Marriott is buying Starwood. The deal is expected to close in June. t has now cleared anti-trust hurdles in both the US and Canada.
Two narratives coming from folks at Starwood may give positive indications of things to come in both the short and the long term.
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’s been a pretty silly story making the rounds about how a “man weighing 175 pounds says he was forcibly removed from a flight because he weighed too much.”
In fact, denying boarding because a passenger is overweight isn’t actually a thing.
A baggage handler planted cocaine in a Delta passenger’s luggage. The drugs were found at customs on arrival in New York. The passenger lost his job at Yankee stadium and spent a night in jail.
He’s now won a judgment against Delta for $759,000 but Delta is appealing.
The busiest airline routes are short haul routes. In the US that’s Chicago – New York and Los Angeles – San Francisco, though neither of those break into the world’s top 10.
Worldwide the most passengers each year travel between Seoul and Jeju, Tokyo and Fukuoka, and Sydney and Melbourne. By seat capacity Japanese domestic route Sapporo – Tokyo slides into the number two slot.
For long distance routes, based on capacity, these are the 10 biggest routes:
In December, American reminded their flight attendants to try to offer predeparture beverages.
Miscatering is a real issue. And American has made clear its priority is on-time departure, not fixing catering.
Via @xJonNYC on Twitter, a message sent by American Airlines to flight attendants:
Bali is one of my favorite relaxing places in the world. I go to the Maldives often, but it can be tough to get to and tough to get awards to. When folks come to me looking for French Polynesia and can’t find awards I’ll often suggest Bali.
It’s an interesting place with good food, cultural activities, and some of the world’s friendliest people. And there’s fantastic luxury accommodations available at reasonable prices for those spending US dollars.
Viceroy Bali is a family-owned resort with just 25 private pool villas. It’s in the artistic region of Ubud, so a nice departure from the more sterile Nusa Dua area of Westernized resorts. It’s a TripAdvisor 5-star and 2016 Travelers Choice award winner. I’ve seen very few properties with reviews this good. In fact, It’s TripAdvisor’s #11 of top 25 luxury hotels in the world.
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.
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.
Top tier elite confirmed upgrades are a terrible thing to waste. If you have some left with Hyatt Gold Passport or with American AAdvantage now is the last chance to use them. Here’s how you can still apply them even if you don’t have travel today or tomorrow.
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 »
