Apr 18 2016

Hotel chains want you to book directly through them because it costs them less to make a reservation themselves than it does to pay a commission to Expedia or other online travel sites (or travel agents).

Hilton tested a small discount in a handful of cities restricted to Hilton HHonors members. The discount wasn’t great, about 5% (and so generally more expensive than AAA rates), but it was more about the model than the amount.

Today Hyatt introduced member-only discount rates and in some cases they’re bigger discounts than what Hilton and Marriott are offering, but still not better than AAA rates. And they’re not available worldwide.

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Apr 18 2016

Hyatt’s CEO Mark Hoplamazian says loyalty shouldn’t focus on points. Points are a rebate, and they’re necessary to compete, but loyalty is about an overall value proposition that goes beyond the economic calculation for a given stay.

And they’re rethinking loyalty. When a CEO says that I think we expect some changes, but in my experience Hyatt usually moves slowly so I wouldn’t expect them right away.

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Apr 17 2016

The Citi Prestige Card has been the ‘it’ card for the past year. It’s chock full of benefits. Citi has built a premium card to surpass others at the price point. It’s built a transferrable points program, let you use the points at a strong value towards paid airfare, and bundled not just traditional benefits like lounge access but unique benefits like VIP treatment at restaurants and free golf. Here are the 15 things that I love about it.

Today Citi emailed out notice that effective May 15 a new travel benefits guide goes into effect and as far as I can tell the changes are all actually quite good.

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Apr 17 2016

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.

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Apr 17 2016

Plastiq, the online bill pay service that charges your credit card and then sends out checks on your behalf has dropped the price of processing payments that you charge to a MasterCard from their standard 2.5% (which is still lower than services like Paypal) down to 2%.

They’ve run promotions in the past like 1.5% but this isn’t just a limited-time offer.

Spokesperson Rebecca Sehar tells me, “This is promotional pricing in partnership with MasterCard for US payments – fairly straightforward =) No end date, as of yet, but obviously great pricing..”

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Apr 17 2016

Bernie Sanders’ trip to Rome (there’s no airport in Vatican City, though there’s a heliport) was on a chartered Delta Boeing 767-332ER with 26 flat business class seats, 29 extra legroom economy seats, and 171 standard economy seats.

It’s worth noting that while Bernie Sanders charters from Delta, the Pope prefers American Airlines. While Papal infallibility only applies ex cathedra, promulgating official teachings of the Church, it’s interesting that his charter flight choices didn’t have persuasive power with the Bernie Sanders campaign. (In fact, Sanders has more in common with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who has earned Delta Diamond.)

Here’s the menu detail from the flight:

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Apr 17 2016

This morning I wrote about New York or Boston to several European cities, flying back from Lisbon, for $340 roundtrip.

It turns out that there’s an even cheaper fare. Fly New York or Boston to London, then fly back Lisbon to New York (with a final segment to Canada that you don’t have to take) for $268.

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Apr 17 2016

You can book New York or Boston to several cities in Europe and return from Lisbon for as low as $308 roundtrip.

The fare appears to be available for September through November travel.

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Apr 16 2016

American Express hasn’t even lost Costco charges yet, and it’s reeling. Here’s the inside story on how Amex lost the Costco deal. Delta is their second largest co-brand, but with Marriott buying Starwood they presumably lose the ability to issue Starwood co-brands at some point when the programs are expected to merge. Although American Express wants to find a way to keep the Starwood card post-merger.

American Express revenue is down and earnings are down. Their problem is lack of growth and paradoxically their strategy is cutting costs. They may have unnecessary expenses, and if they’re going to be a slow growth company for the foreseeable future they need a sustainable cost base. But the cuts won’t return them to growth. So the cuts aren’t a winning strategy unless the idea is to sell the company.

And it seems the layoffs have begun.

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Apr 16 2016

Jeremiah Thede flew United from Rome to Chicago in June 2015. His flight was delayed, and he “had eaten only an apple during five hours waiting.” His credit card wasn’t working, and he repeatedly asked flight attendants if he could get something to eat once onboard.

United diverted the flight to Belfast. The passenger was arrested and charged with endangering the aircraft. The case went to trial and a jury acquitted him. He’s now talking about suing United.

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