Tipping Gone Mad: Hotel Booking Site Solicits Tips After You’ve Made Your Reservation

Jan 25 2023

The range of things for which tipping is being solicited in the United States has grown tremendously. Tipping, it seems, is no longer just for personal services someone provides – like a waiter in a restaurant, or a stylist in a salon. You’re asked to tip when you bus your own tray after waiting in line for food at a restaurant. You’re asked to tip when picking up food for carry out. And the amount you’re asked for has grown, from 15% to 20% and now sometimes 25%.

Surely there has to be a line. How much will we stand for? Isn’t a reasonable principle that tipping ought to be reserved for service provided by people and not machines?

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Southwest Airlines Kicking Flight Attendants Out Of Training For Tattooed Hands And Fingers

flight attendant in overhead bin
Jan 24 2023

It seems like tattoos is something that might come up during a flight attendant’s initial interview, rather than waiting until training to be kicked out over it. It’s also an odd place for Southwest to make a stand, considering the informality of their crew compared to some other airlines. However flight attendants with certain tattoos may find a more welcoming home in training with other carriers.

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Save Big On Marriott Hotels By Booking Them Through Airbnb

Jan 23 2023

I’ve even documented instances where the difference in room rate was over $450 per night! It’s amazing that even as hotel chains spend a lot marketing that you’ll find the best rates on their rooms through their own websites, hotels are unloading rooms for less through Airbnb.

One guest even managed a successful Marriott best rate guarantee against an Airbnb listing.

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My American Airlines Flight Could Have Gone Sideways In So Many Ways

Jan 23 2023

The woman beside me, and the woman in the aisle of row 2 she was traveling with, both had coffee cups. The two woman were probably in their late 50s or early 60s, and were giggling. They talked about what was in the cups, and it wasn’t coffee. That would become important later on in the flight, during a medical emergency, since one of the women claimed to be a doctor.

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You Must Have Been Really Bad To Hotel Workers Because Marriott LAX Raised Their ‘Worker Protection Surcharge’ 29%

Jan 23 2023

When the Marriott LAX rolled out this extra charge ‘to protect their workers’ it was $10.72 per night. Two months later they’ve already increased the fee to $13.87 per night – a 29% increase.

At 1004 rooms, this hotel has the potential to generate $5,082,800 per year with their new Worker Protection charge. They aren’t required to spend the money on worker protection (indeed they won’t). Even at 80% occupancy that’s $4 million a year, most of which goes to the hotel’s bottom-line.

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