Commenter Dan writes, I used to do Strategy and Analytics for an [Online Travel Agency] and had an offer for a similar title [tp General Manager, SkyMiles Strategy & Analysis] at United Mileage Plus. This is much more an analytics role than a strategy role. At all these firms, they need a business person who can run data models to tell them what is making/not making money. Sometimes I was able to put together small changes or run promos that helped the bottom line (my biggest was probably an international fare sale on select foreign carriers), but the overall direction of the program is guided by the higher-ups. This person would just tell the higher-up how much money they would be making off the decision. That being said, 100% of the decisions made come down…
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In 2 Weeks Starwood Will Introduce New Benefit Choices for Platinum Elites. Here’s What They Are.
Last month I broke the news that Starwood would be introducing choices for Platinum members in lieu of ‘Suite Night Awards’ for those members who prefer a different rewards upon reaching 50 nights. I speculated that those new choices would include bonus points and award redemption discounts. But Starwood’s Senior Vice President for SPG and Digital Chris Holdren let me know that those weren’t the direction they were going. So last week I had the chance to talk to Chris about what the new choices are going to be for Platinum members who spend at least 50 nights a year with Starwood. What Are Suite Night Awards? For the past 3 years Starwood has offered (10) ‘Suite Night Awards’ — an opportunity to confirm an upgrade up to 5 nights prior to arrival, rather than…
New Starwood-Uber Partnership: Earn Starpoints for Uber Rides!
Starwood is bringing out a new global partnership with Uber that allows members to link their Starwood and Uber accounts and earn Starpoints for the Uber rides they take (last name and email addresses on both accounts must match). Starwood adds Uber to its stable of points-earning partners which includes Crossover Rewards (Delta), Your World Rewards (Emirates), and Caesars. Sadly the Uber partnership doesn’t come with upgrades or elite qualfying benefits. But it means more points and without taking anything away from members so positive all around. All members earn at least 1 Starpoint per dollar spent on Uber. If you’re staying with Starwood when you Uber you’ll earn based on your program tier: 2 points for general members, 3 for Golds and Platinums, 4 for 75 night Platinums and above. Unlike some of the…
Why Airlines Should Improve Their Coffee
Coffee fuels business travel, and most providers don’t understand that. Have you ever actually tried to drink the coffee on a US domestic airline? American’s new Airbus A321T flying between New York JFK and Los Angeles and San Francisco has a cappuccino machine in first class. I have only flown business class on this plane, though, so I’ve not had a decent cup of coffee on a US airline’s plane. Cathay Pacific makes a decent cappuccino but the airline won’t serve hot drinks when the seat belt sign is on. A little turbulence on approach to Hong Kong after a long overnight flight and having no access to coffee is another form of coffee fail. Delta got a lot of mileage out of its announced change to Starbucks this month. I wasn’t especially impressed. United…
Buy Miles Opportunity at $0.0168, Target’s New REDperks Program, and Another Card Enters the 2.2% Game
News and notes from around the interweb: Doctor of Credit says the Priceline Visa is adding a 10% points rebate for travel redemptions so those who still have the old 2 points per dollar Priceline Visa will see that card become a 2.2% rebate card when using points for travel. Of course that merely makes it the equivalent of Barclaycard Arrival+ which anyone can still get and comes with a 40,000 point signup bonus offer. I can’t decide, read the hilarious suggestions in the comments of this post and then reply here to tell me which reader should win? American Airlines wants to win Los Angeles. Kristen Bell likes them (but does she like Delta co-brand issuer Amex even more?). But PT Anderson doesn’t like them (and he’s more important to frequent flyers). They have…
Is It Time to Regulate Frequent Flyer Programs?
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything as egregious as Delta over the past few weeks. Delta eliminated their award charts — just pulled them off the website — without telling anyone. When asked they said that members now get all they need to know from the award calendar. That suggests pricing could change and change rapidly, or at least they’re preparing for it to. Delta now has 21 day advance purchase requirements for the lowest award prices in many (most) markets. They’ve made your miles less valuable, without notice or even acknowledgment, for one of the only strong uses for domestic coach awards. One candidate for ‘worst action by an airline frequent flyer program against its members’ as noted by a commenter on the blog is fuel surcharges, especially the continued charging of these…
OUCH: American Fails to Load Bags at Miami for 8 Hours, Doesn’t Tell Passengers
Readers of this blog know that I’m generally a fan of American Airlines, I fly over 100,000 miles a year with them and I think the AAdvantage program is the most rewarding airline frequent flyer program at least at the top elite tier. Every once in awhile though an airline does something that reminds you why people hate airlines. This time it happened to be American. Apparently American’s baggage system broke down in Miami for several hours on Friday. The airline couldn’t deliver checked bags to aircraft. Planes took off without any checked bags loaded Passengers weren’t told their bags weren’t onboard Indeed, in many cases they weren’t even informed on arrival at their destination Usually when truly terrible situations develop, there’s an external factor (most often its weather) combined with very bad decision-making. Here…
Is It The End of Loyalty, Time For Everyone For Themselves?
At the beginning of the year I wrote The State of Frequent Flyer Miles in 2015. Award charts are more expensive. Miles are easier to earn. The products we cna redeem for are better than ever. The economy and travel business are relatively good which makes programs less generous with us. And they’ve gotten smarter, there are fewer opportunities to game. But as they continue to get more complex opportunities emerge. And the economy won’t stay strong forever. Something else has changed. Some of this is driven by the economy, that programs aren’t as worried about our loyalty in good times. But that’s not all of it. At some programs, the gloves are off, there seem to be no constraints, things that were unthinkable for programs to do in the past are now just ordinary…
The Changes That Will Happen to American’s Award Chart After The US Airways Merger is Complete
Reader Ryan wanted to know, [W]hat do you think would be a ‘worst-case’ scenario for US/AA miles devaluation after the programs merge in Q2? Plenty of folks thought that combining US Airways and American frequent flyer programs was a chance to implement a brand new program on day 1, a revenue-based one like Delta and United. I predicted from the beginning that: The primary focus would be on integrating the airlines When you merge you don’t want to alienate your customers So the merger would be reprieve from devaluations, for the most part. (Not exclusively.) And indeed, we know what the 2015 program looks like and I don’t expect a big upending of the award chart in the second quarter of 2015 when Dividend Miles gets migrated over to AAdvantage. I don’t necessarily expect big…
SkyMiles Technology Update Coming: What Will it Mean for the Program?
Delta has announced that SkyMiles systems will be unavailable early Saturday morning. What will this mean for the SkyMiles program? Possibly nothing. Technology maintenance is common. I feel like it happens to the Chase website and to the Hyatt website constantly. And yet when Delta removes award charts from its website, makes changes to technology to eliminate stopovers from pricing correctly online (and then eliminating stopovers on awards all together), and effectively imposes a 21-day advance purchase requirements on saver awards in most Delta markets — all without giving members notice, let alone advance notice — it’s hard not to get concerned any time Delta says their technology for the program is changing. Delta would go a long way towards establishing trust by simply announcing its intentions in advance even when it’s taking important things…
