Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Members are currently looking at Marriott to see if the Travel Packages redemption will disappear by Wednesday, January 19th as a recent leak of an updated Bonvoy T&C version suggested. Last week Gary who runs ViewFromTheWing discovered an update in the Marriott Terms & Conditions that the travel packages would be eliminated effective January 19, […]
Author: Sebastian Powell
Good Experience Entering Thailand Under The Test&Go Scheme (JAN12) With Bad Follow Up Test Availability
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Last week I entered Thailand under the Test&Go scheme which was available for applicants through December 22nd and the arrival experience couldn’t have been better. My arrival was facilitated in combination with a SHA+ booking package at the Grand Hyatt Bangkok and their testing part at MedPark Hospital and everything was extremely well organized. Unfortunately, […]
Celebrity Cruises Cancels Most Pacific Coastal Itineraries in March/April 2022, What To Do?
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Celebrity Cruises has just formally canceled a whole range of their popular Pacific Coastal cruises for the spring that are usually the shoulder-season waters for the Alaska-bound cruise ships before they’re heading up north. While the line hasn’t sent emails to all affected customers yet I found the information when I checked my already booked […]
Cathay Pacific Has Reopened Their London-Heathrow Terminal 3 First- & Business Class Lounges
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Cathay Pacific has reopened their popular First- and Business Class Lounges at London Heathrow Terminal 3 after it had been closed for an extended period of time. This comes despite Cathay Pacific currently being unable to actually fly to London and a wide range of other countries as the HK Government has banned flights and […]
Priority Pass Partners With Thai Airways For Domestic Lounges In Bangkok, Chiang Mai & Phuket
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Great news for Priority Pass holders as Thai Airways (obviously in dire need of revenue) has struck a partnership with the airport lounge network for three domestic locations and access is available effective immediately. Priority Pass members can now visit Thai Airways domestic lounges ln Bangkok, Chiang Mai & Phuket for 2.5 hours prior to […]
ANA All Nippon Airways Has Reopened Their Exclusive Suite Lounge Service At Tokyo-Haneda & Narita Airport
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
After almost two years of suspended/limited services at their airport lounges, ANA All Nippon Airways has finally started to offer separate lounge facilities for Business and First Class again. For the entire last year, ANA had combined their lounge facility into Star Alliance Gold, Business and First Class in one lounge without making any distinction […]
Hotel Parking Fee Of US$55 – Has Pricing For Basic Incidental Services Gotten Out Of Control?
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Hotels have been gauging their customers for years with extra “services” such as resort fees and self/valet parking but after staying a good amount of time in the Los Angeles area over the last month I really feel things have become absurd now. Not only do many hotels now charge a “destination fee” of up […]
Royal Caribbean Cancels Several Upcoming Cruises Due To Covid Concerns & Falling Passenger Numbers
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Royal Caribbean has announced that the company will cancel several upcoming cruises as Covid has returned to threaten the cruise industry after most ships that are currently sailing have reported Covid cases. Right now Royal Caribbean is canceling sailing on four ships, one of which (Vision of the Seas) will return to service later than […]
Compensation Clinic: Hyatt House Fort Lauderdale Airport Horrible Property & Check-In Experience
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
The Compensation Clinic makes a stop in Florida this week where I had my last stay of the year at the Hyatt House Ft. Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port – not my favorite way to end the Hyatt year. Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and […]
What’s Going On With Hertz Gold Plus Rewards – No Points Redemptions Available Anymore?
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Readers have been contacting us recently asking about Hertz Gold Plus Rewards as they find it impossible to redeem their Gold Plus Rewards points for rentals. Hertz Rewards points have historically been useful for high-value rentals where rates are rather expensive such as one-ways and peak days, especially midweek. For quite a while now it […]
Qatar Airways Privilege Club Has Just Renewed Expired Tier Accounts (Including Matched Ones) Through December 2022
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Qatar Airways Privilege Club has just extended the expired tier level for their members (including those who participated in their rare status match campaign that was available in May of 2020) through December of 2022. Members can check their status on the Qatar Airways website, retrieve an electronic membership card with the new expiration date, […]
Newly Proposed Entry Deadline For Thailand Test&Go Pass Holders Said To Be January 15, 2022
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
This is just a quick update about the ever-changing dates concerning Thailand travel which has been a rather popular topic among LoyaltyLobby readers as many were seeking to travel to the kingdom again. After the Health Minister initially proposed a January 10th deadline for existing, approved Thailand Pass Test&Go travelers he has now changed his […]
Should You Still Consider Traveling To Thailand Giving Their Permanent Flip-Flop On Entry Rules?
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Thailand is back to the constant game of shifting the goalposts on entry regulations every other day and this brings a lot of hassle for travelers who are planning to visit the country for tourism purposes. The initially lauded Test&Go program has been suspended since December 22, allowing no new applications and despite initial promises […]
Last Call: Avianca LifeMiles 120% Miles Transfer Bonus Ends On January 7, 2022
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Avianca LifeMiles has recently brought back a transfer points promotion to move miles between accounts (at a fee) with members getting a 120% bonus in the process, ending on January 7, 2022. LifeMiles has had similar promotions in the past and the last one was for a transfer bonus was back in spring this year […]
Celebrity Cruises & Other Lines Are Re-Introducing Mask Requirements for Indoor Spaces After Infections Exceed 1% Of Passengers
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Several cruise lines have started to (re)introduce a mask requirement for their voyages when utilizing the indoor spaces on the ship and some such as Celebrity Cruises haven’t really don’t a great job in communicating this, even on boarding day. I took the Celebrity Edge for another week out of Fort Lauderdale yesterday and their […]
Travelers Beware Of Increased Airport Departure Tax In The Maldives, Premium Class Now Up To $180
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
With the new year, some legislation that was signed mid-last year in the Maldives came into effect per January 1, 2022 – namely a steep increase in international departure tax from the island country. Especially premium class travelers are being hit hard with this new fee as it goes up to US$180 for international First […]
All Points & Miles Counters Reset To Zero – Credit Card Benefit Credits Posting
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
It’s the day of the year frequent travelers fear the most when the counters for elite qualifying miles and points are reset to zero and we have to start fresh to requalify for our status levels. Those few lucky ones with lifetime status at various programs won’t feel the heat as much as others who […]
Happy New Year 2022 From LoyaltyLobby – To A Better One Ahead!
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
The New Years Festivities are already underway in many places around the globe and the LoyaltyLobby teams wants to send best wishes to our readers wherever they might spend their New Years Eve. In North America, it’s still midday of December 31st and that means tomorrow we are waking up seeing our annual loyalty account […]
Cruise Lines Giving Everyone Free Internet Are Losing Their Premium Wifi Customers Due To Bad Connection
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Several Cruise Lines including Celebrity Cruises have taken the step of offering “Always Included” fares that also cover standard internet on board, leading to passengers constantly playing on their phones and iPad’s. Unfortunately, this had a rather bad effect as the network (bandwidth) became so overwhelmed with all these users that even the premium internet […]
Success: Extending Hyatt Globalist Suite Upgrades & Converting Club Upgrades To 3,000 Points
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Last week John wrote about Hyatt currently offering (upon request) to extend their Suite Upgrade award and Club Access awards which members receive as milestones throughout the membership year. As I had some expiring as well I decided to contact Hyatt directly (rather than my Concierge) and see if I have any luck getting it […]