News and notes from around the interweb:

• Wide-ranging interview with the CEO of the parent of British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus He thinks the big Gulf airlines compete fairly. He faces tough competition from Norwegian but thinks that is fair too. He sees customers much more willing to fly long haul uncomfortably than they used to. And he sees more airline consolidation coming in Europe.

• As of this past Friday United Clubs no longer let club members reserve conference rooms in advance. They’re now first come, first served. (HT: Rob F.)

  As of November 18, 2016, United Club conference rooms can no longer be reserved in advance due to decreasing demand and a limited number of conference rooms in our network.

  Lifetime club members used to get 4 hours per month free. American still rents conference rooms in advance. Delta lets club members reserve online. Although I agree that conference rooms are relatively underutilized and when rethinking club designs they might not climb to the top of the priorities list.

  

• T-mobile is offering free gogo inflight internet for an hour for everyone using a smartphone whether you’re a T-mobile customer or not, through Saturday. (HT: One Mile at a Time) I imagine internet sales are pretty light when business travel dries up over the holidays, so selling access for sponsorship works out to be a pretty good deal. This won’t help anyone traveling on an airline that doesn’t use Gogo of course.

  

• Does a million miles flown over 8 years even make President Obama a frequent flyer? Yes, unless he spread those miles out exactly evenly and didn’t stray to another carrier for a single flight it wouldn’t have even hit Delta Diamond each year. (HT: Rapid Travel Chai)

  On the other hand, flying Air Force One he always went direct whereas flying commercial he’d have had more miles flying commercial. And the million miles isn’t an exact measure of his travels. Plus his employer’s spend for his travels would have given him top tier with any airline based on revenue. Oh, and, he’s President so he needn’t worry about frequent flyer status…

• 40% bonus transferring Diners Club points to British Airways. A dozen years ago there used to be an annual 100% transfer bonus from Diners to BA, year in and year out. But that was before they killed the Diners Club card.

• It’s ironic that under the new World of Hyatt program they’re eliminating check-in amenities. After 30 nights you become an explorateur and don’t get a cheese plate delivered to your room.