The US State Department has updated its travel advisory for China. That’s getting plenty of coverage but let’s keep things in perspective.
The US is advising the same level of caution for Beijing as Paris. I guess tourist scams like Chinese tea ceremonies are about on par as someone ‘finding a ring you must have dropped’ by the Eiffel Tower.
Pakistan International Airlines has sent a memo to all of its flight attendants demanding weight loss.
There’s a requirement for those that are 30 pounds over the company’s rules which demands flight attendants lose 5 pounds per month with the waiver shrinking 5 pounds each month until starting in July no ‘excess weight’ will be permitted. Instead, overweight flight attendants will be grounded and referred for medical treatment.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is increasing mileage prices for business and first class awards effective January 24, most US routes see an increase of 7000 miles each way for business class and 12,000 for first class.
They’re also making several other changes to the program.
Right on the heels of one of the best airfare deals we’ve seen in a long time being honored, you can fly Chicago – Sydney roundtrip in business class from $1492. This is on Air New Zealand (fly Chicago – Auckland non-stop on their 787 and on to Sydney) or fly United through Los Angeles or San Francisco.
At this price you can definitely get yourself to and from Chicago for the journey.
Unfortunately they’re investing in bad marketing when they need to be investing in fixing their IT — merged accounts that still aren’t right, elite status trackers that say members need only 75 nights for Ambassador status, and missing 75 night elite benefit options.
And if they are really that short of ideas for where to invest these dollars, to deliver strong branding, they might try putting the money into training customer service agents to give out accurate information.
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The change focuses on business and first class awards. Business class awards between the US and Singapore go up 7000 miles each way. First class awards between the US and Singapore go up 10,000 – 12,000 miles each way.
Several online shopping portals are offering bonus miles right now. When one shopping portal has a bonus usually many do because they’re mostly run by the same company.
All of these bonuses are called “Extra Rewards.” However the earning from each for different merchants and the value of each currency varies.
Registration (required by March 15) isn’t yet open however the promotion page URL suggests that internally this is called “Multibrand 2019” so I imagine earning will be based on staying at different brands within the IHG Rewards Club portfolio.
And since the offer is to earn “at least 40,000 bonus points” I imagine that the actual bonus and requirements will be targeted, as most IHG promotions have been in recent years.
The JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort published a policy that they would not upgrade Marriott Platinum members to suites despite terms and conditions of the program saying Platinums are entitled to suite upgrades if available.
There are always going to be hotels that are more generous than others with respect to elite benefits. However this wasn’t just a non-compliant hotel, their policy not to comply was explicitly outlined on the Marriott website and in the Marriott app.
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 »
