4 New Ridesharing Companies Trying to Fill the Void Left By Uber/Lyft

by Gary Leff

May 16 2016

Uber and Lyft have left Austin since a ballot proposition that would have lifted an onerous pending City ordinance protecting taxi companies failed to pass.

I love competition, which is one reason I’ve favored Lyft of late (another is that there have been more drivers close by with Lyft than Uber for me lately). So I’m thrilled that at least four ridesharing companies are trying to pick up the business that Uber and Lyft left behind. And there are other companies out there, too.

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United Flight Delayed to Remove Drunk Air Marshal

by Gary Leff

liam neeson on a plane
May 15 2016

There were four air marshals onboard a United flight from London Heathrow to Los Angeles and the flight’s captain smelled alcohol on one of them.

The air marshal was released because while he was violating marshal service policy (either by drinking within four hours of the flight or having alcohol in his system while on duty) he hadn’t actually broken UK law.

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$10 Uber Credit for EXISTING Users (or up to $35 for New Riders)

by Gary Leff

May 15 2016

There’s a promo code valid for $10 off one trip taken by May 31 and I had no problem adding it to my account.

Of course if you haven’t used Uber before you can get a free ride, different signup codes vary. Lately individual referral links have only been good for $15 while some companies have made deals with Uber for $20 referral links.

My referral link for Uber seems to be giving a bigger first-time rider credit than it used to, up to $25:

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Here’s What Happens To You When You Don’t “Book Direct”

by Gary Leff

May 14 2016

Hotel’s promote booking through their websites instead of online travel agencies in a variety of ways. One is the new model of the ‘member discount for booking direct’ to convince you that they have the lowest prices on their own websites. Nonetheless, that often still isn’t true and I find lower prices through online travel agency websites all the time.

There’s another way hotels encourage you to book direct. And that’s that in a sell out condition, what kind of room do you think they’re going to assign to a cheap OTA booking? “Stop clicking around” … or else.

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Would You Have Changed Seats With This Passenger?

by Gary Leff

May 14 2016

Last month I wrote about a reader who changed seats on a flight so a family could sit together — and they proceeded to sell his seat to another passenger for $100. Extra legroom seats come at a premium!

Last week I was waiting to board my flight from Dallas to DC and I was called up to the podium. I had an aisle seat in the third row of first class. Would I mind switching to the bulkhead? A husband and wife wanted to sit together.

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Airlines Are Killing Their Golden Goose: Words of Wisdom About Frequent Flyer Programs

by Gary Leff

May 13 2016

As US airlines move towards revenue-based frequent flyer programs, they’re taking the most successful marketing innovation in history that managed to turn a commodity product (a seat that takes you from A to B) into something consumers had a strong brand preference for and they’re re-commodifying it.

I’ve remained genuinely surprised at the rush to do this given that the programs as they’re currently constituted are wildly financially successful. They’re billion dollar standalone businesses. It’s rather amazing, because for almost every other industry marketing is an expense line not a profit center. And they’re very much risking that.

Peter Sheahan, author of Matter (and a United Global Services member), thinks companies are missing the boat on loyalty program design.

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