If the person in front of you in the customer service line is getting upset and taking it out on the agent, the agent is all the more ready to expect you to do the same. They’re not going to want to listen to your story or spend time working every angle to find a solution. They’re going to want to move you out of their line as quickly as possible. Basic human nature.
So turn that on its head.
I lived in the Washington, D.C. area for 18 years and it remains my most frequent travel destination for work. And one of the most unintentionally controversial things that I write – triggering many readers – is referring to my preferred airport as “National” rather than “Reagan National.” It’s an interesting story how the airport’s name was changed.
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.
Back in the fall Marriott launched its lifetime status website. It features a thank you video from Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano and a couple of appearances from Senior Vice President of Loyalty, David Flueck. And it contains a number of statistics from your account.
The website also lets you order a set of lifetime Platinum (or lifetime Titanium) luggage tags.
I was skewing more towards the familiar after spending over a year inside the U.S., and as more and more countries opened up. I felt like I needed to return to places I’d been – it had been longer than it might otherwise have been. I needed to visit family I hadn’t seen, revisit the familiar places I loved to eat and experience. If you haven’t been to a place in years it feels more new, and you already know you’ll love it! So I’m only now just returning to thinking about new experiences.
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 lawsuit to terminate the deal doesn’t mean that it will be terminated. The two parties can settle the suit, presumably with Capital One paying more to continue the relationship. On the other hand, a lawsuit to terminate hangs over the partnership in the meantime making it more difficult to maximize the value of the deal. Investments in the partnership remain in limbo in the meantime, which is bad for both sides.
Complaining about Airbnb on social media is almost de rigueur. There’s so much to criticize about what Airbnb has turned into, which is light years from where the service began. But defenders of Airbnb seem to be having their day. Why would anyone ever stay in a hotel when there’s Airbnb? And what if they made a new Airbnb, that was more like WeWork?
The Hyatt House San Juan charges a resort fee but calls it a “Hotel Fee’ and has been billing guests for it that they shouldn’t.
When chains actually owned the hotels that they marketed, there was better alignment of incentives for maintaining and extending their brands (and they found it much easier to deliver promises to guests on-property). Managed hotels are usually though not always better than franchised properties. An ‘asset light’ model where the chain simply rents out the brand (franchised) can work – but needs a laser-like focus on defending and growing the value of the brand, not merely living off of and depreciating it.
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 »
