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard, and it has a best-ever initial offer too.
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 »
