This past week Hyatt provided some really generous prizes — Gold Passport points and Las Vegas experiences to raise awareness of their new partnership with MGM’s 12 M Life hotels in Las Vegas. Gold Passport members can earn and redeem points at a variety of Las Vegas hotels at various price points, I’m most interested personally in Vidara and Signature at MGM Grand though many will be intrigued by Bellagio. In addition, stays at these hotels earn stays and nights towards elite status. Excalibur and Luxor in the middle of the week will provide some of the least expensive paths towards top tier elite status (my favorite program for suite upgrades, even without status and the best top tier elite breakfast benefit). It’s a great partnership that fills a geographic gap for Hyatt (Las Vegas,…
Starwood Boosts Points Earning and Elite Status for Meeting Planners
When Starwood introduced a panoply of new elite benefits at the beginning of last year, the most notable was “suite night awards” for Platinums. They aren’t ‘confirmed suite upgrades’ in the sense we’d usually think about them (confirmed at booking if available) but rather confirmed up to five days in advance of arrival if available. That amounts to expressing a preference for when you get the upgrade, and putting yourself more or less to the front of the line when you do. These are available to 50 night platinums only, which means they are not afforded to Platinums who earn their status based n 25 stays rather than on nights. At the time I observed, and asked the SPG folks about, the way this leaves their meeting planners out in the cold as well. Starwood…
An Unhappy Marriott Rewards Member Writes a Song About It
You may remember Les Miserables “Master of the House”. Over in the Marriott Insiders forum member erc unhappy with changes to the program over the years pens a song to the tune of that classic. Welcome Rewards, sit yourself down See Freddie’s winner, the best in town As for the rest, all of them tools Trailing our lead, and following the rules Seldom do you see Anything for free A plan of such design That’s content to be Master of your perks, doling out the charm Giving you improvements, that might do some harm Spin a juicy tale, creates a little fuss F & B credit, makes a purchase a must Likes to always change the bennies Doesn’t cost us to be nice Enhancements get you little As we often jack up your price Master…
The Lufthansa First Class Terminal is Just Ducky!
Howard M. sends me one of the best thank you emails I could possibly receive. He writes: Hey Gary – My wife [and I] really enjoyed ourselves on our recent EU trip, and we directly benefitted from your knowledge. Your recent EVA heads up couldn’t be better timed. Thanks for everything! Howard And shared the following photo: You can, of course, have a rubber ducky for your bath at Lufthansa’s first class terminal! And here they are, posing the duckies, in that terminal’s sit down restaurant. Here’s a report from one of my past visits to the first class terminal. Here are the access rules for Lufthansa’s first class terminal, and how to access it as a connecting passenger. My favorite things about the first class terminal? Lufthansa’s own Miles&More miles are the easiest way…
Why Aeroflot Won’t Leave Skyteam Even Though They’re Frustrated With Delta
Aeroflot is a surprisingly useful member of Skyteam for those wanting to redeem Delta miles. But via Milepoint, the Russian flag carrier is making noises that they want out of the alliance. Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot may opt out of the global SkyTeam alliance and join a different one due to disagreements with its code-sharing partners, the Kommersant daily reported Friday citing industry sources. The reasons are that they are handcuffed into deals with Delta that make US pricing (in its view) uncompetitive, and frequent flyer policies that don’t work for them. Aeroflot is reportedly unhappy with being tied into expensive prices set with its SkyTeam alliance partner Delta for flights to the United States, one source close to company management told the newspaper. Competitors are offering fares considerably lower on flights with stopovers. Aeroflot…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 28, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Last day: A simple comment on my blog may win you Hyatt points and Vegas experiences The Wall Street Journal on airline status matches. Wandering Aramean reports that JetBlue is now offering a status challenge to United, American, Delta, and US Airways elites. Here’s my rundown of the status match options offered by different airlines. Expedia used to offer a Best Rate Guarantee where they would match the qualifying price you found elsewhere and give you a $50 credit. Well, they’ve devalued… Does Allegiant “out-Spirit” Spirit Air? 1000 Free Citi Thank You points. Registration not yet available, but Hilton’s third quarter promotion will be double points during the week and triple points on weekends.
Business Class Award Seats to Asia You Can Almost Always Find
I’ve made mentions already that new Star Alliance member EVA Airways has outstanding award available. But I haven’t really spelled out just how good it is. I had no probably booking five people back to the US from Hong Kong via Taipei shortly after New Years (albeit not all on the same flight). And I had no problem booking folks back from Thailand in July last week as well. EVA Airways offers a top notch business class product. The title of this trip report, I think, encapsulates their service: Dom Pérignon Service on Eva Airways Business Class. And their Boeing 777-300ER features business class seats similar to Cathay Pacific’s (and to Delta’s new Pacific route only business seats, American’s new 777-300ER business seats, and the US Airways seat). So it is a good business class…
2500 Mile Discount on American AAdvantage Awards Booked Online
Back in March, American introduced an award map to help members find available award seats. You enter your starting city and the number of miles you want to spend. It will show you the places you can go. They’re promoting it with a 25,000 mile a day sweepstakes, the sort of thing I find generally uninteresting. I know there are lots of lucky people out there, I don’t generally enter these which probably also explains why I don’t generally win either. But what’s worth noting is the award redemption rebate which is paired with the sweepstakes and more or less buried in the fine print. Once you watch their video about the award map, and click through to open up the map, you are given the chance to register for the sweepstakes. That also makes…
Lots of Good Hotel Values Announced for July/August 5000 Point PointBreaks
Via Mommy Points, Priority Club has announced the hotels that will be offering discounted award nights (“PointBreaks”) for just 5000 points per night for stays between July 1 and August 31. What seems to happen with each set of hotels is that a bunch are announced, then the good ones get pounced on, and then those hotels worth redeeming for get removed within a day or several days. By the end of the PointBreaks period very few hotels that anyone would want are left. Nonetheless, award nights at just 5000 points (as opposed to, say, 25,000 or 30,000 points) is a great deal. And the nights are generally cancellable. So if you think you even might need one of these award nights, it’s worth locking in. And you can use the cash and points trick…
Aeroplan Award Price Increases, Better Expiration Rules, and New Bonuses
Air Canada’s Aeroplan came out with announcements of several changes to its program this morning. They’re improving points expiration rules, going revenue-based for awards that don’t have the same capacity controls as ‘classic’ (and partner) awards do, increasing the price of premium cabin international awards to several destinations, and introducing a new status program for points earning members (in contrast to the airline elite status program based on flying). Overall I like the changes to expiration, the status benefits for mileage earning seems an interesting concept though isn’t especially rewarding, and I view the award chart changes as a significant negative. Elimination of Seven Year Expiration Rule You need activity in your Aeroplan account each year to keep miles active. But regardless of activity, any miles unused seven years from the time they were accumulated…
