Deep Dive Into Hyatt’s Free Night Award Category Changes, Not As Bad As 3-1 Negative Would Look!

by Gary Leff

Feb 27 2024

While we’re seeing 3-to-1 category increases (seems bad!) it’s interesting that these are very different from similar clusters of increases in the past.

Previously we’ve seen a lot of high end hotels become more expensive as redemptions. This time we’re seeing lower category hotels go up the most. The bulk of the action with these changes are in the bottom half of the chart’s distribution. The biggest grouping of changes is category 3 hotels becoming 4’s, while we also see 1’s become 2’s and 2’s become 3’s.

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Beyond Airbnb: Capital One Introduces Short-Term Rentals With More Points And Stay Credits

by Gary Leff

Feb 27 2024

Marriott has their booking platform for short-term rental stays. They rebate part of the commission they’re generating in the form of points and elite credit. Hyatt is getting into this game as well.

Capital One now has an interesting play in the space. You can already redeem Capital One Venture and Venture X (and equivalent business card) points to pay for short-term rental stays (such as Airbnb). But they’ve got their own STR ‘collections’ now that come with enhanced earning and benefits.

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And This Is Why Pakistan International Airlines Is Banned From Flying To The U.S. And Europe

by Gary Leff

pakitstan international airlines
Feb 26 2024

In May 2020 a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 from Lahore to Karachi aborted its approach because of problems with the nose landing gear. When the crew read their landing clearance, master warning sounds were going off. During their go around they lost both engines and declared a mayday. They came down in a residential area, and burst into flames.

I’ve never seen an incident report so damning of the actions of pilots, ever. One of the things that was uncovered after this incident is that more than 30% of the airline’s pilots had fake licenses.

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Viral Airplane Seatbelt Trick: Unpacking the Feet-Belt, Safe Hack or Hazardous Trend?

by Gary Leff

Feb 26 2024

Airline passengers have to wear their seat belts when the seat belt sign is on. Flight attendants on overnight flights often warn passengers that if they’re going to sleep, to make sure the seat belt is visible or else when the sign goes on they’ll need to wake people up to check that they’re belted. But do you really have to warn it “low and tight across your lap?” What about wearing it… on your feet?

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