Mar 02 2016

Delta business class saver awards between the US and Israel were 70,000 miles each way. Effective November 1, those same saver awards go up to 85,000 miles each way. That’s an increase of 30,000 miles roundtrip. Delta snuck this one in, without any advance warning to members and indeed without telling members at all.

Two months ago Delta made changes to the price of several international awards for travel October 1 onward. You’d think one devaluation in the first quarter of 2016 would be enough for the SkyMiles program, but that would be wrong.

Continue Reading »

Mar 02 2016

Last year Hyatt launched Hyatt Centric as a new brand to join Regency, Grand, Andaz, House, Place, and Park as well as all-inclusives Zilara and Ziva — and now they’re bringing on another brand as well: unbound collection.

This is really an “un-brand” along the lines of Starwood’s Tribute Portfolio and Marriott’s Autograph Collection which has been under consideration for some time.

Continue Reading »

Mar 02 2016

Erin Andrews is in the midst of her lawsuit against the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University where she was taped through the peephole in her door. Apparently this video of her was viewed 17 million times.

Andrews contends that the man – who was convicted of felony stalking and who was sentenced to 30 months in prison — alleges that employees at the hotel property revealed she was a registered guest at their hotel, gave the stalker her room number, and at his request assigned him the room next to hers.

Hotels really shouldn’t tell strangers what room you’re in, of course, though ultimately one of the biggest threats to security is social engineering, and that’s a tough problem to crack.

In testimony during her lawsuit seeking $75 million in damages she detailed her new hotel security routine.

Continue Reading »

Mar 01 2016

Marriott is buying Starwood. The deal is expected to close in June. t has now cleared anti-trust hurdles in both the US and Canada.

Two narratives coming from folks at Starwood may give positive indications of things to come in both the short and the long term.

Continue Reading »

Mar 01 2016

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.

Continue Reading »

Mar 01 2016

There’s been a pretty silly story making the rounds about how a “man weighing 175 pounds says he was forcibly removed from a flight because he weighed too much.”

In fact, denying boarding because a passenger is overweight isn’t actually a thing.

Continue Reading »

Mar 01 2016

A baggage handler planted cocaine in a Delta passenger’s luggage. The drugs were found at customs on arrival in New York. The passenger lost his job at Yankee stadium and spent a night in jail.

He’s now won a judgment against Delta for $759,000 but Delta is appealing.

Continue Reading »

Feb 29 2016

The busiest airline routes are short haul routes. In the US that’s Chicago – New York and Los Angeles – San Francisco, though neither of those break into the world’s top 10.

Worldwide the most passengers each year travel between Seoul and Jeju, Tokyo and Fukuoka, and Sydney and Melbourne. By seat capacity Japanese domestic route Sapporo – Tokyo slides into the number two slot.

For long distance routes, based on capacity, these are the 10 biggest routes:

Continue Reading »

Feb 29 2016

In December, American reminded their flight attendants to try to offer predeparture beverages.

Miscatering is a real issue. And American has made clear its priority is on-time departure, not fixing catering.

Via @xJonNYC on Twitter, a message sent by American Airlines to flight attendants:

Continue Reading »

Feb 29 2016

Bali is one of my favorite relaxing places in the world. I go to the Maldives often, but it can be tough to get to and tough to get awards to. When folks come to me looking for French Polynesia and can’t find awards I’ll often suggest Bali.

It’s an interesting place with good food, cultural activities, and some of the world’s friendliest people. And there’s fantastic luxury accommodations available at reasonable prices for those spending US dollars.

Viceroy Bali is a family-owned resort with just 25 private pool villas. It’s in the artistic region of Ubud, so a nice departure from the more sterile Nusa Dua area of Westernized resorts. It’s a TripAdvisor 5-star and 2016 Travelers Choice award winner. I’ve seen very few properties with reviews this good. In fact, It’s TripAdvisor’s #11 of top 25 luxury hotels in the world.

Continue Reading »