Happy Sunday to all of our travel friends, both near and far! Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.
- The labor strike between American Airlines and the mechanics union has reached the point where it’s affecting passengers. Ben from One Mile at a Time had personal experience of this when his flight was delayed, cleared and then canceled again because of “mechanical issues.” Wherever you stand on the issue of who’s right in this dispute, I’m personally glad I don’t have any flights booked on American this summer
- The CEO of Hilton Hotels opened up a can of worms when he said that he didn’t tip housekeeping. He quickly “clarified” his comments to say he doesn’t tip when staying in Hilton Hotels for business stays but the damage was done. Matthew from Live and Let’s Fly explains the dilemma that the tipping culture of the U.S. causes when companies talk about employees who work in positions dependent on tips for them to make a livable wage. By the way, we do tip Housekeeping when staying in U.S. hotels. This is the guide we use to help us determine who and how much to tip.
- I love going to concerts. In fact, I went to three shows this past weekend. I was very interested in this article from Tim on Take Me to the Points about his hack to score discounted concert tickets. I was almost going to give this plan a try until a found a friend on Facebook who had an extra ticket for the show I wanted to see (and I got a free ride to the show as part of the deal). And yes, I did pay for 7th-row tickets for the Hootie and the Blowfish concert. I’d do it again!
- Gary from View From the Wing shared a story about a group of fifth-graders who were set to fly from Oklahoma City to Richmond, VA until American Airlines canceled their flight and only offered to refund their ticket price. Delta agents at the airport heard of the problem and in a moment of corporate “we’re better than you,” Delta stepped in and flew the group direct to Richmond. No doubt this was a money loser for Delta but it shows how they are willing to see the bigger picture and having a group of kids stranded at an airport is not good for PR. However, saving a group of kids from that fate is great for your company’s PR.
- Airlines are still having to adjust to the grounding of the 737 MAX and no airline is harder hit than Southwest. The longer the plane cannot fly, the more Southwest needs to keep adjusting its schedules to adjust for the decreased capacity. Deals We Like writes about the newest changes to Southwest schedule due to the 737 MAX’s problems.
- We are not fans of hotels charging resort fees. How and why hotels charge them is pretty despicable and, in fact, we’ll actively avoid hotels that charge these fees. While resort fees are seen as 100% unpopular, Ed from Pizza in Motion writes about a hotel group representative who disagrees and says people, on the whole, find value in paying these
illegalfees. - With little fanfare, Chase launched their entry level Marriott Bonvoy credit card this week, the Bonvoy Bold. Greg from Frequent Miler asks if the card is really good for anyone?
- While many high-end hotels buy beachfront property, the actual beach is often considered public land and hotels cannot restrict beach access. Loyalty Lobby writes about how the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay California was fined 1.6 million dollars for its attempts to restrict access to the public beach. Apparently, this is the third time the resort has been fined for this practice and the state of California wanted to make a statement with the fine this time around.
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