Tag Archives for upgrade.
A Bonvoy Ambassador elite member reports being offered a room upgrade at a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel in Mexico under the condition of signing a non-disclosure agreement, highlighting a series of controversial practices and policies by Marriott in the region.
Over the holidays I saw reports of American Airlines selling upgrades from Los Angeles to Sydney (from coach to business class) for $350 and I thought that this must be a mistake. Lucky passenger!
However there are several data points of American Airlines selling long haul business class upgrades at this price.
Most of our communication is nonverbal. It’s not just what we say, or even how we say it, but how we look and what we project while saying it.
There are some people who swear by red ties for men, conveying passion, dominance, authority, and strength. They’re “power ties.” But does wearing red improve your travel game? Will it help you breeze through security, get an upgrade, and get dates?
A flight from Beijing to Chengdu was delayed by three hours as a passenger demanded an upgrade. He’d purchased two business class seats and one in economy for his family, and believed he was entitled to a free upgrade once on board.
In the end dressing nicely and whispering revenue management won’t get you first class, and neither will pretending to be a cocktail even though cocktails are free in first class.
Hyatt is rolling out confirmation of suite upgrades online. This is a big advance in convenience for using these suite upgrade awards. I always worry that inventory will disappear during the time it takes to confirm a suite. I also worry that the manual process won’t be completed correctly.
The self-upgrading woman was black. The passenger American made her give up her seat in front of the (Air?)bus was black. The passenger being moved up was white. She was asked to go to what she says was “the back of the bus” to her assigned 14A. She objected and she was invited to get off the plane and onto the jet bridge to discuss her concerns.
Saturday night’s EVA Air flight BR68 from London Heathrow to Bangkok diverted to Vienna after a woman self-upgraded from economy to premium economy and ‘refused to pay for the upgrade’ while her booze-influenced partner wouldn’t stop smoking and became abusive to crew. He was tackled and taped to his seat.
The flight diverted, and they were taken off. The woman threw £5,000 (US$6,000) at the man. It blew off in the wind.
That time between 24 hours in advance of departure – when check-in opens – and when the flight goes under airport control has just seen some changes to how upgrades work on the back end. An internal memo from American Airlines lays it out, and I reproduce it below.
Did you know that Hilton specifically says that 44% of its brands do not have to upgrade elite members at all?
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 »
