We were supposed to see improvements this fall. They put their boxed meals on trays to prepare for the return. And while pilots have started seeing hot meals, customers on domestic flights – other than premium cross country flights – have not.
But that, apparently, is about to finally change.
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.
One of the best tips in travel is to why yourself a second seat when you’re flying coach. Each of the major airlines has a procedure to let you do this, and it can be a great value when fares are cheap. Do it yourself first class, or at least it can be extra room at a value price (and you’re not getting a great meal if you were flying real first class anyway).
The process to do this is different with every airline, but oddly it’s not something U.S. airlines advertise. One airline, though, just made it much easier.
Crew on an Airbus flight over Georgia this past Monday caught video of what appears to be a UFO, “dark airspace was illuminated by an array of glowing lights.”
Several hotels in Marriott’s Autograph Collection now hit guests with an extra $4.99 per night ‘sustainability fee’ that isn’t included in the room rate. The fee isn’t described on the hotels’ websites, either.
This appears to be a fee to sustain the hotel owner’s revenue since they do not even appear to be pretending that tacking on a non-optional fee – drip pricing – somehow benefits the environment.
One sweet spot is that MGM Rewards grants Gold elite status to Hyatt Explorist and Globalist members. This now includes a waiver of resort fees, upgrade at check-in if available (view, high floor); dedicated line at restaurants; and complimentary valet parking.
However if you’ve gained your Gold status via Hyatt you will not receive the Gold level’s $100 tier achievement celebration dinner. And if you redeem Hyatt points for your stay you will not have your resort fee waived.
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’d bet a lot of members will run afoul of this without realizing it, especially since it does not appear that Marriott has any controls in place to prevent you from giving away room nights more than 5 times in a calendar year and they haven’t told members about this new rule.
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.
Hyatt and MGM have a partnership that dates back to 2013. They each offer members in the other program status matches – not one time matches, but rather status in one program ‘equals’ status in the other.
And the status year in each program ends at a different time. This creates an opportunity to still have status with one program, after your status has ended in the other, and to use that to ‘match back’ to regain status – in perpetuity, or as long as this tactic has continued to last (and it’s lasted for years).
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 »
