Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Oh boy, was I in for a surprise in early January when I had a ticket on AeroMexico from Brazil to Europe. I thought that the international to international transit experience in Mexico would be similar to other countries and not like in the United States. When I was checking my bag in Sao Paulo, […]
Category: Whine Wednesdays
Wine Wednesdays: Guest Stealing From The Lounge – Case Sheraton Grand Rio De Janeiro
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
How often do you see a guest arriving in a club lounge with two grocery store-sized plastic bags and start filling them up with sodas from the refrigerator? Well. When staying at the Sheraton Grand Rio de Janeiro, I tend to get some work done in the top floor club lounge, which has a Nespresso […]
Whine Wednesdays: Hotel Breakfast In Boxes At Various Hyatt Properties?
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Our Whine Wednesday today is about the daily breakfast that Globalist members and other guests receive who either book a breakfast rate or otherwise order it during their stay. Hotels have in many cases still not opened their restaurants or resorted to simply presenting their food items in a pre-packaged way using the old Covid […]
Whine Wednesday: Misleading Advertising For Hotel Promotions In Thailand (Only Locals Are Eligible)
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
This week our Whine Wednesday topic is about the display of advertised deals for hotels in Thailand that aren’t available to the general public due to a government subsidy scheme exclusively for locals. Rather than advertising a publicly available room rate, many hotels are posting prices that are only accessible when applying the full discount […]
Whine Wednesday: Wildly Variable Carry-on Size & Weight Requirements
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
How much attention, if any, do you pay to the carry-on size and weight requirements that airlines have that are often cabin dependent? When I took a couple of flights from Finland recently, the airport operator had these displays on airports that passengers could check if their carry-on met the requirements of the operating airlines. […]
Whine Wednesdays: Hyatt Milestone Award Globalist Upgrade Trouble at Grand Hyatt Berlin
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
It’s Whine Wednesday again and we’re making a stop at Grand Hyatt Berlin where I had some problems with a Hyatt Globalist room upgrade this week. Fault for this issue I encountered falls mostly on the hotel which refused to upgrade despite selling eligible suites but also Hyatt itself that doesn’t allow using a certificate […]
Whine Wednesday: Hilton Diamond Breakfast
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
A LoyaltyLobby reader dropped us a note about a breakfast made available to guests at The Charter Hotel in Seattle that is branded under Hilton’s Curio Collection. Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week. You can access The […]
Whine Wednesdays: Latest Uber Driver Scam In Brazil – Claims That Car Suddenly Broke
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
I thought that I had seen all possible driver scams with Uber that I have reported here on LoyaltyLobby over the years. On my most recent trip to Brazil, I managed to experience a new one. After the driver dropped me off and continued the journey to the final destination, he claimed that the car […]
Whine Wednesdays: Debit Card Cloned In Brazil Or Mexico
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
We are already past the first half of 2021, and only now do I have a first credit card breach of the year after two in 2020. When I was typing away this afternoon, I received a text message from Schwab that there was unusual activity on my Visa Debit Card. I only use this […]
Whine Wednesdays: Beware Of American Express Card Upgrades, You Might Have To Chase Your Bonus
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
In today’s edition of Whine Wednesdays I’d like to remind our readers to consider if upgrading your existing American Express card to a higher card product is really worth the hassle. From time to time Amex sends out targeted promotions to existing card members, offering to upgrade to a higher card tier for a certain […]
Whine Wednesday: Hotels Departments Not Answering In-House Phone Calls From Guest Rooms
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Our Whine Wednesday topic this week is about hotels not answering the phone when a guest room tried to get in touch with a specific department, using the in-room telephone. Especially in times of short staffing it’s quite common that calls placed through the service buttons are ending in an ever lasting waiting loop, sometimes […]
Whine Wednesdays: Prepaid Voucher T&C Deception At The Renaissance Koh Samui Resort
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
Our Whine Wednesday topic this week once again comes back to the issue of prepaid hotel vouchers that various hotels sell, in this case the Renaissance Koh Samui where I purchased one voucher with 50% bonus. Vouchers always come with fine print that are the basis for the sale yet sometimes hotels like to change […]
Whine Wednesdays: Useless LHW Membership Benefits As Applicable Rate Is Double Compared To Hotels Own Offer
Written by Sebastian Powell @ LoyaltyLobby
It’s Whine Wednesday again and today we’re looking at the practical benefits of the Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) membership that applies to a variety of hotels under this partnership – but only when booked through LHW! LHW Hotels are just a collection of hotels that have this badge attached to the property but […]
Whine Wednesdays Take Two: Marriott Gift Cards
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Marriott has been pushing its electronic gift cards in the past 12 months, allowing the hotel company to collect millions from program members by offering them a discount. I purchased one set at a 20% discount in the spring of 2020 (read more here) and wrote a piece about the difficulty in using them at […]
Whine Wednesdays: Hotels Scamming TripAdvisor Reviews Case W Bogota
Written by John Ollila @ LoyaltyLobby
Some people rely on TripAdvisor reviews when choosing hotels that is problematic because the platform is plagued with fake reviews (paid positive), while hotels try to suppress critical ones. Whine Wednesdays this week revisits W Bogota that was featured on our recent currency scam piece (piece) that they used to inflate hotel rates by 10%+. […]