Senate Tax Bill Contains a Stealth Attack on Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar

people boarding from tarmac
Nov 16 2017

You might have thought that the crux of Senate tax reform legislation was whether to eliminate a slew of tax deductions while reducing rates on various taxpayers. But it’s also a Christmas tree of special interest items that can be achieved through the tax code.

Delta’s Senator, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, stuck a provision into the Senate tax reform bill that’s currently under consideration and it’s considered a stealthy under the radar attack on the Gulf airlines.

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Warren Buffett Lost Over $1 Billion on the Airlines, Basic Economy Passengers Have it Worse

Nov 16 2017

Warren Buffett recovered from his once upon a time investment in US Air debt long enough to invest in the airlines again. But his recent investment in major airlines, having lost over a billion dollars last quarter, is not at this point proof that they’re good investments, or validation that their managements are running good businesses.

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American Losing Another Mileage Partner: Gulf Air Exits April 30th

Nov 15 2017

Gulf Air was a reasonable way to connect via London, Paris, Frankfurt or Athens on through their Bahrain hub to various destinations in India and Pakistan. They also fly to places tough to get to on European carriers such as Iraq and Sudan.

Meanwhile American hasn’t been adding partners recently. Or benefits. There hasn’t been great news for AAdvantage members in awhile.

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Finally a Hyatt Promo! Register for Double Points But Don’t Inhale

hyatt room
Nov 15 2017

Hyatt went without promotions from December 2016 through March 2017. And they only ran one program-wide promotion in 2017, double points for April through June. There’s been no promo for all members and all stays since July 1.

It seemed like they’d go the full second half of the year without a promo even as other chains are leveraging their loyalty programs to put heads in beds. But Hyatt has surprised us.

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Huge Bill Payment Service Suspended by Paypal, Will Plastiq Step Up?

calculating money via paper and calculator
Nov 15 2017

TIO is the largest bill payment processor for telecommunications, wireless phone, cable and utility payments. They serve 16 million consumer accounts, and work not just with utility providers but they also serve as the backend for several products servicing unbanked customers.

They were acquired by Paypal in July. Paypal suspended the service at the end of last week citing security vulnerabilities they had discovered.

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