American Express Opening Centurion New York In Midtown With Food By Chef Daniel Boulud

by Gary Leff

Jan 14 2023

American Express has been opening a network of airport lounges over the past decade, because that’s where their cardmembers are. After initially trialing the first Centurion lounge with Centurion cardmembers only in Las Vegas, the program expanded significantly. New York is their biggest market, and it looks like they have a new space coming, at least initially for Centurion cardmembers only.

Centurion New York is expected to open in March on the 55th floor of One Vanderbilt, about a block from the Hyatt Grand Central (former Grand Hyatt), featuring food by Daniel Boulud.

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Hyatt Promises To Fix Zeroing Out Award Night Availability In Aruba

by Gary Leff

view on balcony looking over ocean
Jan 13 2023

The Hyatt Regency Aruba has a history of playing games with free night award availability. They made it nearly impossible to spend Hyatt points, assigning only 22 out of their 357 rooms as potentially eligible for redemption. This hotel is actually owned by Hyatt, and after I brought their shenanigans to corporate’s attention they adjusted the practice.

However Aruba redemptions again became a problem. Some time in the second half of December all award night inventory at the property for 2023 zeroed.

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Nonsense From The New York Times On How To Address Airline Reliability

by Gary Leff

Jan 13 2023

The New York Times ran an op-ed on Friday by William J. McGee full of bizarre nonsense, arguing that it’s time to re-regulate the airlines, because Southwest Airlines melted down over the holidays and the FAA (government regulator!)’s antiquated NOTAM system failed for several hours this past week.

The author makes the case for the Civil Aeronautics Board – abolished by deregulation – because it limited competition and ensured airline profitability. That’s obviously bad for consumers.

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The Biggest Problem Facing Southwest Airlines After Holiday Meltdown Is.. Securities Fraud?

by Gary Leff

Jan 13 2023

Southwest Airlines did a bad thing. It cancelled flights affecting around two million passengers over the holidays. Southwest has talked about its IT issues for years, but never said ‘and we might wind up cancelling travel on two million people costing $825 million. Therefore investors were misled about the business’s prospects. Everything is securities fraud.

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American Airlines Announces New Policy, Use This The Next Time They Blame Weather

by Gary Leff

Jan 13 2023

When a flight delays, airlines almost always blame weather. Factors outside of their control mean they don’t owe you anything, like a hotel to spend the night in or meals at the airport. But American Airlines CEO Robert Isom now says that when his airline fails to recover from problems, that’s on them and they owe their customers. That’s a sea change, following on the Southwest Airlines debacle over the holidays. But not everyone in the company’s customer service department may be ready to change.

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American And Alaska Airlines Expand Elite Upgrades

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Jan 12 2023

Elite frequent flyers in each airline’s program have benefits like extra legroom seats, not just the usual priority check-in, baggage and boarding benefits. And for nearly two years upper tier elites have been able to upgrade when traveling on the other airline.

Now, quietly – neither airline has sent out an announcement – the upgrade benefit has been extended to more frequent flyers.

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