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.
It’s easy to forget how awful taxis were when Uber burst onto the scene. You couldn’t request cars by app, you couldn’t see where they were or know when they’d arrive, and you couldn’t track your rides. Cabs were usually in terrible condition (with regulated prices and limited numbers of cabs, it made no sense to invest in the product because doing so didn’t help a business earn more). And you had the whole payment process thing at the end of the ride rather than just getting out of the car.
The United ClubSM Infinite Card is the best way for most United flyers to gain access to United’s clubs. It has a $525 annual fee and currently has an offer to earn 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That makes getting the card a no-brainer for many who can do so.
When American Airlines dropped most change fees in fall 2020 they also introduced free standby.
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.
Frequent Miler writes that he accepted complimentary Diamond status from IHG and Spirit Airlines Gold status. Those companies wanted to influence his coverage, but the perks helped him cover those experiences. He was offered free IHG One Rewards points and Milestone Rewards so he could better cover the new program as well.
I figured this was a good opportunity to re-iterate my own position.
There are customers that are pure price buyers. That’s the market Spirit Airlines and Frontier cater to. There are also coach passengers who will pay more for a better experience. And premium cabin customers are going to be paying substantially more to get a better product.
High cost airlines like American, United and Delta need to appeal to customers that will spend more money. They need to earn a revenue premium since they aren’t going to be the low-cost producers of seats.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards will never be the stuff dreams are made of. There are no first class upgrades (Southwest has no premium cabin). You can’t redeem your miles to the Maldives or Seychelles (no partner airline redemptions). But there are some simple changes that could supercharge the value of the Rapid Rewards program.
Hilton’s CEO wants guests to reuse their towels. He doesn’t think hotels should have to provide things better than what people have at home. He’s playing to owners, chasing fees, but diluting his brand – which will limit the ability to collect fees over time.
In a huge blow to the testing industry, a negative Covid-19 test will no longer be required to fly to the U.S. for departures starting Sunday at midnight. The rule made little sense, and contributed little, but created hassle and uncertainty for travelers.
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 »
