The new Alila Marea Encinitas is a fantastic hotel and a great spot for Hyatt loyalists to redeem points. It’s available as a category 6 hotel for 25,000 points per night. And I was able to confirm an upgrade at booking into an ocean suite that runs of $2000 per night.
The property combines a nice spot on the ocean, great service, and fantastic food – all to go along with fantastic value through the World of Hyatt program.
What’s it like to fly domestically in Thailand right now, where your snacks and water are confiscated before departure (but flight attendants happily nibble away)? And what about connecting in Singapore, where business class passengers are treated to microwave mac and cheese and can’t use the restrooms?
The airline maintained that social distancing on board wasn’t necessary because of HEPA air filtration, downward air flow, cleaning regimens and masking. Yet they continued blocking some seats to maintain distance for flight attendants.
That policy ended, too, on May 1.
An interesting story American Airlines upgrade story – compounded by terrible customer service – tells me it’s worth reminding that American Airlines does not offer any way to upgrade to premium economy before the day of travel and that no American Airlines upgrade instrument will cover the cost of a premium economy upgrade.
This is actually a good thing because it means that all advance upgrades, and upgrades paid for with a certificate, still skip over the premium economy cabin.
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.
One of the more frustrating programs to deal with by phone is Avianca LifeMiles. Fortunately I rarely have to speak to them. However David writes about his experience. He spent seven and a half hours on hold trying to cancel and redeposit an award ticket before giving up.
There are several ways to deal with long airline hold times.
It wasn’t until after TWA flight 800 that the U.S. government began requiring passengers to show ID. President Clinton wanted to be able to announce something to look like he was doing something after the event, since initially there was speculation that the explosion was terrorist-related rather than an accident.
Airlines have wanted customers to show ID for a long time because they don’t want their tickets to be transferable.
American Airlines gate agent Matt in San Diego is a real bad apple. He made the start of my trip miserable, and he seemingly did it because he made a mistake, didn’t want to admit it, and made himself feel better by threatening me.
This is a story of how an American Airlines gate agent got the better of me.
A face mask brawl broke out at the Miami airport just a week after a fight broke out at Miami’s gate D14 over the last seats available to standby passengers on an American Airlines flight to Chicago. In other words, just another day at the Miami airport.
Florida. Masks. Trapped inside a metal tube. And a disproportionate number of first time leisure travelers. All passengers are Spirit Airlines passengers now.
When I wrote about travel agencies promoting US tour packages to get vaccinated I assumed this was a marginal play, that a few people might be doing it.
However South American carrier and Delta partner LATAM reports this is what’s filling their planes to the U.S. right now.
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 »
