The U.S. is “advising…increased caution” for U.S. citizens while overseas. The State Department is a bureaucracy, and how would it look if bad things happened and they didn’t warn people? Now that they’ve done so, bad things aren’t their fault.
The State Department advises that you register your travel with them and… follow them on Facebook and Twitter. That’s hardly advice that, for now, is going to scare me off from travel.
A reader stayed at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay for his wife’s 50th birthday weekend. He’s a “Globalist,” a top elite with Hyatt for the past decade or more. And one of the benefits of this status is a dedicated ‘concierge’ who helps with reservations, upgrades, billing and points issues and other hotel matters.
Since his concierge knew that it was a special weekend, she contacted the hotel about delivering something to the room for the occasion. The hotel did. And they charged the guest for it, at full room service prices.
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.
Marriott has an affiliate commission-earning business, and they rebate part of that commission in the form of points.
Hyatt is getting into the homeshare marketing business too with Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt. It will launch “in the coming weeks” with domestic markets “like Hawaii, Florida and Colorado,” and eventually expand to international markets as well.
We’ve seen belligerent or drunk passengers try to open the door of a commercial aircraft while inflight. And unless the plane is at sufficiently low altitude, or a door’s seal fails, it will almost always be pressurized such that this is impossible.
What I don’t think I’ve seen before is an flight that takes off with a door that’s still open!
The United Airlines flight attendants union, AFA-CWA, is telling crewmembers to pack (1) a flashlight and (2) latex gloves, so they can search for bedbugs during their trips. The union also reports cabin crew at Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Hawaiian, Spirit and others including American Airlines wholly-owned regional carriers Envoy Airlines, Piedmont, and PSA. Members are being told to be vigilant about bedbugs, not only at international carriers flying to Paris, where infestations have gotten the most attention lately. Check the mattress for bed bug remains That means looking at the corner of the mattress, seams, and labels Crew are advised that while the headboard is a place they can be found, not to actually remove the headboard because they could be liable for damage. Flight attendants are also advised to use hard sided luggage rather…
Hilton’s premium co-brand is interesting because it straight up comes with Honors Diamond status, though I view Hilton Diamond as worth less than similar status at Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG (no guaranteed late check-out from Hilton or IHG, even, but at least IHG offers confirmed suites).
The premium card is also the only one where Hilton spend is more rewarding that putting it on an alternative card.
There are folks who will come out ahead – those who already have unlimited Priority Pass and will get the full $200 per year value out of the statement credits – but overall judging the pure value of the card I don’t think this is a net improvement. It’s still a good value product but I don’t see this refresh as an improvement.
They’re in a bit of a pickle because they don’t have the financial strength and performance to absorb higher labor costs, and may be tempted to squeeze elsewhere. But this constrains revenue growth potential, and makes for an even bigger problem. As a high cost airline they also need to be a high revenue airline, which means offering a better product not just a reliable domestic schedule.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia, shared a photo of himself chairing a management meeting. Shirtless. While getting a massage.
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 »
