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.
Tthe Hyatt Place Chicago has stopped adding 3.5% surcharges to guest folios for an ‘energy surcharge’.
A Hyatt spokesperson explained, “As soon as we were made aware of this situation, Hyatt worked with the hotel’s owners to look into the matter, and at this time, the hotel has removed this fee.”
The beloved Biscoff cookies are one of the best things about flying, at least in coach. Traditionally they come two cookies to a package. Right now, though, some American Airlines flights are getting packages with just one cookie. And the cookie itself is smaller, too.
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.
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?
There’s a new rewards program that everyone who rents where they live should join. You get free points for paying rent. They have a no annual free credit card that gives you points (double points, even) for rent payments. And this program’s points transfer to airline miles and hotel points as well. That’s just the start.
On Sunday – Fathers Days – a woman gave birth to a baby girl inside a restroom near Miami airport’s gate D43 after getting off of an American Airlines flight from Chicago.
The mother, traveling with her aunt, gave birth to the baby at 10:30 a.m. The Miami airport carries the 3 letter code MIA, and uses it in its branding. The mother decided to name the girl Mia, which the airport says they’re “honored” by.
U.S. airlines, represented by their lobbying group Airlines For America, have jointed the biggest airline unions in calling for the Department of Justice to prosecute passengers who cause flight disturbances.
Notably though 2300 of the 3000 reports of unruly behavior the FAA has received this year have been related to masks. Isn’t it striking that the airlines and unions don’t recognize that three quarters of the incidents, then, could be eliminated by lifting the mask mandate – that no longer makes any sense in any case?
American Airlines cancelled 3% of its flights on Sunday, and about 2% already today. Cancellations appear to continue, and I’d guess will last through the end of the month until we hit the airline’s planned 1% pulldown of capacity for the first half of July.
If you’re flying a Boeing 737 especially this hits you hardest, since that’s the fleet type that’s been hardest hit by pilot shortages.
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 »
