27 year old model Kanchan Thakur was queuing at airport security in Mumbai with friends when she told an employee to check her friend’s bag — because it contained a bomb.
The group was detained, their checked bags offloaded from the aircraft, and their flight to Delhi was delayed an hour.
I hate when airlines run promotions that apply only to tickets purchased after registering. They’re saying that their already loyal customers, who buy tickets from them day in and day out, aren’t as important as new customers or purchases. And they communicate that customers should wait to buy from them in case a promotion gets announced, for fear of losing out on a future bonus that may be announced.
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.
Starwood and Delta launched a major partnership four years ago. Crossover Rewards offered reciprocal points-earning and a modest degree of status recognition.
Delta had been talking with Marriott about a deal, but my recollection from the time is that Marriott balked over price. Delta simply wanted too much to do the deal. However Marriott launched a partnership with United months after Delta and Starwood went public.
Loyalty has two primary components: recognition and reward. That’s your elite program and your earn and burn proposition.
Hotel programs are tough to compare because you earn a different number of points per dollar spent, and redemptions vary wildly as well — the most expensive Hyatt redemption is 30,000 points while the most expensive Hilton redemption costs 95,000.
Last year I wrote about the man who walked through the Nashville airport naked and attempted to buy a ticket.
Then there was a man who stripped naked to protest a flight delay on US Airways. Sadly this is all much more common than you’d think.
I thought I knew just about everything there is to know about making use of the benefits on my Citi Prestige Card. But then you have a forehead-smacking, “should’ve had a V-8!” moment.
I was talking with Yana about Virgin Atlantic’s amazing ANA awards — seriously, roundtrip in one of the world’s better first class products for 110,000 miles between the US and Tokyo — and I was outlining all of the hoops you have to jump through.
Yana’s response to that whole discussion was perfect and just 5 words: the Law of One Price.
The new Emirates Newark – Athens – Dubai flight launches today. This competes against United’s Newark – Athens flight, so they do not like this very much.
Delta, United, and American argue that competition from Emirates (and Etihad, Qatar) is unfair and in the long run bad for their businesses.
Last month Muhammad Ali, Jr. was detained at the border on his way back into the U.S. and reportedly questioned about his religion.
His mother was with him, and apparently since she was carrying a photo of herself with the late Muhammad Ali she was allowed to pass. Without his own ‘get out of Customs and Border Protection free photo’ he was subjected to greater scrutiny.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
