Could Airbnb Soon Have a Loyalty Program?

Low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines will launch flights to Puerto Rico this fall, marking the airline’s first-ever Caribbean destination and its latest expansion plans.

WOW Air, the Iceland-based no-frills carrier that raised eyebrows with its $99 fares from Boston and Baltimore to Iceland a year ago, now has something in common with Spirit Airlines, the U.S. carrier notorious for its nickel-and-diming and generally customer-unfriendly ways.

In 2014, at the behest of Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), the DOT’s Office of Inspector General began an audit of U.S. frequent flyer programs, and the DOT’s monitoring thereof, with a particular focus on unfair and deceptive practices (summary, with a link to the full .pdf report, here). The audit results were published this month, with the following headline: “Improvements needed in DOT’s process for identifying unfair or deceptive practices in airline frequent flyer programs.”

It’s a basic premise of savvy loyalty-program participation that the best return-on-investment is to be had by redeeming points for the program host’s own services. Airline miles are best redeemed for flights, and hotel points are best redeemed for free room nights. Sure, all major programs offer alternative award opportunities—consumer electronics, clothing, event tickets, and on and on—but when you do the math, it inevitably turns out that such options offer very poor value.

Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood has left one key group vocally underwhelmed: members of Starwood’s Preferred Guest program, particularly Starwood elites who have become accustomed to perks and services that play no part in Marriott’s Rewards program.

Enter the Eight O’Clock Coffee “Chill in Italy” sweepstakes by July 13, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a seven-day trip for two to Italy, including air and hotel accommodations. (Winner may elect to receive a check for $4,000 in lieu of the trip.)

Spirit Airlines waived fees.

Although Uber has relationships with several airline and hotel loyalty programs, it has so far stopped short of launching its own program. That changes this week, with the announcement of a simple buy-nine-get-one-free offer in conjunction with Capital One.

With Alaska Airline’s acquisition of Virgin America, it was just a matter of time before Virgin’s loyalty program, Elevate, was terminated and its members folded into Alaska’s Mileage Plan program. In the meantime, the programs were somewhat integrated, allowing reciprocal mileage earning. And beginning on January 9, 2017, Elevate members will be able to convert their points at a 1:1.3 ratio to miles in Mileage Plan, and have their Virgin status matched in Alaska’s program.

In the airline’s first major initiative since replacing CEO Jeff Smisek with Oscar Munoz, United today announced details of a major upgrade to its international business-class product.

The traditional taxi business is far from dead, but the ever-burgeoning popularity of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft is a clear threat to the survival of the yellow cabs that for decades have been a mainstay of big-city transportation. It’s fair to say that the rise of Uber and its ilk have led to the erosion of taxis, and could eventually lead to their outright demise (or, perhaps, their radical transformation).

As reported by USA Today, lawmakers in Missouri are expected to pass a bill that will amend the state’s liquor law to allow travelers to take alcoholic drinks with them to their boarding gates.