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.
Marriott has once again clarified their new late checkout benefit for Gold and Platinum elite members, this time seemingly making it a real guarantee.
On Tuesday Marriott Rewards announced three new benefits similar to offerings of Starwood Preferred Guest. However the devil was in the details. Marriott quickly clarified that guaranteed late checkout wasn’t guaranteed after all.
I have to give them credit for recognizing quickly that this was a problem and doing something about it because Marriott has once again clarified the late checkout benefit.
Scott Kirby reported that they’re already “in the middle of” negotiations for a new credit card deal. Their current deal runs through 2018. Since they signed that 5 year deal, Delta, United, and Southwest have all re-upped theirs.
Every quarter (for instance here and here) Scott Kirby laments that competitors are seeing year-over-year increased revenue from the renewals of credit card deals, while there’s no material year-over-year “lift” from a more recent renewal for American.
Luxury Travel Diary has an auction for 3 nights in Dildo, a town in Newfoundland, Canada. Here’s a review of the bed and breakfast.
Wikipedia suggests that the town is most-known for its name nonetheless, there has actually been a movement to change the name.
Chase has released its first tv commercial for the new Chase Freedom Unlimited Card. It’s a fantastic card, and a really good commercial, but they’re totally underselling it.
It’s a clever attention-getting card, and attention-getting ad, but they pitch it simply as ‘unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you buy’.
Getting the most value out of the product — 90% more — takes an extra step.
Earlier this week I argued that the American Express Black Card was really just a very expensive Platinum card. The Platinum card gives you most of the perks of Centurion for a $450 annual fee versus a $7500 initiation fee and $2500 annual fee for the Black Amex.
However, The Points Guy explains why the card made sense for him.
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.
On United’s first quarter earnings call this morning they re-iterated a plan to roll out basic economy fares in the second half of 2016.
This isn’t about offering you lower fares. United already matches the low fares in the market. Basic economy is a way of moving some passengers who buy those fares today to buy more expensive fares instead.
Through June 3 Hilton is offering a 100% bonus on purchased points. That’s the best bonus and best price I’ve seen.
Hilton usually charges a penny apiece for points, so with this bonus is selling points for half a cent each. They’ve offered this before, for instance last June. Here they’re selling points for around what they’re worth.
Reader Adam P. paid $69 for an extra legroom economy seat. He researched the seat and chose the specific one intentionally. It’s a widebody aircraft, and an aisle seat in the middle section.
Onboard he encountered a family that was separated. He agreed to change seats. She then took $100 from another passenger to give up that seat, and sit farther from her family.
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 »
