News and notes from around the interweb:
- American Airlines executives playing Halloween dress up. Chairman and CEO Doug Parker went as Bruce Springsteen. And sang.
- JetBlue offering bonus points and free coffee New York – Boston
- Marriott layoffs of Starwood executives at Stamford, Connecticut headquarters. There are mid-level layoffs too that have been under-reported.
If the idea were to ‘combine the best of each company’ it wouldn’t be mostly Starwood execs, and creative execs, getting laid off. Marriott is great at pricing and managing hotels, Starwood is better at creative design and marketing. Bill Marriott, of course, explained the merger as looking for scale, to increase negotiating clout with online travel agencies and other partners and suppliers.
- Club Carlson is offering double points OR double elite nights through end of year
- Asiana is offering cheap buy ups for passengers to use their first class lounge in Seoul
- Via @RenesPoints the American Express Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas will be giving out gifts from ‘partner brands’ like Seaborn and Grey Goose November 3-20.
Maybe OMAAT and VFTW should merge to unlock “synergies” and you can proact to the banks and CC issuers reducing your affiliate marketing payments. Which would be the surving identify? You could even part ways with BoardingArea. You all have exit strategies I am sure, some executed years ago.