Hilton has signed a deal for a new property in the Maldives which is expected to open in 2021, which means that hopefully it will open next year.
The Hilton Maldives Amingiri will be just a 15 minute speedboat ride rom the Male airport, located on ‘Amingiri Island’ within the Male Atoll, and feature 109 villas each with a private pool.
On Friday just after 1 p.m. a flight instructor and their student in a Cessna 172 aircraft experienced a failure of their single engine over I-75 in Broward County, Florida. They couldn’t reach air traffic control on the radio, but a commercial pilot who heard their calls talked them down onto the freeway 12 miles west of U.S 27.
American’s ever-excellent Chief Information Officer (and former AAdvantage head) Maya Leibman announced to employees today that the airline will be replacing current mobile devices for all frontline employees as well as line maintenance workers with new Apple mobile devices.
The test of these devices started today with agents at Washington National airport (the airport seems to be where a lot of new processes get tested). Maintenance is already getting new iPads, a priority because they previously carried multiple devices to deal with different aircraft. Pilots and flight attendants will take longer to see the upgrades.
The Emirates credit card in the U.S. has a limited time bonus to earn up to 60,000 miles, and the Emirates cards let you spend towards elite status through end of year.
A fintech in Australia is offering up to 50,000 Qantas points for a personal loan with no prepayment penalty. They promise lower rates than competitors and some consumers won’t even face any fees.
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.
Atlanta’s airport has selected American Express to build a new Centurion lounge over rival bids from Airport Dimensions (Collinson, which owns Priority Pass and The Club lounges) and Plaza Premium group. The Atlanta city council’s finance committee is expected to approve the 10 year lease with two 5 year renewal options today.
A JetBlue flight attendant confronted a passenger in coach and confiscated their eye mask because they weren’t flying business class – and JetBlue eye masks are for business class customers only.
The passenger asked about an eye mask when they boarded, and they were told no – there’s only one amenity kit boarded for each passenger in business class. A woman seated up front offered hers to the man. JetBlue gave it to her – and she gave it to him. But a member of the cabin crew would have none of it. And there’s video of Eye Mask Karen policing the transaction.
The European Union is recommending that borders be open to Americans, and to residents of several other countries, based on reduction in Covid-19 prevalence in these places. This is separate from the plan to re-open to vaccinated Americans, who – once this change is implemented in the next few days – will be able to visit and move within Schengen zone countries without quarantine. These guidelines – which also now apply to visitors from Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Lebanon, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong – would allow tourists with a negative Covid-19 test regardless of vaccination status. The ban on Americans will be lifted Europe-wide and it’s certainly time to lift restrictions for traveling to the U.S. as well. The U.S. 14 day moving average of cases per 100,000 has moved below 75 and so…
JetBlue was born at New York JFK, with slots gifted like so much manna from heaven by Senator Chuck Schumer. But JetBlue no longer drinks from the New York Kool-Aid, they’ve talked about moving down to Florida and they’ve built up flights at Newark.
Schedule data from Cirium Diio Mi shows that JetBlue is operating 1685 flights to 29 destinations from Newark this month. However they don’t have the infrastructure at Newark to support their current ambitions.
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 »
