I had the opportunity to test the Capital One Landing at Washington’s Reagan National airport again, and this time under ‘real world’ conditions over the past week.
I am always skeptical that execution of food will be as good when the executives aren’t there, and under pressure to turn out dishes at the type of volume necessary for a full house of travelers.
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 United Airlines passenger arrived in the country and somehow lost his shoes at customs. He decided to leave his shoes behind, rather than looking for them, because he was afraid of missing his onward connection. He had two domestic flights to take, including a stop at Chicago O’Hare, and he made the entire journey just in his socks.
The Aloft Rogers-Bentonville hotel in Arkansas apparently has a laminated sign in guest rooms outlining the property’s “Hotel Towel Policy.” It says that guests will be charged a variable fee up to $50 per dirty towel.
Airline first class hasn’t been for the wealthy in 40 years. Domestically, it went from a place filled with upgraded upper middle class middle managers to a place filled with people who have $40 or, sadly, people who have $40 available on a credit card.
Whether or not first class is ‘worth it’ depends, of course, on how much you value it and on your available funds but the modest increment means the extra cost is frequently easy to justify.
Upon landing, Finneran was arrested and charged with assaulting and intimidating flight attendants and interfering with the crew. His legal defense was that he suffered from severe traveler’s diarrhea and had been prevented from using the first class lavatory by the Portuguese President’s security detail.
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.
With United flight attendants having overwhelmingly voted to authorize their union to declare a strike if the government lets them, the AFA-CWA union is currently soliciting volunteers from amongst their members to be the first to strike.
A decade ago, I spoke with some folks who were trying to enable gambling with frequent flyer miles. And back then what I told them was that no one would touch it because of reputational concerns. That was true at the time. Things have changed so dramatically!
Since it’s now possible to earn Marriott points gambling, the Overton window has shifted sufficiently that more programs may be open to the revenue possibilities of gambling using frequent flyer miles.
Somehow rates here run from the mid-$200s to mid-$400s. There’s actually another Autograph Collection property just a few blocks away. You’d probably like the Morrison House much better.
Marriott CEO Jim Capuano once said, “When I die, they’ll put the net-rooms growth number on my tombstone.” Marriott will seemingly take a fee from any hotel, of any quality, diluting their brands in the process.
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 »
