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.
30,000 Bonus Points And $100 Rebate On Marriott Homes & Villas Booking
Marriott is offering a third anniversary bonus of 30,000 points for bookings made through its Homes & Villas network from today through Wednesday, May 18. The bonus requires a stay of 5 nights or more between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. It stacks with a $100 rebate Chase Offer that many readers should be eligible for.
JetBlue Makes Hostile Bid For Spirit Airlines, Attacks Spirit Board
JetBlue wants Spirit Airlines shareholders to vote against merging with Frontier Airlines. They’ve reiterated their offer of more money to buy Spirit. They’ve reduced their offer from $33 to $30 per share but are dangling an additional 10% – back up to $33 per share in cash – subject to negotiation and due diligence.
JetBlue’s offer is for substantially more money. It does not provide greater certainty, as they claim, though. There is more regulatory risk though it’s difficult to evaluate exactly how much. There should be a path to solve this though through negotiation if JetBlue is as confident in closing the transaction as they claim: a higher breakup fee.
Head Of Delta SkyMiles Explains Why They Charge So Much More For Awards Than Other Airlines
The inimitable Brian Sumers interviewed the Vice President of the Delta SkyMiles program for Skift and put the question to Prashant Sharma why does Delta charge so many more miles for the best awards than other airlines?
And Sharma’s answer is pretty simple: it’s because they can get away with it, and customers keep earning SkyMiles and signing up for the Delta credit card.
Airline Twitter Team Roasts Crypto Investors [Roundup]
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.
I Booked A Suite A Year In Advance, And Then Got Walked By Alila Marea
Securing a confirmed suite here is tough because they have only a few on property, so I decided to book my 2022 stay a year in advance as soon as I’d returned home from my last visit.
Two weeks prior to arrival I received a voicemail and email from the hotel’s Front Office Manager asking me to call him. That couldn’t be good.
American Telling Gate Agents Not To Remove Passengers From Flight To Accommodate Late Standbys
Standbys are being cleared earlier automatically and upgrades are now being cleared earlier by the ‘Agent Assist’ program which was developed to make work at the boarding gate easier, support single agent boarding, and still allow a flight to go off on time.
But with standbys and upgrades happening earlier, more customers are showing up at the gate asking to get on board after most seats have already been given away.
New York Airports Promise Lower Priced Beer, Refunds For Overcharged Passengers
Last summer a customer on Twitter revealed that airport concessions operator OTG charging $28 plus tax and tip for beer at Newark airport. This clearly violated their lease to abide by ‘street pricing’ rules.
OTG, famous for making you order everything via an iPad, quickly claimed the pricing was a mistake, corrected it, but still argued that it really wasn’t such a bad deal after all because it was a big pour ($28 beer was better value than they’re being given credit for). Several members of Congress sprung into action.
Bernie Sanders Spotted Flying First Class On Friday (And That’s Just Fine)
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was photographed flying first class on American Airlines Friday enroute to a Pittsburgh event where he campaigned for State Rep. Summer Lee who is running for Congress in Pennsylvania. Sanders was wearing a mask.
Covid Tests For Travel To U.S. Could End By Summer
There’s an argument for slowing down spread when you’re on the cusp on prophylactics and treatments, or when hospital capacity is overwhelmed. Neither is the case today, so while a test prior to travel reduces the likelihood a given individual is infectious at time of flight it doesn’t have a material affect on the broader public health situation. And we don’t require testing prior to domestic travel, or for large gatherings.