Upgraded: Hotels’ loyalty programs, thanks to their competitors
The tendency of airlines ticking off their elite flyers is a well-worn theme here. But how about the hotels? Jane Levere argues in the NYT that hotels have been raising the perks instead of cutting back. (I’m not sure I agree; see, for example, the reclassification of hotels into redemption tiers. But, granted, it’s not nearly as bad as the airlines’ decimation of benefits.) So why the difference? Competition! With more hotels (and more hotel brands — 39 new brands in the last 4 years alone) the competition is still alive and well. Airlines, on the other hand, are folding, merging, or parking aircraft, to reduce competition.
Upgraded: Candidates’ senses of humor and irony
Oh, irony! Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin checked into the Omni Berkshire under the name of her doppelganger, “Tina.” Tina Fey is smiling somewhere. And proving that you have no privacy in hotels, her room service order — diet soda and Atkins bars — is now public knowledge.
Downgraded: Inflight entertainment stability
Apparently, it’s pretty easy to crash the inflight entertainment systems. This guy has even explained how he did it (two years ago? on which airline? jetBlue?). Just wonderful. Thankfully, the cockpit avionics aren’t connected to the seats…
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