Following the temporary closure at DFW, now the American Express Centurion Lounge at Miami International Airport will be closing for at least two weeks in January 2019.
The exact date hasn’t been published on the Amex website yet but apparently the reason for the closure is once again quoted as “upgrading and expansion”.
LVMH, French luxury good company, made an announcement on early Friday that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire Belmond for $2.6 billion.
Several hotel companies had been rumored to be among the bidders including Hyatt and Hilton but they lost to the company behind brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon and Dior
New York Times was reporting earlier this week that methods behind the Marriott hack were same as used by the Chinese government hackers that penetrated number of US institutions earlier this decade.
The information gathered were likely then used mainly for espionage purposes rather than trying to use the compromised credit cards or points.
Choice Privileges has launched a campaign to buy points at 20% discount through December 28, 2018, although there can be better personalized offers.
Members can buy up to 50,000 points every calendar year and you must buy a minimum of 5,000 points to get the discount.
Hilton Honors changed the back-end platform that is used to power their loyalty program. The goal was to fasten the stay and point postings to member accounts and being able to launch promotions quicker.
Something appears to have gone terribly wrong with this upgrade, however (not to the extend with the Marriott/SPG mess). It is now six weeks since the end of October switchover and Hilton Honors continues to struggle with number of issues.
Qatar Airways seems to have relaunched their Easy Deals awards that they used to have monthly for several years.
The airline has number of destinations at 30%, 40% and 50% off both in economy and business class for February 1 – March 31, 2019-travel that needs to be booked by December 31.
Le Club AccorHotels runs Private Sales in Europe, Australasia, Middle East, South America and Asia weekly unless there is a global Super or Private Sale going on.
Le Club AccorHotels revamped these Private Sale pages months ago and content is gone from some while still available on others.
French air traffic controllers are set to strike starting at 8PM on Thursday December 13 and ending at 7AM on Saturday December 15, 2018.
There will be widespread disruptions on flights to/from France and those using the French air space. Airlines will likely upgauge and consolidate flights that will operate and there will be last minute delays and cancellations.
On Monday, we launched the last giveaway of 2018! This time the winner will receive $500 gift card for Accor, Hilton, IHG or Marriott/SPG.
The giveaway is about to end and you must enter by 11:59PM EST on Friday (December 14, 2018) and we will announce the winner on Sunday.
Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to Turkish Airlines and their business class excursion round trip fares between Toronto and Dubai.
Remember that you can always email me or send me a message via Facebook or Twitter with your airfare-related findings or questions.
Yesterday, we wrote (access here) about the leaked changes to the IHG Rewards Club InterContinental Ambassador & Royal Ambassador programs that are expected to take place in early 2019.
On the piece I noted that I had tried to get a statement from the IHG about the amended program (several times) but nothing was confirmed or denied. We have now, however, received a note from the spokesperson.
Malaysia Airlines has made a change in their product descriptions and decided to get rid of First Class on their Airbus A350 aircraft they just had delivered, re-branding the cabin as Business Suite.
The services will apparently stay exactly the same but the description “First Class” has been scrapped from the product descriptions which could have implications for oneWorld frequent fliers.
Jin Jiang acquired HNA’s share of Radisson Hotels earlier this year and became part owner also of Sweden based Radisson Hospitality (previously known as Carlson Rezidor).
The Chinese company currently owns more than 50% of Radisson Hospitality and is required by the Swedish takeover act to lower their ownership to 30% or make a public tender for rest. The company decided to make an offer for the shares that they don’t own yet.
British Airways has been sending out emails to select Executive Club members about relaxed lounge access rules for travel between December 14 – January 6, 2019.
As a Gold Guest List member, I could guest up to five people traveling with me on the same flight to any of the BA’s “luxurious” departure lounges.
