Marriott’s top tier 100 night elite status is called Ambassador. The unique selling proposition is supposed to be a dedicated contact who takes care of all the member’s Marriott needs, ensuring a seamless experience.
Only they laid off these agents, and Ambassador members no longer get an Ambassador. Marriott is surveying how these top customers are managing under the new regime.
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.
Europe plans to open to vaccinated Americans this summer. Greece and Iceland have already done so, but we can expect France, Italy, Spain and others to follow suit.
And with little business travel yet, airlines are selling the front cabin at a real discount in many cases. But there’s an incredible deal right now on United Airlines partner and Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal which has business class roundtrip fares from several U.S. cities to several points in Europe starting at just $873 roundtrip.
We tend to look at the success story countries and extrapolate from them, why can’t the U.S. be like Australia? And of course there are reasons like Australia not having to worry about the virus coming in from abroad in as uncontrolled a fashion since the country is an island. But do travel restrictions inside a country, like we’ve seen in Australia where citizens couldn’t travel between states for much of the pandemic, usually work so well?
A new paper out of the University of Chicago finds that domestic travel bans may be counterproductive for controlling spread of Covid-19.
American Airlines invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a new headquarters, with their old facility bursting at the seams. They’ve since let go of 30% of management staff so don’t need as much space. And those that are left have mostly still working from home.
While they’re re-starting construction on unfinished parts of the new corporate campus, they’re bringing back people gradually, and recognize that some remote work makes sense into the future.
What if I told you there’s a way to earn an effective 6% back on rideshare, streaming services, and some of your restaurant spend – on a no annual fee card – and you’ve never heard of it?
That’s because if you came across the new Manchester United Credit Card from fintech startup Cardless you might have skipped right over it, but that would have been a mistake.
A delay of a little more than 5 hours caused a planeload full of passengers to be sent into 14 day mandatory hotel quarantine when they reached their destination.
Virgin Australia flight VA469 had departed from Perth, in Western Australia, enroute to Brisbane. But while the plane was in the air, the Australian state of Queensland where Brisbane is located closed its borders to incoming Perth traffic.
From now on when American Airlines takes your carry on bag at the gate and requires you to check it, you can expect to pay for the privilege – unless you’re entitled to free checked bags with a premium cabin ticket, AAdvantage elite status, or co-brand credit card.
Frequently customers bring more carry on bags than they’re allowed, or bags that are bigger than what’s permitted. Gate agents are supposed to insist that the passenger checks the bag. They used to do this for free, but according to a new American Airlines “Airport Excellence Advisory” agents are now supposed to collect a checked bag fee.
Multiple groups of American Airlines passengers brawled at the Miami airport on Sunday near gate D14, which many travelers will know as by the elevators up to the American Express Centurion lounge.
Perhaps the most fitting thing about all of this be that it all took place right in front of the Urban Decay store.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that because the U.S. is using vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency, the European Union will accept proof of vaccination to allow Americans to visit this summer, “because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.”
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 »
