Some airlines use premium bath amenities in their lavatory as part of signaling their quality product. For instance when I flew Etihad earlier this year they were using Le Labo in first class and Acca Kappa in the Residence. I’ve had Ferragamo Tuscan Soul in Singapore Airlines first class.
Usually the best stuff is confined to amenity kits, though, and not the lavatories. And certainly not the lavatories in coach.
Starwood is offering a 50% discount on purchase of Starpoints. This is the biggest discount ever on Starwood Starpoints, which I believe is the most valuable currency (one point is worth more than one of any other point).
The ‘regular’ discount that Starwood runs occasionally is 25%, and the biggest previous discount was 35% over the summer.
Here are the full details of Hyatt’s new program which launches March 1. This is their biggest revamp since 2009.
Hyatt has improved their benefits for top tier elites, while making top tier tougher to earn. They remain uncompetitive at the mid-tier. And they’re diminished the importance of their credit card at a time the rest of the industry is swelling elite ranks through credit card partnerships.
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.
Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program matters because it’s easy to earn their points as a US member, and not just for travel to London and beyond.
Virgin Atlantic announced changes to earning of miles and elite status points effective November 13, and redemption changes effective January 15, 2017. But there are redemption sweet spots.
There’s currently a fare between New York and Cebu in the Philippines for just $166 roundtrip.
I visited Cebu in 2010. The Hilton was great about suite upgrades, had super cheap massages, and room service coffee delivered with cookies was less than $2. I also took a really great cooking class.
And of course you can jump off there to visit most anywhere in Southeast Asia, consider using British Airways Avios for cheap redemptions on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, or ultra low cost carrier airlines.
On Monday I wrote that bill payment service Plastiq was coding as a small business for earning double points through the end of the year with American Express.
Plastiq now promotes this as a promotion.
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.
I think Turkish Airlines is a very good airline overall. They have a great lounge in Istanbul. There’s billiards, golf, a race track, and a movie room with popcorn machine. They even provide complimentary hotel stays to economy passengers forced to overnight in Istanbul by the Turkish schedule.
Since I’ve felt it safe to travel on Turkish Airlines, I thought it was also important to share concerns about actually spending time in Turkey right now as an American now that the US has ordered families of consulate workers there to leave.
American Airlines flight AA383 from Chicago to Miami caught fire yesterday as it was preparing for takeoff.
The Boeing 767-300 had 161 passengers and 9 crew onboard at around 2:50pm Central time and was heading down runway 28R. The crew rejected takeoff, and stopped on the runway, reporting a fire coming from the right wing.
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 »
