Marriott doesn’t have control over its hotels, and properties tend to run amok. So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise – yet still seems more egregious than most anything that I’ve seen – when a reader shared that the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino is adding two separate fees onto award redemptions,
Not only is a ‘Bonvoy Fee’ something that isn’t disclosed to guests during booking, it’s forbidden by the program’s terms and conditions.
A Detroit woman met a man while on vacation in Miami. He approached her while she was playing in the ocean and flirted with her. And, she says, he later gave her his phone number but she failed to save it. So in typical ‘missed connections’ fashion she took to social media to see if the internet could track him down.
And that’s exactly what the internet did. It’s a travel tale for life on the road in 2022.
China is afraid of foreigners, but they also wouldn’t give up the international prestige of hosting the Olympics – even an Olympics that barely showcases the country.
American Airlines, British Airways and Aer Lingus use the VeriFly app. You go through the app process for many international itineraries in order to complete online check-in. This service is free to travelers, it’s a benefit to the airline, but VeriFly in the past few weeks has introduced an ‘upsell’ which has no discernable benefit.
The young girl has been battling a rare soft tissue cancer for a year. She and her family flew Delta to Orlando. It was her first-ever flight. She got to visit the cockpit, had a celebration at her seat. And she was crowned at the gate. Now that she’s in remission she’ll probably be a loyal Delta customer for years to come.
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.
In the fictional book Up in the Air Great West Airlines counted all miles towards lifetime status and Ryan Bingham was on a quest for 1 million miles. He was being tracked by the airline along his quest and they celebrated his achievement when he reached it.
In the film version, George Clooney’s Bingham was an American Airlines flyer and on a quest for 10 million miles. Here he describes that when you hit 10 million “lifetime executive status, you get to meet the chief pilot Maynard Finch, and they put your name on the side of a plane.” Sadly none of that is true, but celebration moments do happen.
The U.K. has recognized that a travel testing requirement didn’t provide benefit during the pandemic. It makes little sense in the U.S. where the virus is spreading widely already, and where vaccine boosters are widely available. The specific testing rules in place make even less sense since they don’t universally catch infections. But rules tend to outlive their usefulness even as political narrative. When will U.S. rules change, then?
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.
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.
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 »
