Credit card company acquisition offers are expensive. While with co-branded products it’s not always the bank buying the entire bucket of miles they’re offering you — acquiring new customers can be profitable over time both for the bank but also for the airline or hotel — this up front cost only gets paid back when customers use their new cards, keep them, and continue spending over time.
There’s a simple solution to browse the web privately, to access internet sites through China’s Great Firewall, and it’s cheaper than using a paid VPN (because it’s free) and faster than using a free VPN.
It’s a web browser that builds in the functionality of a VPN. That way you can privately access content from anywhere in the world. You’re accessing their servers and their servers are calling the sites you want and delivering them to you.
Loews hotels is shutting down their loyalty program December 6. The Loews chain is comprised of 24 hotels in the U.S. and Canada. They say that “YouFirst isn’t enticing or relevant” and that set benefits don’t meet guest needs and they’ll continue to recognize their best guests without a formal program.
This is hardly the first hotel chain to shut down its loyalty program. Holiday Inn launched the first hotel loyalty program at the start of 1983 and called it Priority Club.
Airlines do not intentionally dump lavatory waste inflight. I do not know of any commercial aircraft that gives pilots a control mechanism to do so.
On average once a year there’s a documented instance of ‘blue ice’ — airplane lavatory waste material that leaks from the aircraft. It’s named from the blue disinfectant often used in lavatory waste systems.
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.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration traveling alone, advice on how to make the most of it, or pondering whether it’s right for you this is a great book to pick up and read the next time you have a few minutes of alone time.
I was asked to participate in a panel for travel PR professionals later this week, along with a traditional newspaper and magazine editor, talking about best practices in pitching stories. How do you get attention and coverage? What do PR professionals do wrong, from our perspective?
And something set me off Monday morning with one pitch, so I thought I’d share it. The worst thing a brand can do is lie. But disingenuous framing can be almost as damaging.
Three years ago Starwood announced a $100 million effort to revitalize the Sheraton brand. This was mostly about marketing investment, but they made some tweaks using the Sheraton ‘Grand’ moniker and a carrot and stick approach with fees and incentives, to try to get hotel owners to invest in their properties.
They promised to improve the offerings in club lounges, improve hotel design, and bring on new properties. This was back when the chain was still trying to grow on its own even though the board had largely decided to sell.
United sent me a package highlighting some of their product updates. Here’s what was inside.
Last year Qatar’s CEO said that on “crap American carriers” you’ll “always be served by grandmothers.”
He’s the new Chairman of IATA, the International Air Transport Association which represents over 275 airlines in more than 110 countries. And he didn’t waste much time causing controversy with his (offensive) remarks — immediately after vowing not to.
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 »
