Review: Al Wadi Desert Resort (Ritz-Carlton Partner Hotel Outside Dubai)

by Gary Leff

Jun 12 2017

Last year I stayed at Al Maha, which features standalone Bedouin villas with private infinity pools looking out at the desert. That was discounted from its 60,000 Starpoints per night price down to 39,000 Starwood points. Of course it’s all-inclusive, and inside its own nature preserve.

Al Wadi, though, is just 40,000 Marriott points per night. And since Starwood points transfer 1 to 3 into Marriott Rewards, that means I was able to use just 13,333 Starwood points per night for my three night stay.

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Leaked American Airlines Memo on Aircraft Changes And Why US Airways Flight Attendants Are Unhappy

by Gary Leff

american plane
Jun 11 2017

We’re going to see more transatlantic destinations coming to American Airlines, and a bunch of changes to the planes that are flying American’s international routes.

What is surprising is that we’ll be seeing this on prime international routes that flight attendants love to fly before the airline integrates flight attendants of the two airlines. American still isn’t set up to have legacy American Airlines flights attendants fly legacy US Airways aircraft and vice versa, or to mix legacy American and legacy US Airways flight attendant crews on the same flights.

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Alaska Airlines Offering 5000 Miles to New Members

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines plane
Jun 10 2017

Alaska Airlines is doing things differently, as a business strategy. It has the operational reliability of Delta (or better) and the financial performance of Delta (or better, relative to size).

And it’s working to make its customers happy, with a frequent flyer program that’s different than others in the U.S. They still award miles based on distance flown rather than ticket price. Six weeks ago they re-affirmed their commitment to a generous frequent flyer program and upgrades.

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