Yesterday’s news about Hyatt Place simultaneously oversold and undersold the changes being made.
What they didn’t say in the release was that early check-in at Hyatt Place hotels would be confirmed in advance for Globalists and Explorists rather than offered if available when you show up at the hotel.
AccorHotels is considering buying a stake in Air France KLM because they can sell hotels and air in one shot, to both Accor and Air France customers. We’ve seen this play before.
American Airlines flight AA1897 from San Antonion to Phoenix ran into strong storms over New Mexico. It was pummeled by hail.
The Airbus A319 with 130 passengers onboard had its nose cone smashed and windshield cracked. One of the pilots couldn’t see out. But they managed to get the plane on the ground safely in El Paso last night.
Cathay Pacific will be rotating vintage champagnes in first class each month throughout the whole route network. This month will be 2004 Krug.
And they’re bringing back the predeparture amuse bouche for a three month trial on Hong Kong to Chicago, Boston, and New York JFK flights.
oneworld has three elite tiers. Star Alliance and SkyTeam have two. Star Alliance says they’re considering a third, a new top tier. But they aren’t saying what that would look like but it probably would involve devaluation of Gold.
Star Alliance also wants to introduce ‘dynamic redemption’ in other words revenue-based ‘miles and money’ across the alliance, spending points from one program as cash to buy a seat on another.
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Hyatt’s biggest challenge is scale. They have 10% the footprint of Marriott, which makes it hard for guests to stay loyal. Their coverage doesn’t meet all guests’ needs, and it’s often necessary to stay at a less convenient property in order to stick with Hyatt. As a result the program needs to work harder — give guests a reason to go out of their way — to be loyal Hyatt customers.
These are the major challenges faced by the chain. They’re announcing changes at Hyatt Place which largely do not address these challenges.
An American Airlines employee drove a company van off a fourth floor parking garage at the Miami airport on Friday morning.
The 59 year old man landed the van on the concrete below upside down, but wasn’t seriously injured. He was wearing his seat belt.
I know all the jokes about Gogo internet (‘NoGo’). But I find it indispensable. It’s internet on an airplane moving at speeds in excess of 500 miles an hour. And the latest technology is much faster than the older installs, though they’ve had their challenges even with new satellite internet to be sure.
I’ve got a unique problem and no one at Gogo has any useful suggestions for me. I’m out of ideas. So I’m hoping you might have some.
British Airways is running an award sale, 50% off. This is coach. And you still pay taxes and fuel surcharges, those aren’t discounted.
Book by June 17 for travel between September 1 and May 31, 2019. This is available one way or roundtrip.
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 »
