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.
Is the most valuable award offered to Hyatt’s most loyal guests actually completely useless? Hyatt introduced the Ultimate Free Night Award and the Miraval Extra Award a year ago, and if you want to use them at Miraval Arizona before your certificates expire — you can’t.
The thing that struck me most about the cheese plate – aside from how sad it was – is that is consists of big chunks of cheese, crackers, grapes and a chocolate. But there is no plastic knife to slice the cheese. So you’re stuck taking big bites out of these cheese chunks. It is… awkward.
Why is it that airlines give up control of their aircraft to the government from the moment it pushes back to the moment it arrives at its destination?
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.
Transexual TSA screeners are no longer permitted to perform pat-downs on passengers and are instead being limited to other duties. Individual airport security screeners report receiving a memo about this change, and a TSA spokesperson confirms the shift in policy to me.
When I was first traveling for work, the first class cabin was mostly upgrades. And that meant it was frequent business travelers, who skewed middle aged and male. First class fares have come down a lot, there are plenty of upsells to leisure travelers, and as little as 13% of first class seats may be going to upgrades (Delta, but other airlines are catching up to them). The demographics of who is sitting up front have changed, but there are still remnants of the past.
Once beverage service ended, Luis A. Vaquero of Passaic, New Jersey demanded a cocktail. A flight attendant refused, and the man reportedly said “You better watch out, sh**’s gonna happen to you.”
They’re seeing surging leisure rates, a move to last-minute bookings, and are managing a major tech overhaul for the business. Swelling Bonvoy membership is driving revenue – from both hotel owners and banks. How that will pair with growth from lower-end chains, and in light of still-sluggish business travel, remains unclear.
The plane suddenly veered sharply right before realigning with the centerline. The jolt forced pilots to engage maximum braking, and the aircraft came to a stop just short of the runway’s end. Cockpit audio has the captain declaring, “We aborted the takeoff, we hit a car in the middle of the runway.”
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 »
