What Hilton Is Letting Hotels Get Away With During The Pandemic

by Gary Leff

hotel
Apr 07 2021

With the greatest drop in travel demand in history, hotels in many parts of the world have struggled mightily – although in the U.S. and some other regions business has been coming back – especially in popular leisure destinations that have been largely open during the pandemic like Florida and Cancun.

Hotel chains have relaxed the rules that their properties have to follow, limiting how much each has to spend on forward-looking investments and during each guest stay. Hilton recently updated its brand standard waivers, including outlining when some services have to return.

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ACLU Files Lawsuit Against The No Fly List After American Citizen Was Barred From Coming Home

by Gary Leff

tsa logo with text on top
Apr 07 2021

With the Biden administration looking to add ‘domestic extremists’ to the No Fly List. Democrats wanted to put Capitol Rioters on the list and President Obama wanted to ban anyone on the list from owning guns.

These efforts have had a lot of support from readers, but anyone who cares about civil liberties should be very, very concerned. And a new lawsuit hopes to expose some of these challenges.

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Earn Star Alliance Gold Status By Transferring Bank Points, Online Shopping

by Gary Leff

flight attendants posing
Apr 07 2021

Star Alliance carrier Singapore Airlines is letting members earn status credits for things other than flying through February 2022. In addition current Singapore elites earn double status credits for qualifying spend through KrisShop, KrisFlyer Spree and at Kris+ partners.

Current non-status members can earn silver or gold status without ever flying.

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The Complicated Process For American AAdvantage Elites To Get Extra Legroom Seats On Alaska Airlines

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines plane
Apr 06 2021

With Alaska Airlines joining the oneworld alliance and continuing to partner more closely with American Airlines, the two airlines have introduced reciprocal elite benefits – the most valuable of which are access for elites to extra legroom seats and upgrades.

As the partnership was being developed, American Airlines Senior Vice President Vasu Raja emphasized the need for a seamless customer experience between the two airlines so “that a customer of either Alaska or American Airlines would choose us over one of our competitors’ long haul services” as a result of upgrades, seat assignments, and other benefits. And yet….

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American Airlines Treats Alaska Airlines Elites Better Than Their Own With New International Upgrades

by Gary Leff

inside airliner
Apr 06 2021

With the new American Airlines-Alaska Airlines partnership, Alaska Airlines elites get free companion upgrades even though most American Airlines top tier elites do not.

And now Alaska Airlines elites are getting new international upgrades – for specific flights – that are bookable past when American’s Executive Platinum upgrades expire.

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Radisson Rewards Splitting Into Two Programs, Your Address Determines Which You’ll Be In

by Gary Leff

hotel lobby
Apr 06 2021

Radisson Hotels was purchased from Carlson by Chinese conglomerate collapsing HNA Group, and then sold to Jinjiang International.

Come June Radisson in the Americas (United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean) will be separate from Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. And they’re splitting the rewards program in two. This satisfies a U.S. government demand to separate U.S. customer data and firewall it off from its Chinese ownership.

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JetBlue Introduces Transatlantic Coach Product With Mix-and-Match Meals, Up To 2 Extra Inches Of Room

by Gary Leff

Apr 06 2021

I’d absolutely fly JetBlue’s Collins Meridian seat with 32 inch pitch over a 30″ slimline on some competitors. And I appreciate that they’re trying to signal a thoughtfulness in their approach to food by letting you choose which appetizer you do not want, while at the same time preparing only 3 appetizers in total to accompany 3 different entrees.

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Is This The Worst Argument Yet Against Vaccine Passports?

by Gary Leff

picture of american passport
Apr 06 2021

Vaccine passports can be a temporary tool that allows travel to re-open. Since several Covid-19 vaccines have been shown not just to protect the person that’s vaccinated, but also to prevent spread, they can help assure a country that visitors who have had a shot are less likely to infect their citizens with the virus.

There are complex arguments – both practical and ethical – around vaccine passports. But this celebrity doctor’s complaint about them seems ignorant of the facts..

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