Nagoya airport in Japan runs the Samurai Ninja Project to introduce the history of Central Japan to tourists. The airport‘s staff dressed up as ninjas for Ninja Day which is the 22nd day of the 2nd month because the Japanese word for two is ni (transliterated, natch) and ni ni ni is like Ninja. So it‘s sort of like how May 4th is Star Wars Day because ‘May the Fourth be with you‘. Continue reading Nagoya Declares Itself Ni

Back in February American Airilines went apoplectic over a deal to disproportionately increase United‘s gate count at Chicago O‘Hare. They said they would not sign a new lease under those conditions. The Chicago Deputy Mayor charged with handling O‘Hare expansion has now been... hired by United. Robert Rivkin was named United‘s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Continue reading United Hires Chicago Politicia

If you have the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card you might not even know it because you still think of it as the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card -- and your card still says SPG on it. One of the biggest criticisms of the new program is that the value of points earned via credit card is one third less than Starwood Amex cardmembers are accustomed to. They‘ve solved that through the rest of the year. Continue reading Exis

If you want to earn the most points for your spending -- beyond just earning a big signup bonus -- you need to pay attention to what you spend the most money on and which cards give you the best juice for that specific spending. If you drive a ton you want a card that maximizes gas spend. If you eat out a lot, there are cards that bonus restaurant spend. Since I travel a lot it‘s air, hotel, and dining. Some cards are great for multiple

These flights represent 5% of American‘s flights but the airline says they generate more than half of premium cabin revenue. They touch 80% of American‘s cargo. And "[n]early 50 percent of first and business passengers" on these flights are elites. Continue reading Here‘s How American is Working to Improve Reliability of the Flights They Care About Most...

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. Continue reading New York Hotel Rooms are Getting Robbed, and are American‘s Seat Back Screens Spying on You?...

Whether it‘s Timberline Steaks in Denver or Corona Beach House in Miami, or Capers in Portland there are numerous airports where you can eat for free with a Priority Pass card. To be sure in some places the 28 per person credit you get covers gratuity and in others it doesn‘t, but it‘s still an incredible value. On the whole the lounges that you can access via Priority Pass are fairly mediocre though there are exceptions. Howe

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. Continue reading Foolproof Trick to Prevent Lost Luggage Doesn‘t Work on United and Citi Customer Service To Get Worse?...

There‘s no quicker and easier way to earn a large amount of miles quickly than with a new credit card. And before the holidays is the perfect time to get one, because it‘s even easier than the rest of the year to meet the minimum spending required to earn signup bonuses. Every month I post what I find are the best signup bonus offers out there. Sevon of last month‘s offers are gone or changed, and new offers have arrived. So h

Basically all we know is that there will be a new loyalty program, probably mostly marketing changes but I believe some unspecified improvements too, and new partnerships that won‘t be super relevant to folks in the US. Over time we‘ll see them better integrate their hotel investments and their non-hotel investments through the new program. For now though the program announcement seems... premature. Continue reading Accor Announces N

Marriott‘s new program doesn‘t just require 100 nights a year to earn top tier elite status, it also requires 20,000 in spending. That‘s odd for a loyalty program with so many hotels in China and elsewhere that rates are super cheap. It‘s possible to stay nearly 300 nights with Marriott in a year and still not be a top tier elite. One man probably wasn‘t testing to see whether tips would count towards qualifying sp

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. Continue reading You Can Buy a UNESCO World Heritage Site and New Clues on What Happened to Amelia Earhart...

Ebates though now offers an option to earn American Express Membership Rewards instead of cash. And they have a credit card that earns an additional 3 points per dollar on shopping done through the portal. Continue reading New Best Card for Online Shopping and Finally Earn Amex Points for Buying Stuff Online...

So what happened? Presumably he was un-checked in or offloaded by the gate agent in error. This happens occasionally, most often during irregular operations when there may be multiple flights in a booking (backup options). A customer shows up for their return flight only to find they have no reservation. The airline says "you didn‘t take the flight" and the customer says, "then how did I get here?" Continue reading American Airlines Say

It‘s been nearly 30 years since the ‘real‘ Eastern flew, and it didn‘t have a good reputation even then -- for reliability, for service, or even for safety. So what is next for Eastern Airlines? They have applied to the Department of Transportation to start scheduled international air service from New York JFK> Continue reading Eastern Airlines Comeback Continues, Wants to Start Scheduled International Service From New Yo

Advice on how to get the best airfare deals has remained largely the same, here are the 8 best ways to save money on airfare and I don‘t think it alters much based on new research from the Airline Reporting Corporation and Expedia. However there are significant findings you should know about. Continue reading New Research: When It‘s Cheapest to Book Airline Tickets...

Virgin Atlantic flight VS8 from Los Angeles to London hit 801 miles per hour over Pennsylvania yesterday. A ground speed of 801 miles per hour (obtained only briefly, as the plane remained in the jet streak only a brief period of time) is faster than the speed of sound (767 miles per hour). However the 787 wasn‘t actually breaking the sound barrier as it was not moving 767 miles per hour faster than the surrounding air. Continue reading Vir

Virgin Atlantic flight VS8 from Los Angeles to London hit 801 miles per hour over Pennsylvania yesterday. A ground speed of 801 miles per hour (obtained only briefly, as the plane remained in the jet streak only a brief period of time) is faster than the speed of sound (767 miles per hour). However the 787 wasn‘t actually breaking the sound barrier as it was not moving 767 miles per hour faster than the surrounding air. Continue reading Vir

The saga of a man on a Paris - Los Angeles flight coming out of the coach restroom in his boxer shorts and spending the flight just letting it all hang out was chronicled on twitter yesterday. There are a couple of things that make this story even more bizarre. Somehow a ukulele is involved. And flight attendants refused to ask him to put clothes on. Even when he got cold he left his pants off, but put on a puffy jacket. Continue reading Man Fl

More premium services on offer are better and American Airlines just announced several. It can be better to buy LAX private terminal access via American, in conjunction with a premium flight, than to buy it direct. Whether helicopter transfers represent a deal is more questionable. Both offerings have been done by competitors over the past two years. The more innovative piece is monetizing access to their excellent Flagship lounge and dining p

In October I wrote that I expected Wyndham to abandon their one price for all hotel awards and move to a tiered award chart. Specifically four years ago they introduced 15,000 points per night at all hotels and when they introduced redemptions for timeshares and vacation rentals those were also priced at 15,000 points (per bedroom) per night. That‘s happening. They‘re also tweaking elite benefits and adding new earning and redemption

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. Continue reading Another Change to Marriott‘s Rules and Watch Out for Post-Purchase Upsells...

American‘s Next Top Model winner Nyle DiMarco claims United Airlines had a wheelchair meet him on arrival because he‘s deaf, as though that means he‘s unable to walk through the airport on his own. The man also won Dancing With the Stars. Oddly this keeps happening to DiMarco and he can‘t strictly speaking just blame United here. In December he made news when Delta did the same thing. Which suggests to me the airline isn&

I‘ve argued that the biggest threat to rewards credit cards is that interchange fees, the percentage of each transaction that the banks and payment networks take, will fall. However the opposite seems to be happening. TVisa, Mastercard, and Discover are set to raise interchange rates slightly this spring. Continue reading Credit Card Rewards Have a Bright Future as Visa, Mastercard and Discover Prepare to Raise Merchant Fees...