The internet was busy this week with more talk of potential mergers, and some shady behavior from airlines and hotels alike with a story about false advertising from KLM and bait-and-switch tactics from Fairfield Toronto Airport.
Air France potential merger could seriously shake up the industry
The parent company of Air France-KLM is apparently considering the potential acquisition of TAP Air Portugal. TAP’s most recent posted earnings showed a drop in profits while Air France-KLM on the other hand saw their shares jump to a five-year high after their most recent earnings report. While the Air France-KLM CEO seems positive about this idea, according to this article, he has “not yet presented the proposal to the European Commission”, so it remains to be seen what will happen.
Possible Solutions for Hyatt’s Free Night Certificate Devaluation
We love telling rewards programs about our insights for what they should do, (even if they stubbornly refuse to listen.) In this article the folks at Your Miles May Vary share how they think Hyatt should respond to the devaluation of its free night certificate. For example they could let you supplement your free night certificates with points the way IHG and Marriott do. They could even raise the annual fee if it means they would also be able to raise the free night certificate’s redemption power to Category 5, for example. Or they could lean even harder into that kind of idea by launching an ultra-premium card with an even steeper annual fee, and a free night valid at nearly any property. What else do you think they could/should do?
KLM & Flying Blue Deceived Program Members For Years With False Availability Displays
Uh oh – KLM has apparently been violating Dutch Advertising Code by advertising a flight from Seoul to Antwerp for 70,000 miles (plus €213.19 in taxes). The problem is, trying to click through to book this always landed you with an error notice of some kind. It turns out…the flight wasn’t really available even if it looked available on KLM’s website. KLM’s defense was that this really was caused by some sort of technical error in their system’s assessment of mixed Air France/KLM availability. Until they can sort out this issue, mixed Air France/KLM reward tickets have been removed from visibility.
How Amex Has Turned Welcome Bonuses into a Treasure Hunt
Jackson Newman of Thrifty Traveler points out how American Express has turned welcome bonuses into a treasure hunt by making offers so variable depending on where and when you apply. For example two different people could open the same link at the same time and see different offers, or you could open a link in an incognito browser and see something totally different. According to American Express’ own CFO, Christophe Le Caillec, they’re doing this on purpose. He says, “We want to find the exact point that will take you over and make you react to an offer – not below, not too high, just the perfect offer.” The goal, apparently, is personalization.
Fairfield Toronto Airport Rebooking Scam: This Is Low
Wow – this is a wild story about how the Fairfield Toronto Airport hotel has apparently been selling rooms despite not actually having any availability. When someone books, according to many reviews sharing this experience, they’ve been emailing the guest an apology and notice of rebooking at a different hotel (often the Crowne Plaza). Some believe that they may have some kind of government contract for housing people, and just continue to accept new reservations with no intention of honoring them at the property booked.
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Interesting about that Fairfield, I wonder if Marriott will do anything but it seems like no matter how many stories that are shared about properties not fulfilling their terms they never seem to care about it. Maybe them sending business to the competitor will get them to act?
I actually thought about staying at the CP when I was in Toronto but the location was too far away from the city centre and I ended up going somewhere else closer to the action, guess it was a good thing that I avoided it since most people seem to agree that this is not a great property.
I’m surprised to see AFKLM go after TAP after also making a proposal for Air Europa. I would think that regulators would only allow one or the other, but not both. IAG was prevented from moving on Air Europa because they already have Iberia. I would think there would be interested in making sure all the major Iberian peninsula airlines ensure some level of competition.
I have noticed lately that my anti virus has been blocking your blogs when accessing directly from the email. Here is the link this post attempted to send me. Just thought I would share in case something weird is going on. https://p.feedblitz.com/t3/1037156/222883723/20508740/https://frequentmiler.com/possible-tap-acquisition-false-advertising-from-klm-a-bait-and-switch-from-fairfield-toronto-airport-and-more-saturday-selection/
Interesting about the welcome bonuses. Using a regular browser, I get a 50k after $2k in spend offer for the regular Plat. Going incognito it’s 80k after $8k in spend. Obviously these are two very different offers, and each would have people who would prefer it. I suppose it’s not a bad thing for savvy FM readers, since getting a better deal than most people is a high priority, and it only takes a couple of clicks to check.