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 Express Improves Membership Rewards Transfer Rate to Hilton
American Express Membership Rewards points have historically transferred to Hilton at a rate of 1000 -> 1500. So 1 Amex point was worth 1.5 Hilton points.
That’s not a rate I’d want to transfer at. I value Hilton points at 4/10ths of a cent and Amex points at 1.8 cents apiece. Sometimes they’d run bonuses where 1 Amex point would yield 2 Hilton, still not a great deal but better of course.
New More Expensive Award Prices From IHG Rewards Club
New higher-priced top redemption category, hotels can cost up to 70,000 points per night rather than 60,000.
499 hotels go up in category (cost more points to redeem) while 192 go down, more than a 2.5 to 1 ratio of increases to decreases. Most of the increases are in the U.S.
President Trump Claims Credit for Planes Landing Safely in 2017
Commercial air safety has consistently improved for the past 35 years, but Trump has been in office just one year.
Oddly though his primary air travel safety initiative — spinning off air traffic control into an independent non-profit corporation, separating out regulation from the actual provision of air traffic services, an ICAO best practice the US currently fails to follow — failed to gain traction in 2017.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Flew Coach for New Year’s
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle flew British Airways BA346 from London Heathrow to Nice on Sunday. Along with three bodyguards they took up the last three rows of coach “next to the toilets.”
Here’s the British Airways Plan to Destroy the Passenger Experience
British Airways cuts have effectively destroyed its brand. What was once viewed as a quality international carrier is largely to be avoided when possible.
Here’s a leak of just how British Airways will cram more seats into short haul planes flying in and out of London Heathrow.
How to Destroy a Hotel’s Online Reputation in Under 24 Hours
While the Waldorf=Astoria Boca Raton Resort and Club isn’t really my personal style (I’ve never been a big fan of The Breakers, either) it certainly receives its share of plaudits and pulls high room rates in-season.
Since the YouTube video went up last night over 650 one star reviews of this property have been posted to Yelp. It’s overall Yelp rating has dropped down to 1.5 stars.
New Chase Offers, a Hotel in Space, and Selling Off air berlin — Literally
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.
How Long is Too Long for a Hotel to Wait to Charge You After a Stay?
A year ago the Hilton San Francisco Union Square double charged guests checking out on a single day. A few days later they corrected the problem by double-refunding guest credit cards. So those guests weren’t charged for their stay.
These two countervailing errors, generating four credit card transactions, sat for a year. Then a full year later Hilton charged everyone’s cards again.
Man Arrested on New Years Eve With ‘Small Arsenal’ of Weapons at Hyatt Regency
A man was arrested on Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Houston on Louisiana Street in advance of a New Years party expected to draw 2000.
He was apparently just holding onto the weapons in his room for safe keeping so they wouldn’t be stolen out of his truck. But he was drunk early Sunday morning and harassing guests in the lobby. And he had just been arrested on weapons charges a week earlier.