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.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker calls British Airways a ‘two out of ten low cost carrier.’
This isn’t mere trash talking by a rival, Al Baker’s Qatar Airways owns a 25% stake in British Airways parent company IAG and is the carrier’s largest owner – so it’s an admission against interests.
There’s been a lot written about vaccine tourism but did you know that Alaska is planning to offer vaccination for tourists on arrival at the airport starting June 1?
There are (6) key takeaways about how this may help both Alaska – and the world.
The quality of testing varies tremendously. Anyone who tests positive can just keep keep trying, using tests with low specificity. This reader took five tests until he finally got a negative one. It’s like the California emissions testing shop that used to pass every car with a $35 re-testing fee. The tech would stick the emissions probe in the tailpipe of his own car, every time.
Fifty six years ago, when he was 20 years old, Brian Robson decided to ship himself from Australia to London as cargo. So he got two friends to help nail him into a shipping crate. He made it as far as Los Angeles and lived, and was given a free trip onward to London as a passenger.
Thailand’s cabinet approved a plan to re-open Phuket to tourism July 1, with a path to then re-open Chiang Mai, Krabi, Pattaya, Phang Na, and Koh Samui October 1.
I wrote, though, that you should wait to book travel unless you wanted to quarantine because it seemed likely re-opening would be delayed. Now, just two weeks after the plan to re-open was approved, it’s under consideration for (very likely) delay.
Just a couple of weeks ago Marriott rolled out a credit card in South Korea. It was interesting for its hotel breakfast benefit and easier earning of Bonvoy Platinum status through card spend than what’s offered to U.S. customers.
Now Marriott has announced two cobrand credit cards for members in Mexico. They’re issued by Banorte which also offers the United Airlines co-brand South of the Border.
As American Airlines removes the very last of its seat back video screens on Boeing 737 aircraft United Airlines has shared internally that it will go in the opposite direction.
United was already adding seat back video screens to new Boeing 737s and now will retrofit older aircraft so that passengers have screens at their seats, according to an internal video shared with employees.
The Maldives has lifted testing requirements for vaccinated travelers, and is preparing to offer ‘vaccine on arrival’ in a bid to boost tourism. Most of the world is far behind Israel, the U.S. and U.K. in vaccination, so this may become an attractive reason to visit from many parts of the world.
Marketing is all about knowing who your customers are, and figuring out how to find more people like that. It’s why it matters that marketing staff understand your customer base, and not just have models predicting the characteristics describing who the median customer is. Especially at the high-end, high-touch, send something… a little more personalized. Indeed, maybe a personalized welcome note to someone forking over $10,000 or more up front for a credit card?
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 »
