Marriott Rewards is testing offering rewards for food and beverage spend while not staying on-property as a guest.
This is as much about generating useful data about you as it is about rewards.
I’ve gotten value from ‘Thanks Again’ earning miles at brick and mortar retailers when I didn’t expect it. They’ve given me signup bonuses, and mileage-earning with them has counted towards larger partner bonus promotions. But I realized I didn’t actually understand their business model as they’ve moved from local dry cleaners and spas a decade ago to near total penetration across large US airports.
So I spoke with their CEO Marc Ellis, who explained a lot about the business that surprised me, and also shared that people are earning a lot more miles than I thought.
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.
“As the passengers were boarding, the traveller asked a steward ‘Are you a Muslim? We must liberate Palestine and eliminate infidels’”
The passenger was taken off the flight and never heard from again. “[A]ll passenger luggage” was re-screened as the incident was treated as a bomb threat. And they rounded up the usual suspects.
The TSA has failed to meaningfully detect dangerous items going through the checkpoint for years. Their 95% failure rate is hardly new, ten years ago it was a 91% failure rate.
That’s unacceptable. We don’t need — and couldn’t possibly have — perfect security. We just need to have reasonably good detection.
SecretFlying points to a roundtrip fare on Qatar Airways between Atlanta and Tehran for as little as $536.
The base fare on this itinerary is just $35.50 each way, the rest is all fuel surcharges and taxes. Interestingly, a roundtrip is at least $100 cheaper than a one-way to Iran. And it’s about half the price of a one-way to Doha. So there are interesting ‘throwaway’ opportunities here for someone wanting to travel just to the Mideast.
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.
You can book roundtrip travel between Chicago and Perth, Australia for just $463.
More expensive than $385 to Australia but still one of the best Australia fares we’ve ever seen.
TSA lines have become insufferably long. Airlines want you to lobby the government to spend more to relieve their problem.
When TSA does come up with good ideas they get demagogued ruthlessly.
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.
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 »
