News and notes from around the interweb:
- Signatures on contracts date at least to The Talmud, but credit card networks are no longer requiring them. Why do so many merchants still make you sign then? Point of sale systems may not be updated, and especially places that involve tipping may choose to still insist on it.
- UberEATS drivers eating customers’ food
- Why is most travel writing so bad?
- In a worldwide exclusive I broke news that Hyatt would be acquiring Two Roads Hospitality, including Destination Hotels; Joie de Vivre; Alila; and Thompson Hotels giving Hyatt 85 more properties which skew higher end. That deal, combined with the SLH partnership, give Hyatt members access to a lot more nice hotels at which to spend their points. That wasn’t the full portfolio expecting that some properties wouldn’t come over.
Just like Hyatt has only managed to partner with 10% of the SLH hotels portfolio so far, the Two Roads deal is revised downward from expectation now that it’s closed.
Prior to closing the transaction, the base purchase price for the acquisition was revised to $405 million from $480 million, and the aggregate potential additional consideration from Hyatt was revised to $96 million from $120 million.
The revised consideration reflects the exclusion of certain properties from the transaction, including properties not operated under the Two Roads brands and properties that will continue to be managed or licensed directly by an affiliate of sellers.
- Credit card delinquencies, account closures, and application rejections are all up
- Double Miles & More miles on Lufthansa economy flights booked and flown by the end of the year (HT: Loyalty Lobby)
- United flight attendants told how they may celebrate this holiday season.
I am sorry to report @united flight attendants still may not wear "head adornments," such as antlers, this holiday season. They may, however, don a "conservative holiday scarf." Must be fun to be on the negotiating committee for this stuff. pic.twitter.com/pclcQEdvSw
— Brian Sumers (@BrianSumers) December 5, 2018
I read the “Why is most travel writing so bad?” article and have to ask, why is that article so pointless? LOL!
Most small merchants have their terminals programmed by their credit card merchant bank. If the bank does not remove the signature requirement it will stay.
As a small merchant you do nothing different than what the terminal asks for so as to be best protected from fraud claims and chargebacks.
It’s amusing here in Albania where you can use Apple Pay in many places that merchants still demand a signature for these transactions. Then again, I seem to have been the first person to use Apple Pay in a number of these places! We all found it amusing.
For several years I badgered my credit card company (Navy Federal Credit Union) to better provide for my credit card safety by adopting chip and pin as had much of the world. Finally they did and announced to all members that we no longer had to provide a signature when going abroad. Just enter secure pin and done. Everyone was happy.
But, last year all credit card companies again required us to use signature, not pin , on credit card transactions, except for unattended sale.
I am posting this from Helsinki again signing my name, again proving to the world that Americans are truly financially screwed up. And making credit card fraud again easy to perpetrate.