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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.
U.S. tipping culture is insane, it’s gotten out of control and what’s worse is that it’s getting exported to the rest of the world. Workers should be paid by their employer, not by an uncomfortable system where customers are supposed to pay extra – on top of posted charges – paying some amorphous amount meant to supplement an employee’s wages.
Some people believe that the scheme is meant to encourage better service, to align incentives, because apparently companies are bad at managing their workers, creating a customer-focused culture, or providing the incentives needed to deliver a quality experience.
Back in July, when Etihad loaded the return of their Airbus A380 to the London – Abu Dhabi route, there was wide open award space for First Apartment award seats. That seemed like a great reason to put together an award trip with my wife and daughter.
We flew British Airways business class to London, Etihad A380 first class to Abu Dhabi and back, and stayed on points in suites at the Park Hyatts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and at the Hyatt Regency The Churchill in London.
For Rent Day, the first of each month, Bilt Rewards offers regular promotions like double points and transfer bonuses to its travel partners. For the upcoming month Rent Day offers start early to coincide with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And they have (7) offers overall.
Allegations have surfaced against the private security force at the Marriott Renaissance Center, originally founded by General Motors, involving over a dozen years of racially motivated abuse and violence against African American guests and visitors. Incidents include a severe beating resulting in a brain injury to guest Demarko Brown, the detainment and humiliation of an African American woman, and other cases of harassment and excessive force, raising serious concerns about racial discrimination and safety at the facility.
The best value from distance-based charts often comes from maxing out distance, for instance flying West Coast – Tokyo to stay within a distance band and avoid going over… but also sometimes by booking two awards to get the pricing of two shorter distance bands rather than the combined higher-distance band. I’d like to explain this a little bit more.
English translations by foreign airlines can turn unfortunate, as this photo of a China Eastern business class menu shows. The airline is offering “imported dog food with okra” as a business class appetizer selection.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has announced new award charts to go live in March that are based on distance and now cover all of their partners. Some awards get more expensive, others less expensive, but overall the changes aren’t nearly as significant as I would expect for such a revamp – while moving to clear, consistent pricing across all of their partner airlines which has been a problem in the past. They’re giving us far more notice than usual. And many of their best non-stop awards become cheaper with this change.
Singapore Airlines is offering business class award space between New York JFK and Frankfurt over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and then most days in 2024 through end of the schedule.
In the battle for limited takeoff and landing slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, U.S. airlines like Delta, American, and United vied for positions, with Delta receiving the most slots despite not having a Japanese airline partner. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) now faces decisions on slot reallocations, as Delta relinquishes its Portland-Tokyo route and other airlines propose routes that overlap with their joint venture partners, raising questions about competition and consumer benefit.
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 »
