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.
Someone’s got the idea of luring guests into rooms where they can be watched with the chance that their stay will be free. They think they can generate room revenue and sell access to the feed of the rooms. Could this be the next big thing?
Etihad fired their CEO who pioneered their premium strategy (indeed James Hogan brought the concept of an onboard chef over from his time at british midland). They’ve lost billions mostly because of failed investments in other airlines like Alitalia and air berlin.
In response they’ve cut their business and first class car service outside the U.S. and they’re monetizing access to their lounges. They’ve even closed their spa at London Heathrow and they’ve announced plans to devalue their frequent flyer program.
Delta has waived pet in cabin fees for passengers traveling in and out of Florida, the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Virgin Islands and Cuba as part of their Hurricane Irma waivers.
It broke my heart to see pets being rescued in Houston — pets that had been left behind when their owners evacuated. I can’t imagine doing that, one person I saw interviewed on television about leaving their dog said they ‘didn’t think they’d be gone that long.’
Citibank is running a 25% bonus on ThankYou Rewards transfers to JetBlue through October 25, 2017.
And of course JetBlue is unique among Citi partners in that it’s even a transfer partner for the ThankYou Preferred card (normally 1000 ThankYou points to 500 JetBlue TrueBlue points, with this promo yielding 625 points).
United Airlines just announced Houston – Sydney service operated by a Boeing 787-9 starting January 18. This will be United’s second longest route after Los Angeles – Singapore which launches in October.
Last month I wrote about 30 Air India pilots testing positive in preflight alcohol tests over 3 years. That seemed like a lot.
I was surprised to learn that 132 pilots and 434 crew members have “regularly been ‘evading’” mandatory alcohol tests.
Marriott’s end of year promo is out. It’s called MegaBonus, because that seems to be the only promotion name Marriott can regularly remember. However it’s “the good kind” of MegaBonus, stay twice and earn a free night.
People have been complaining about expensive airfares to fly out of Florida. With everyone leaving because of the hurricane, there are few seats left. Last seats are generally priced at full fare. This isn’t airlines ‘raising prices because of the hurricane’ this is the standard way they sell tickets faced with unusually high demand.
Dr. David Dao was dragged off of a United Express flight from Chicago to Louisville in April by Chicago airport police and bloodied — setting off a worldwide media storm and leading to changes in how US airlines handle overbooked flights.
We’re learning today that the Department of Transportation didn’t take any action following the incident. The government found that “an enforcement action against United wasn’t warranted.”
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 »
