Hyatt’s New Program: the Upgrades, the Downgrades

On February 28, 2017, at the stroke of midnight, Hyatt’s current loyalty program, Gold Passport, will be terminated. That’s right: terminated. As in, the end. Kaput. The program’s 20 million members needn’t worry that their points will be lost, however. Gold Passport will simply be replaced by a new program, World of Hyatt, on March…

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Up to 50,000 Bonus Miles for Flights to Australia, New Zealand

Planning a visit to the South Pacific? These bonuses for American flights can make the trip a more lucrative one. Offer Details American AAdvantage members can earn up to 50,000 bonus miles for flights between the U.S. and Australia or New Zealand, booked by December 31 and completed between February 1, 2017, and May 31,…

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Kids-Free Seating on U.S. Airlines: Yay or Nay?

Love ’em or hate ’em, most travelers would agree that kids on a plane can make for a stressful flight experience. They scream. They cry. They kick the seatbacks. They do what kids normally do. Which, in the tight confines of a commercial jet, can be downright torturous to those around them. Reactions to such…

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Is the End of Jet Lag in Sight?

If the results of a new study of mice by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the University of Bristol in England prove to be extendable to humans, the end of jet lag may be in sight. Working with the theory that oxygen plays a key role in keeping mammals’ circadian…

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What You Get for 2.5 Million Delta Frequent Flyer Miles

Want an upgrade from the commercial air-travel experience? That’s an easy one: Of course you do. We all do. Got more Delta frequent-flyer miles than the Secretary of State of a first-world nation? Now we’ve limited our universe of prospects to the travel world’s 1 Percenters. The few. The brave. The perpetually jet-lagged. But they…

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Devaluation Alert: Delta Raises Award Prices 39%

Yesterday, Delta’s lowest-priced business-class award ticket for travel between the U.S. and India was 70,000 miles each way. Today, it’s 97,500 miles. That’s an increase of 39 percent. Talk about inflation! And, adding insult to injury, the price increase was made with no notice to SkyMiles members. This is hardly the first unannounced award-price increase…

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Will New York Be the Death of Airbnb?

If New York has its way, the popular accommodations-sharing company Airbnb will be toast. Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law that would outlaw the bulk of Airbnb bookings, levying fines between $1,000 and $7,500 on anyone who advertised for rent most apartments for fewer than 30 days. New York is Airbnb’s…

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Is Donald Trump Killing Trump Hotels?

There’s an intriguing theory, fully articulated by the liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, circulating on the Internet that Donald Trump has no real interest in winning the race for President. Rather, the theory goes, Trump’s true goal is to enhance his personal brand, in the process driving more business to his current portfolio of enterprises and…

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Win This: 1 Million MileagePlus Frequent-Flyer Miles

Enter the Travelzoo “Win a Million Miles” sweepstakes by November 30, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: 1 million United MileagePlus frequent-flyer miles, plus a check for $5,000 to offset the tax liability associated with the prize. There are two ways to enter: 1) by booking a hotel stay with Travelzoo, or…

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Unbundled Fares Coming to American, United in Early 2017

Bare fares—cheap coach fares with few perks and plenty of restrictions—are a thing. The unbundled fares, as they’re also called, are what have made Spirit, Frontier, and other ultra-low-cost carriers the darlings of the most price-sensitive customers, and of Wall Street. And the legacy carriers can’t afford not to compete for those flyers. When American…

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