He caught the eye of authorities because of “the unusually large bulge in his pants that was wiggling around.” The man was scanned and then strip searched, “revealing the two Asian small-clawed otters and a prairie dog that he had tried to hide in his underwear.”
The CEO of IHG Hotels and Resorts admits that they make only 1/10th as much off of their Chase credit cards as Hilton and Marriott make on their co-brands. Total fees form their card portfolio total $100 million a year All of this used to get passed through to hotels. Now one third is kept at the corporate level. A recent loss by Hyatt in tax court explains how hotel program economics work and they’re very different from airlines. For the most part the chains don’t own the hotels, and the programs are very different than airline frequent flyer offerings. The amount kept by the chain is almost all profit. And IHG wants Chase to pay more in a deal re-up. The current card agreement expires in 2025. Banks pay a lot more than you…
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.
Starting January 10, 2024 Brazil will require Americans, Canadians, and Australians to obtain a visa for entry to the country. The cost will be approximately $80 and allow multiple entry for 10 years (Canadians and Australians only get 5 years). They will require you to provide them with a bank statement showing account balance and 30 days of transactions.
The experience on low cost carrier AirAsia is so bad their CEO flies Singapore Airlines? Tony Fernandes says the reason is because his flights were full, three in a row, and he couldn’t get a seat – and didn’t want to bump paying passengers. So he was humble bragging. Fernandes, who recently got a shirtless massage at a management meeting, was humble bragging about his airline’s load factors. No seat on @flyairasia for three flights so had to take @singaporeair. Hehehe View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) Airline executives flying competitors is common, and should be more common to understand their product. Then-American Airlines Executive Vice President Elise Eberwein flew United and filed a trip report discovering that seat back entertainment (which American was moving away from) really matters…
The new United for Business discount program offers fare discounts in place of earning rewards.
Over the summer I covered the man who cooked baby back ribs in a hotel bathroom. He’s now taken his talents to the sky, cooking up a snack of garlic shrimp and mash – in a Delta Air Lines lavatory.
Hilton has released its first promotion of 2024, and registration is available. From January 1 to May 1, 2024, “Points Plus” offers: 2,000 bonus points per stay plus 500 bonus points for using digital key.
Now that Alaska Airlines has announced plans to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, there is significant speculation about what it will mean for airfares, with one study claiming a 38% increase for Hawaiian Airlines fares. That’s important to anti-trust discussions over whether the deal will be approved, but it’s not how airfares work. And traditional anti-trust analysis is probably the wrong way to think about what will happen to this merger.
When you’re flying in the ‘back of the bus’ you don’t get a lot of person space. Airline coach seats are small. You get the space underneath the seat in front of you for your feet. And there are overhead bins.
Traditionally, you can bring a carry on bag on board and a personal item. That carry on goes in the overhead bin, and the personal item like purse or laptop bag goes by your feet. But these are social norms, not rules. Some passengers are going to put their personal item up in the bin, too. What do you think about that?
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 »
