[TECHNICAL ISSUE, NOT POLICY CHANGE] American Reduces Award Holds From 5 Days to 3 Days

Jul 18 2023

While most airline have eliminated the ability to put an award “on hold” one of the more consumer-friendly features of American AAdvantage has been the offer to hold an award for up to 5 days rather than having to purchase it immediately. (Travel within a week is limited to just one day.)

Without any announcement, American appears to have reduced the allowable hold time from 5 days to 3 days.

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Hilton Guest Wakes Up To Find Employee Standing At Foot Of Her Bed

Jul 18 2023

A guest at the DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles – Norwalk says that she woke up from a nap to find an employee “standing at the foot of [her] bed.” She screamed and he offered the excuse, “I called, but you didn’t answer your phone.”

She reports that she called the hotel six times asking to speak to a manager but no one called her back. She called the police.

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Beware The Google Airline Scam, Phone Number Search Results Are Corrupted

older gentleman taking a selfie with smartphone
Jul 17 2023

In the spring I wrote about scammers taking over an old Singapore Airlines phone number and pretending to be Singapore Airlines when customers call. The scammers charge high fees for basic services the airline would normally provide for free, like helping with seat assignments.

It turns out there’s another variation on this scam: the agency gets Google’s search results for the airline at a specific airport changed to display their phone number.

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