From Free Knives To Fitness Machines, Hotels Are Getting Creative To Attract Staff

by Gary Leff

hotel by beach
Jun 23 2021

The economy is recovering, states are opening up, and companies are looking for workers. But the number of people in the labor force – working or looking for work – hasn’t risen in a year. Unemployment numbers are down, but roughly the same number of people sitting out of the workforce early in the pandemic are still outside of it. That means it’s tough to find workers, whether you need people to clean Delta Skyclubs, push wheelchairs in airports, or take on any number of other roles.

Hotels are going to some interesting lengths to try to find new employees.

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Canada: Up To 150,000 Aeroplan Miles For New Credit Card, Bonuses For Current Cardmembers

by Gary Leff

Jun 23 2021

Aeroplan launched its new suite of credit cards in Canada back in November, and now through August 3, 2021 they’re running the richest initial bonus offers we’ve ever seen for their American Express co-brands, plus generous spend offers for existing customers.

These aren’t available to most Americans, but Chase will be issuing a U.S. Aeroplan Mastercard this year and the Aeroplan program promises “many additional promotions, partnerships, and feature announcements” this summer as well. So take it as a sign of aggressive cardmember acquisition and promotion, even if you can’t pick up 150,000 Aeroplan miles with a single credit card yourself.

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Luxury Short Haul Travel: Singapore Airlines Starts Offering Flights Within Europe

by Gary Leff

flight attendants posing
Jun 23 2021

By the end of next month Singapore Airlines will have restored service to all of the European destinations it plans to fly to. The Singapore flag carrier will serve 15 destinations, not planning to return to Stockholm or Dusseldorf and cancelling planned service to Brussels.

It’s adding a new flight, though, starting to serve travelers within Europe. The carrier will fly Singapore to Copenhagen, and then Copenhagen to Rome.

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American’s Pilot Scheduling System Seems To Be Making Flight Cancellations Worse

by Gary Leff

cockpit with pilot
Jun 22 2021

American Airlines has been cancelling hundreds of flights a day for several days. They don’t have enough pilots, especially Boeing 737 pilots, to operate the schedule they published.

However it appears that the system American Airlines uses to try to find pilots to pick up overtime and crew open trips may be standing in the way of getting some of its pilots to cover trips.

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The Reason Hyatt Became The Only Hotel Points Transfer Partner For New Program Bilt Rewards

by Gary Leff

Jun 22 2021

The new Bilt Rewards program lets members earn points through their rental apartment, and even earn points for paying rent to any landlord. It has a credit card, and points transfer 1:1 into a variety of loyalty currencies.

At first blush it seemed surprising to see Hyatt as the only hotel points transfer partner. It makes sense for Bilt, it’s the only hotel program where a 1:1 points transfer offers value to members. But we haven’t seen Hyatt offer that many partnerships. Why add Bilt?

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