Probably the most famous hotel complaint ever is the 2001 Powerpoint Yours is a Very Bad Hotel created by Tom Farmer and Shane Atchison from Seattle who showed up at what was then the Doubletree in Houston. Though they had guaranteed reservations they were being walked and the desk clerk couldn’t have cared less.
I was reminded of that complaint when I saw this video of a front desk clerk losing it at the Country Inn & Suites in Newport News, Virginia last week.
Barclays currently issues the Apple credit card. It’s fairly weak — no signup bonus, 3 points per dollar at Apple and 2 points at restaurants, with points you can redeem for Apple and iTunes gift cards.
There are no ‘benefits’ for being an Apple cardmember which I’ve never understood, other than a built-in financing offer for Apple products. Early access to products, special activations at Apple stores, some form of better treatment for cardmembers seems like a no brainer.
Last weekened I wrote that United had confirmed cutbacks to meals in domestic first class on flights under four hours outside of departures between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
There were beverage cutbacks too. That’s generated negative publicity for United. So they’re making an about face on one (and only one) change. Tomato juice.
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.
Loyalty has two primary components: recognition and reward. That’s your elite program and your earn and burn proposition.
Hotel programs are tough to compare because you earn a different number of points per dollar spent, and redemptions vary wildly as well — the most expensive Hyatt redemption is 30,000 points while the most expensive Hilton redemption costs 95,000. We can normalize that by looking at the number of points earned, and the value of each point.
Under pressure to ‘do something’ the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General is going to audit the FAA’s oversight of American Airlines and Allegiant. This is a change in focus of an existing audit launched at the behest of Democrats in Congress last summer.
It’s a concern, apparently, that the FAA takes a collaborative approach to safety rather than focusing on finding violations it can fine.
Issues around breastfeeding aren’t new. And there’s no reason to dig in when making a mistake, humiliating customers.
If there’s a disagreement, check out and see who is right. Especially for a supervisor. Too many employees just blindly back up other employees.
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.
American Airlines is getting rid of seat back video from its domestic fleet. As part of their “Project Oasis” retrofit even planes that have seat back screens are going to have those removed.
While American claims 90% of customers bring their own devices, so screens are unnecessary, that number can’t possibly be right unless “devices” include “flip phones.” Older travelers and children frequently don’t have their own devices. A family of five probably doesn’t own five tablets.
Marriott’s legacy program offered lifetime 75 night elite status, and those who already achieved that status in the Marriott program, or who achieve it through Marriott-only activity by the end of the year, get to keep it. Starwood elites weren’t going to be given that opportunity.
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 »
