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.
More than 3000 checked bags today weren’t put on their passenger’s flights today at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport when the TSA checked baggage screening system melted down.
The ‘backup system’ that was in place? The cell phone lot was turned into checked baggage storage, where bags were to be checked manually (TSA says, “the alternative process is more time consuming than our automated system.”)
The Hilton HHonors app now integrates with Google Maps so that when you use the app’s function to choose your own room – a feature available starting at 6 am the day before a stay – you can see where rooms are in relation to streets, views, etc.
Delta is running a domestic economy (and extra legroom seating) award sale. At least they tell us it’s a sale, which means there are regular prices, even though Delta hides what those regular prices are (“an ignorant customer is their best customer”).
The Times of India is reporting that American Airlines is planning to re-start service to India — as early as this year.
American Airlines has a new sales agent in India as well.
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.
A year ago Wyndham launched a new program that gave members a single award chart price of 15,000 points per night. That’s an increase for the cheapest hotels, and a decrease for the most expensive hotels.
Now, a year into the new program, Wyndham is introducing elite tier benefits and they’re adding a new benefit every time you redeem free nights all while not taking anything away from members. There are changes, and they’re all positive.
In the fall Austin passed new rules on ridesharing companies including fingerprint-based background checks, a requirement for signage, and limits on where ridesharing vehicles could pick up and drop off customers.
Proposition 1 failed this past Saturday by a margin of 56% against and 44% in favor and only 17% turnout. Austin’s Sheriff supported prop 1 because the introduction of ridesharing has driven down DUIs in the City. The proposition garnered a majority in downtown Austin, while losing outside the downtown area where people drive more regularly.
When prop 1 failed, Uber and Lyft suspended service in Austin. I went in search of alternatives.
Each year, for 7 years now, IdeaWorks has published a study (.pdf) on which airlines offer the best award availability. And each year it is so fatally flawed as to give consumers almost the worst advice possible.
Roughly speaking this year’s piece — just like last year’s — finds that overall airline award availability is getting better and low cost carriers are better for flyers looking for award seats than legacy airlines.
I was genuinely sad to learn on Monday that Suzanne Rubin is planning to leave American Airlines in early summer. She shared with the AAdvantage team that it’s to care for immediate family, and my thoughts are with certainly with her.
She ran the largest loyalty program with over 100 million members, and took it through turbulent times (a bankruptcy and a merger) and successfully managed the integration of AAdvantage with the Dividend Miles program — with barely a hiccup.
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 »
