Oct 04 2017

The most important customer service lesson I ever learned was on an easel pad in Randy Petersen’s office (“The House of Miles” which was located on Frequent Flyer Point in Colorado Springs) the first time I visited: “Don’t ever say no. What I can do for you is…”

In other words, it’s not enough just to listen to what a customer asks for and tell them whether it’s allowed. You must address their problem. You can’t always give them what they want, but if you understand their needs you can offer a solution that’s the best available given constraints.

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Oct 04 2017

There’s an amazing business class roundtrip fare on oneworld airlines between Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo and the U.S. Connections are going to be via London Heathrow (British Airways) or Helsinki (Finnair). Travel is available to San Francisco, Chicago, Washington Dulles and perhaps other cities as well.

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Oct 04 2017

As Bruce Schneier says when you ask amateurs to do frontline security you get amateur security. See something say something usually fails. You get too many false positives that it becomes noise and not intelligence and amateurs don’t actually know what to look for.

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Oct 03 2017

United is already planning to expand the Chicago lounge due to crowding. And they’re planning to open up these new premium lounges in Houston, Newark, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington Dulles, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London.

However none of these additional lounges will open before the end of the year. And in fact while two months ago they were describing the San Francisco, Newark, and London lounges as opening ‘early 2018’ they’re now describing those as just 2018 .

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Oct 03 2017

Four years ago United removed the ability to see Singapore Airlines award space on their website. When most airlines are trying hard to get partner awards bookable online so members don’t have to call, United made the choice to take away access to Singapore space online so members would have to pick up the phone (and likely so members wouldn’t even know it was an option).

At the time United claimed this was based on an agreement they made with Singapore Airlines. Singapore called this out as a lie saying the decision was United’s and one “we have no influence over.”

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Oct 03 2017

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.

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Oct 03 2017

I spent the weekend at the Andaz 5th Avenue in New York. I used to stay here all the time but haven’t been in quite awhile, not since Cornelia Samara left as General Manager to open the new 1Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.

Most of the time in New York I’ll try to stay as close as possible to my meetings. That’s meant that I’ve even stayed at the Hyatt Herald Square semi-regularly despite rooms better suited for elves than people.

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Oct 02 2017

Delta has been very forthright about how they see their most frequent customers, and the perks those flyers value most.

Two years ago they made clear that they saw the end of first class upgrades coming. Delta’s CEO just made the point again in no uncertain terms.

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Oct 02 2017

When Marriott first introduced mobile check-in at certain hotels, they apparently weren’t pre-authorizing guest credit cards for the stay. I’m told a not insignificant number of people checked in under false names and loaded prepaid debit cards with very low balances, just walking away from their hotel bills.

It’s the modern hotel equivalent of ‘dine and dash’ although a hotel guest in Guizhou, China shows it’s still possible to just go old school.

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Oct 02 2017

Whether you are a current Hyatt Visa cardmember or you get a new one this month as long as you register by October 31 you’ll receive a $50 rebate on $300 or more in spend with Hyatt Place and Hyatt House through January 1, 2018.

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