Today we’ve got all the Dunkin’ donuts ranked, we’ll talk about Alaska, Hawaiian (and others) experiencing cyber attacks, Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen’s somewhat ungraceful exit from Hyatt, and AI causing problems for Hertz renters.
Dunkin’ Donuts Donut Ranking Including Limited & Special Editions
Many-a-strange opportunity has appeared in this hobby, born out of some marketing meeting we’d all love to be a fly on the wall for. For example, this JetBlue plane all decked out in Dunkin’ branding which gives you the opportunity to get both 3 months of JetBlue Mosaic 1 status and 3 months of Dunkin’ Boosted status. (No mismatch in value there…) As you can read about here, Nick decided to partake in this zany Dunkin’/JetBlue experience to grab Mosiac 1 status, which will hopefully improve another experience down the road (with the JetBlue 25 for 25 promotion). Nick is clearly in his “say yes” era.
Nick has made it no secret though that he actually dislikes Dunkin’, centering most of his gripes around their apparently awful coffee. He already has a hard time knowing how to use the $7 a month Dunkin’ credit from his American Express® Gold Card for example, so it’s unlikely he’ll get much out of the Dunkin’ Boosted status.
Before you let yourself become too influenced by the opinions of this man, remember, he also dislikes Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, marshmallows…and happiness probably. (I joke, I joke). Nick may be a lost cause as far as good taste is concerned, but for the rest of you wondering how to take advantage of your Dunkin’ Boosted status (or your $7 credit), Victor’s Biscuits just updated their ranked list of all Dunkin’ donut types.
Nick if you’re reading this…are you sure there isn’t a donut on that list that piques your interest? (Not the S’mores one I guess on account of the marshmallows…) How about the Brownie Batter donut? Or the Coconut Raspberry Jelly Stick?
Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines IT Systems Hacked
Both Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines had a warning on their website last week about a cybersecurity hack. Potentially related, (though not certainly), last week WestJet and Qantas also experienced cyber attacks of one kind or another, and over the weekend the FBI made a statement warning that a hacker group called “Scattered Spider” has started to target the aviation industry. It may be a good time to update passwords for your loyalty accounts. (Dunkin’ has a “spider” donut which would suit this occasion perfectly, I might add.)
Grand Hyatt Playa Del Carmen Exits Hyatt System On July 31st & Award And Kid Bookings Not Honored
The Grand Hyatt Playa Del Carmen is exiting Hyatt’s system on July 31st, which is putting a swath of guests in a really crummy situation. While they will honor previously-existing cash bookings, they’re not planning to honor award bookings or bookings that include kids (since it will now become an adult-only all-inclusive.) Worst of all, Hyatt’s response has been a sort of “deal with this yourself” approach. John at Loyalty Lobby suggests escalating to Corporate Affairs if you find yourself needing a better resolution than “fix it yourself”.
Hertz’s AI Vehicle Damage Detection Is As Shady & Unethical As You’d Expect
In a previous Saturday Selection, we mentioned Hertz’s plan to adopt AI technology for damage detection. This seems to be turning into a new way for Hertz to just screw over their customers, as some of you probably predicted. For example one renter received a notification of a $400+ fee for a relatively small scratch on the wheel. The price breakdown for this fee was almost 1/3 admin and processing fees of some non-specified kind. The renter was given the option for a $30+ discount for paying within a week or $50+ discount if paying within 2 days. Predictably, inquiring for more information about the charge led to only chatbots, or the promise of a review by a human agent eventually (but no guarantee it would happen within the window of time needed to remain eligible for the discounts of course.) Hertz described this resolution process as “a more technology-enabled resolution process.” But…did the human part get disabled while the technology part got enabled? (And did AI help Hertz come up with that response, I wonder?)
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Given JKR’s transphobic views, I don’t blame anyone who dislikes Harry Potter.
Hi, I went to get a Dunkin gift card in person using my acquired (amex) credits and the cashier said it wouldn’t go thru. Then I figured I would put the Dunkin amex credits on apple pay and pay with that-still wouldn’t go thru. Does anybody know if this was just an individual store issue or would it go thru at another Dunkin?
I wasn’t able to do this at mine so it’s certainly not a one store thing
I had luck buying a $5 Dunkin eGC online from Dunkin, adding that to my Dublin app, then doing $7 reloads to my Dunkin card in the app. That triggered the $7 Dunkin credit.
I can load the $7 credit to the dunkin app-that’s no problem. I don’t really use Dunkin so I thought I would go in a store and buy a gift card using the dunkin app credits but, supposedly, that is not possible?
I’ve also heard that you can use the Dunkin app to pay in-store at Baskin Robins since they are both owned by the same company. I haven’t tried that.
I’m sitting on about $28 of Dunkin app money…
I’m laughing to myself right now to think of the depths that we, in the game, are willing to go to for these coupon credits lol
I can confirm that, at least at the combo store I’m using, it works. I’ve been thrilled since I made this discovery. I prefer really mediocre ice cream to really mediocre donuts (and agree their coffee sucks).
Truer words were never spoken (about mediocre ice cream) 🙂