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.
The Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands announced a plan to re-open the Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort and along with it a government plan to increase hotel taxes from 12.5% to 17.5% — the highest in the United States and the highest in the Caribbean.
The governor describes higher taxes as an “economic recovery fee.” And the extra 5% will be given back to the hotels, plus interest.
This week Hyatt launched a new points-earning, redemption and new elite status benefits for members at Exhale Spas, a brand they’ve acquired.
There’s a new promotion offering Explorist status with annual Exhale membership.
We’d be much better off with airports that efficiently moved people from their initial location to their gate, and on arrival to their final destination, than with sprawling complexes that are cumbersome to traverse but accommodate more retail.
You can only sell off the airport’s future income stream once. Investing the money is new mega-terminals means not investing the money in things that would actually improve the airport most. As a result these choices mean the New York JFK travel experience will be worse than it otherwise could be.
TSA policy allows you to bring empty shell casings with the primer removed or discharged. So bullets that have been disabled and cannot be fired are fine.
Unless that bullet could keep your drink cold in which case they’re going to confiscate it. Since they have plenty of abandoned drinks at the checkpoint they want their drinks to be cold.
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.
Two well-placed sources tell me that Hyatt is a finalist to acquire Two Roads Hospitality which manages and operates Alila Hotels & Resorts, Destination Hotels, Joie de Vivre Hotels, Thompson Hotels, and tommie Hotels.
Flight attendants often aren’t well paid, though they do benefit from travel and in some cases scheduling flexibility.
Tipping is often against airline rules, but that doesn’t mean your crew won’t accept tips especially if you offer it again a second time once they decline.
Airlines charge extra for the ‘better’ coach seats. It would be nice if they gave you something extra when you’re stuck in one of the seats that’s worse than average — a free cocktail, free inflight internet, or a discount on your next trip. At a minimum airlines could make the unwritten rule that the coach passenger gets priority for two arm rests explicit.
This isn’t a written rule, and it isn’t enforceable. We need to be courteous to fellow passengers, and this is the principle that gets us there.
Swiss is under fire after its flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv on Thursday, September 27 displayed the name of a Palestinian Arab village which was abandoned in 1948 prior to the Arab-Israeli war in place of Tel Aviv on the aircraft’s ‘moving map’ display.
The destination Tel Aviv is listed, but where it would go on the map has been replaced by the name of a town that was abandoned 70 years ago.
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 »
