Mar 22 2016

Through February 8th Hilton is offering a bonus of 80% on purchased points.

Hilton usually charges a penny apiece for points, so with this bonus is selling points for a little over half a cent each. That’s not the absolute cheapest I’ve ever seen (back in June they offered a 100% bonus). Here they’re selling points for just a little over what they’re worth.

This will certainly appeal to newly minted Hilton Diamonds who took advantage of the end of year status match opportunity…!

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Mar 22 2016

Earlier today One Mile at a Time detailed what was ostensibly going to be Hyatt’s new spring promotion, shared with him via a reader, although caveats “The above comes from an unofficial source, though does seem to be Hyatt’s second quarter 2016 promotion. If that’s in fact the case, I’m sure it will be announced shortly.”

I’ve confirmed the details with Hyatt, between April 1 and June 30 Gold Passport members will be able to register and stay for up to 75,000 bonus points.

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Mar 22 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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Mar 22 2016

Marriott had an investor call yesterday to discuss the acquisition of Starwood, and the future outlook for the combined companies.

Naturally the focus is on the deal and their argument for its upside. Most interesting to me is that the presentation slide deck included a page on the future of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest.

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Mar 22 2016

There were two explosions in the Brussels airport departure hall around around 8 a.m. local time today. There was also an explosion at a subway station near EU headquarters. Flights were suspended. US flights to Brussels landed safely. Intra-european flights were diverted or returned to their origin.

As of this writing at least 13 have been reported dead at the airport and 15 at the subway station. Although some of what we will read and see on television reported today will turn out to be wrong.

One of the airport explosions is reported to have been near the American Airlines check-in counter, the other near the check-in desk for Brussels Airlines. American confirmed their “employees and contractors are accounted for with no reported injuries.”

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Mar 21 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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Mar 21 2016

British Airways business class is a controversial product. It’s fully lie flat, which is better than angled, but it’s probably the worst lie flat product out there. The airline often sells business class at a deep discount through sales, and so the product can be a good value (albeit not as much on award tickets where you’re paying fuel surcharges).

When it’s substantially cheap than the competition it’s value for money. But it’s far from top shelf. It’s also worth knowing that some seats are better – and worse – than others.

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Mar 21 2016

With Marriott massively increasing its offer to purchase Starwood, they’ve shared news of the deal with their employees.

This is what Marriott is saying about the revised offer to buy Starwood. They explain the price, that the Chinese insurer could still counter, and that the deal contains a $450 million breakup fee.

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Mar 21 2016

Yesterday I wrote that American planned to eliminate 24 hour reservation holds in favor of 24 hour free cancellation.

I reached out to American for comment, and for clarification of how such a policy would work for bookings made within 7 days of travel (US airlines aren’t required to offer refunds within 7 days, but other airlines do it) and whether it would be a true 24 hour refund (as required) or ‘until midnight the following day’ (as is more generous but also more standard).

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Mar 21 2016

On Friday Starwood’s customers and shareholders were excited by a Chinese group led by insurer Anbang making a substantially higher offer for the hotel chain than the pending Marriott Marriott acquisition deal. Starwood informed Marriott that it intended to terminate their deal and enter into an agreement with this ‘superior proposal’. Starwood put off its shareholder vote. Under the agreement though Marriott had 10 days to counter.

Marriott acted quickly, submitting a new bid for Starwood and Starwood’s Board has accepted it. It’s a mix of cash and stock, the value highly dependent on Marriott’s recently-volatile share price.

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