Hilton’s New Double Points Promo Starts May 6th With a Kicker

by Gary Leff

hotel room
Apr 26 2019

Hilton’s current promotion, great for short stays ends May 5. Not missing a beat their new promotion runs May 6 – September 8. Hilton is continuing the theme of their most common bonus, double points, but they aren’t interested in bonusing only occasional guests. They’re only offering double points starting with your second stay during the promotion period.

Doubling down, as it were, on the focus on bonusing the most frequent guests they’re adding a component to double points…

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American Airlines Wants to Clarify Its Mission and Get More Customers to Recommend Them

by Gary Leff

american airlines plane
Apr 25 2019

In the American Airlines internal podcast Kurt Stache, American’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Loyalty talked about the airline’s new Airbus A321neo, on board entertainment, the airline’s new mission, and getting customers to want to recommend the airline.

He’s a legacy American Airlines executive who once ran the AAdvantage program, and AAdvantage reports up to him.

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Woman Arrested and Daughter Sent to Child Protective Services After Complaining About Vomit in Seat

by Gary Leff

fake barf
Apr 25 2019

In our post-9/11 world airlines have quickly turned customer service problems into law enforcement problems. A customer creating a “disturbance” might really be creating a “distraction” for bad people to do bad things. It doesn’t matter how unlikely this is, especially prior to departure while still on the ground. The culture of precaution and ‘not being too careful’ has granted huge deference to the judgments flight crews make in the instant. And it’s allowed prejudice and ego to trump good sense.

How many times have we seen a passenger act concerned with a flight attendant moving their carry on bag in the overhead, and being asked in response, “Are we going to have a problem?”

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American Airlines Cuts Back on Special Meals

by Gary Leff

airline food
Apr 25 2019

I told you that ‘simplicity’ was the direction American was headed with their catering, and I’ve also written that the option to pick a good meal seemed too generous. So it shouldn’t surprise that there are significant cutbacks in the special meal program.

The Asian Vegetarian, Hindu, and Muslim meals are all the same thing, they just list the options separately. No more meat, then, with Muslim meals. The diabetic meal won’t get steak anymore, now it’s chicken. And meals will be frozen rather than fresh with a one year shelf life. Yum!

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American Airlines Seat Coupons (and Seat Coupon Challenges) are Here

by Gary Leff

airplane cabin
Apr 25 2019

Two months ago I wrote that American would be introducing ‘seat coupons’, so that non-elites and Gold members could earn preferred seat assignments on American Airlines instead of having to pay for these seats.

Seat assignments — even the most undesirable ones, if a non-elite wants them in advance — can come at a premium. So ‘coupons’ to get them without cost or at a discount at some level have value.

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THIS is What Delta, American and United are Running to President Trump Afraid Of?

by Gary Leff

qatarplane
Apr 24 2019

At some level if a US airline cannot compete against an Italian one, a ‘government-controlled’ one no less, they probably shouldn’t be in business. And shouldn’t they worry about how about half of their passengers feel when they’re flattering the President as election season heats up?

What they’re so worried about – and running to the President for protection from – is an airline in Italy with 15 planes that’s just suspended winter service from Los Angeles and San Francisco – and that cancelled Chicago service before it even began.

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