United’s 6am flight from Albanyu to Newark — a 41 minute flight — was delayed two hours when, ten minutes prior to departure, one passenger said the word “bomb” to another passenger.
Donald Trump may want to build a wall, and make Mexico pay for it, but the wall won’t keep illegal aircraft out of U.S. airspace. In fact, Trump’s own Cessna has gone illegal.
An insurance company could refuse to pay out claims in the event of an incident with his plane, and he could be subject to “a civil penalty of up to $27,500, a criminal fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to three years”
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.
At the Andaz Savannah they’re serious about what their most premium suite is for. And they’re not too bashful to tell you.
I get nervous standing in line for immigration in many countries, even though I’ve never gotten a second look anywhere I’ve gone. I always wonder whether I’ll get denied entry, either for no real reason at all or perhaps for something I’ve written about the country I’m visiting.
And I’ve actually done things … like taking photos on the tarmac in countries where that’s frowned upon, or used my cell phone (in airplane mode) on a Chinese airline. Or because I posted about an immigration form..
Apparently Selena Gomez isn’t quite as lucky as I am.
When Marriott announced they were buying Starwood, the news was met with great consternation among Starwood’s frequent guests. That’s because Marriott – the larger program – isn’t known for treating elites especially well despite having the toughest top tier to earn among the major programs (Platinum requires 75 nights).
So it was pretty exciting when Marriott announced this morning that they were rolling out new benefits similar to Starwood offerings. The biggest new benefit was guaranteed late check-out for Golds and Platinums, but it looks like they’re really just playing marketing games.
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.
American Express Membership Rewards announced the addition of a new points transfer partner today: Etihad Guest. Transfers to Etihad are already live.
In fact, Membership Rewards is now a transfer partner of Etihad across many international markets such as Australia, Canada, and the UK.
American Express joins Citi ThankYou Rewards in offering transfers to Etihad, and Etihad is already one of my favorite Citi partners.
The worst airline bathroom experience had to be whatever happened in the lavatory that caused a British Airways flight to Dubai to turn around and go back to Heathrow.
But I had encountered a pretty uncomfortable one yesterday myself, albeit without any diversions.
Back in the fall Marriott Rewards introduced 4 new features to their program. I broke the news on their plan for cash and points, points sharing, points advance, and reward nights counting towards status.
These were modest changes, they’re things offered by other programs, and hardly revolutionary. They’re the kind of marginal improvements we’re used to seeing from Marriott Rewards to go along with periodic devaluations.
But with Marriott acquiring Starwood hotels they were pretty shell shocked to see the customer reaction among Starwood’s elite members. It became clear they were going to need to offer Starwood’s customers the kind of treatment they’ve been used to in order to retain them.
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 »
