Chase Goes On the Record About Customers Who Apply for Too Many Credit Cards

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Apr 14 2016

Acquiring new credit card customers has become expensive for banks, with escalating signup bonuses. 50,000 or even 100,000 point offers are more expensive than the 15,000 points that were common 15 years ago. That only makes sense for banks if customers will spend a good amount of money on their card products over a long period of time, or rack up large fees (while paying off their balances).

Citibank just tweaked their rules about who they’ll give a bonus to. American Express will only give one bonus per card product in a customer’s lifetime.

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The Best Rate Guarantee is a Big Lie.. Especially With Hyatt’s New Change

by Gary Leff

Apr 14 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).

A dozen years ago hotel chains started to focus on driving their most frequent consumers to their websites by limiting points-earning to reservations made directly, limiting elite stay-earning, and in some cases even limiting points.

But for both a chain’s best customers and for infrequent guests, they also had to make consumers believe they’d be able to get the best deal by booking direct.

Only they don’t actually ‘promise’ the best rates. All they do is promise a process by which if a customer discovers, under certain circumstances, that they aren’t getting the best price that they might be able to have the better price matched or beaten and might be able to get some compensation as well that varies by chain.

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Always Check Your Credit Card Statement for Unauthorized Hotel Charges

by Gary Leff

Apr 14 2016

A year and a half ago I wrote about the Hyatt Regency Crystal City improperly charging me for a bottle of water. It’s a tiny matter the scheme of things, but if everyone ignored small charges, it would create a very strong incentive for hotels to purposely tack on charges like that, small enough that no one bothers, but at $3++ per room night actually meaningful. All guests would be worse off.

And I stay at enough hotels (around 150 room nights last year) that those $3 overcharges start to add up. Hotels never seem to leave off charges from my bill. Mistakes always seem to be in the hotel’s favor.

So always check your folio. But that’s not enough. You have to watch your credit card statement too.

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Bringing Miniature Horses on Planes and an Emotional Support Goat: Have We Gone Too Far?

by Gary Leff

Apr 14 2016

Hollywood Report says this is the golden age of flying thanks to the ability of anyone — Hollywood star or not — bring their emotional support turkey on a plane. For free.

Registrations of service animals rose from about 2400 five years ago to over 20,000 last year. Playboy’s February 1988 Playmate of the Month-turned-interior designer for Jessica Alba and Kristen Bell travels with a 160-pound bulldog. She says he whimpers and that tells her to take medication.

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5000 Free Icelandair Miles Just for Joining

by Gary Leff

iceland
Apr 14 2016

Icelandair will give you 5000 miles just for joining their Saga Club frequent flyer program.

I haven’t written a ton about Icelandair since there was a way a few years ago to really leverage the program for super cheap Alaska Airlines first class trips to Hawaii.

If nothing else that’s worth about $50 towards onboard food or duty free. And free miles are, after all, free miles.

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American Has Improved Its Award Rules: Now Allows Cathay Pacific Routings to Indian Subcontinent

by Gary Leff

Apr 13 2016

Back in the fall I spoke with AAdvantage President Suzanne Rubin and suggested that with their higher award pricing (since March 22), they could loosen their routing rules somewhat. She indicated they were looking at that.

And it appears they’ve started to because they now allow flying Cathay Pacific or American Airlines to Hong Kong, and travel beyond to India and the surrounding region on Cathay Pacific, as a single award — instead of requiring you to fly via the Atlantic.

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