Liberal commentator Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, was delayed last night flying out of Los Angeles. He started taping the delay and commenting on it from the start. As the wait creeps on, passengers start to lose it and become belligerent with each other and with American Airlines personnel.
Police were called to the gate. At one point Uygur joins in yelling at staff ‘where’s the plane? where’s the plane?’
Here’s another great deal from SecretFlying: United is offering roundtrips between many US cities (generally Delta hubs) and Australia for as little as $532.
This does not appear to be a mistake fare, just a serious fare war. And it’s as cheap as I have ever seen Australia flights. The fares appear available through at least end of November for the outbound flight.
There’s nothing as awkward in the world as a bathroom with an attendant, except a bathroom with an attendant who works for tips. Bathroom attendant tipping induces confusion, and fear.
The Charlotte airport has bathroom attendants, and those aren’t going away, but the way they get paid is changing.
Changing the way attendants are paid isn’t going to obviously change passenger expectations. It’s not going to do anything to diminish confusion and fear. So it’s important to get the word out: starting in July, no tipping required in the airport restrooms in Charlotte. Pass it on.
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.
There are some amazing fares between the US and Europe — some even less than $200 roundtrip — through the end of the calendar year with summer months excluded.
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.
Last month a flydubai Boeing 737 crashed at Rostov on Don, Russia as it faced severe weather.
While I think most travelers find airline accidents disturbing, and even take them personally and are affected by them, this incident struck me somewhat closer to home than it might have, since I had just recently taken flydubai for the first time myself.
The agency investigating the crash has released preliminary findings.
Shareholders vote today on Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood. It’s a decent deal for Starwood shareholders, though with Marriott trading at $66 as of this writing, 0.8 shares of Marriott plus $21 cash isn’t as good as the binding and fully financed earlier deal of $78 cash from Anbang. It’s a good deal for Marriott customers, who have more places to earn and redeem at. And remember that there are more Marriott Rewards members than Starwood Preferred Guest members.
I’ve suggested that one thing Marriott could do is start over from a loyalty perspective, create a new program that they move both Marriott Rewards members and Starwood Preferred Guest members into. (I first heard this suggestion from Randy Petersen who noted it’s how Starwood Preferred Guest itself was born out of Westin Premier and Sheraton Club International.) Mommy Points shares scuttlebutt that suggests this idea could be under consideration.
JP Power is out with its 2016 ranking of hotel loyalty programs and media seems to be taking it at face value without digging into the methodology — they report the rankings without understanding that it’s garbage in, garbage out. And that’s dangerous, as illustrated by industry site Skift:
“Interestingly, the Starwood Preferred Guest program, beloved among frequent travelers, ranked near the bottom, and it’s never fared well in past J.D. Powers’ reports. So, why is it so admired, and why does Marriott want it so badly?”
Marriott is buying Starwood for the increased clout it gives them in negotiations — with partners, online travel agencies, and everyone else. That’s according to Marriott Executive Chairman Bill Marriott.
From the beginning the narrative around the deal has been that the size and scale of Marriott would help them in negotiating with online travel agencies. And by expanding their footprint they’d also be able to capture more corporate deals, and a greater share of spend from each deal.
Since the deal was struck, and Starwood’s customers started vocally expressing concerns, the idea of acquiring Starwood’s customers became a focal part of the narrative.
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 »
