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.
With Hyatt acquiring the Mr. and Mrs. Smith booking platform of independent luxury hotels (which meant IHG losing its Mr. and Mrs. Smith tie-in), their partnership with competitor SLH Hotels was always going to end. And in fact it terminates May 15, with SLH transitioning over to a partnership with Hilton.
IHG One Rewards has a promotion where you can register for instant silver status or choose double elite qualifying nights, up to 15 nights.
Within the confines of what American Airlines is going to be willing to do – space on the aircraft comes at an incredible premium, so I while I wish the space for midflight snacks was larger I accept certain tradeoffs – they’ve clearly gone much further in working on the details of this product.
Of course I haven’t seen it in person yet. The first plane hasn’t been delivered, and we’re a couple of months until the first Boeing 777-300ER goes in for retrofit to create a model for future work. But the imagery that’s coming out is exceeding my expectations.
Delta may have tapped out the potential of SkyMiles. With 30% of active members already holding their credit card, that explains the move last fall to push their most engaged members to spend more on their cards – or lose the benefits of status. They can’t just add more cardmembers to grow, and there’s no more money to take from American Express for existing business.
SimplyMiles is an American Airlines-Mastercard site that has offers for making purchases with a variety of merchants. You earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles for transactions made using a Mastercard that’s been linked to the site.
Hilton Honors is back with double points on all stays, May 2 – September 2, 2024. Registration required, and now open.
American Airlines is the last remaining U.S. carrier to sell a true ‘first class’. Ever since Continental Airlines began selling a ‘premium business class’ that they called BusinessFirst, and dropped first class, the trend has gone in that direction. Delta has had a first class cabin in years, and United’s top product is now business class.
Now American plans to eliminate first class, too. Or do they?
A year and a half ago I revealed that new amenity kits, bedding, and meals would be introduced when American Airlines rolls out business class suites that will be arrive with new delivery Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and eventually be added to Boeing 777-300ERs.
The idea is that an elevated business class seat would be accompanied by new investments in other elements of the product. And it turns out we’ll see this new business class soft product Memorial Day weekend – even before the new seats arrive.
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.
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 »
