ASIA

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Accor Announces New Loyalty Program “ALL”

Feb 21 2019

Basically all we know is that there will be a new loyalty program, probably mostly marketing changes but I believe some unspecified improvements too, and new partnerships that won’t be super relevant to folks in the US.

Over time we’ll see them better integrate their hotel investments and their non-hotel investments through the new program. For now though the program announcement seems… premature.

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American Airlines Five Star Adds Blade Helicopters and LAX Private Suite Experience, Now Sells Flagship Lounge/Dining

Feb 19 2019

More premium services on offer are better and American Airlines just announced several. It can be better to buy LAX private terminal access via American, in conjunction with a premium flight, than to buy it direct. Whether helicopter transfers represent a deal is more questionable. Both offerings have been done by competitors over the past two years.

The more innovative piece is monetizing access to their excellent Flagship lounge and dining products, which is a nice perk for those interested in paying the freight. The only downside here is increased usage.

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Marriott’s New Champagne Vending Machine and BYO Wine on Planes

Feb 11 2019

News and notes from around the interweb: Is it snobby to bring your own wine on planes? I think when Delta serves $4 Andre in business class the answer is clearly no. I love trying new wines when I’m flying Singapore (especially) but also Qantas and other carriers in first class. When the wines are mediocre or poorly-paired I just won’t just drink. It’s always a bad idea to drink booze that a flight attendant does not serve to you. My seat opponent on a Dallas – Austin flight was once written up for bringing a to-go cup from the Admirals Club with wine in it — and refusing to give it up when called out by a flight attendant. Her reasoning: she didn’t want to waste the company’s resources. The Emir of Kuwait’s holding…

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American Gets to Keep Its Authority to Fly to China — Without Actually Flying to China

china memorial
Feb 07 2019

There’s no Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and China. Instead a bilateral agreement lays out what route authorities can be doled out by respective governments. American Airlines dropped Chicago – Beijing and Chicago – Shanghai and Hawaiian Airlines dropped Honolulu – Beijing. American would like to keep their route authority from Chicago to China even while not using it. That would mean preventing any other U.S. airlines from adding China frequencies, which benefits American by avoiding competition for its Dallas and Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai service. So they asked the Department of Transportation to grant a ‘dormancy’ of their authority to keep the routes for a year without flying them. Normally they would lose the routes after 90 days. The odds that they’ll return to flying from Chicago to China are really,…

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British Tourist Arrested and Beaten for Wearing a Qatar Shirt to a Soccer Match in Abu Dhabi

picture with stairs around it in a hotel
Feb 05 2019

It’s incredible that Qatar was able to play, beat their geopolitical rivals Saudi Arabia and UAE, and that they had an actual fan in the stadium who dared to support them along the way. That man was punished.

I have to think that this will be enough of an international embarrassment that the UAE will have to back down (though they can’t un-beat the man). Nonetheless it’s a good reminder that when you travel the world you’re subject to the laws of wherever you’ve gone – even if you aren’t aware of what they are.

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