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.
At Marriott and Hyatt the payment a hotel gets for your award night is not linked to the number of points you pay.
Most hotels actually want your award business. If you’re taking up a room that would otherwise go empty, it’s pure marginal revenue. And if you’re taking up a room on a night they’re full they get a large payment – generally equal to their average rate for the year, though not as high as the highest rate they might charge on that night. One hotel is even warning members about the impending award chart price increase for the property.
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz took the stage at Gotham Hall in New York nearly 3 years ago. He was new on the job and looking to make a splash advancing the narrative that his airline was turning itself around, righting the ship.
It always seemed clear that United wouldn’t sustain their new inflight offering. Although in some ways I expected that there would be more progress actually rolling out the seats before it was cut back so far.
Businesses have credit profiles, and most small business owners don’t check theirs. Capital One just launched a new service — whether you’re a CapitalOne cardmember or not — called Business CreditWise. It provides access to a company’s credit report with data from LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
The new tool lets business owners access credit details, “correct mistakes and understand what is impacting their overall credit report, free of charge.”
ilton’s CEO suggests that Marriott’s troubles have been Hilton’s gain.
Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday that the Honors program added 14 million new members last year, a 20% increase to a total of 85 million. He attributes that to guests shifting from Marriott. But that’s not at all suggestive of what he thinks it is.
Here’s video from Delta flight DL5763 from Orange County to Seattle, an Embraer ERJ 175 operated by Compass Airlines.
The aircraft, with 59 passengers and 4 crew on board, made an emergency landing in Reno after five of the passengers on board were injured due to severe turbulence.
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.
As a passenger the Airbus A380 is a special experience. Takeoff rolls are incredibly smooth. While they can pack in passengers densely most operators have offered incredibly luxurious perks on the plane — in part because it can be so much more difficult to fill an aircraft with 600 or more passengers so the cost to use space ‘inefficiently’ is low. No US airline has operated one.
The Airbus board is meeting and – barring a last minute rabbit out of a hat – could announce the end of A380 production as soon as tomorrow. Airbus has been signaling the possible end of the A380 program since 2014.
Marriott has officially launched a new name for its loyalty program today. There’s no more Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, or Starwood Preferred Guest. There’s now only Bonvoy.
We knew what Rewards meant. That’s all about earn and burn. Preferred Guest was all about how a loyal member is treated. Bonvoy literally has no meaning. It is not a word.
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 »
