Hyatt’s Gold Passport Program to Be Overhauled

If you’re never had Singaporean cuisine, but live in certain areas across North America, you can use a different kind of passport to try it.

As overwhelming demand for new or renewed passports leave travelers scrambling ahead of their international travel plans, third party companies have come into play.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is on the fast track to growing its brand, its property portfolio and its loyalty partnerships. While not the biggest hospitality company, it is laser-focused on being the best by expanding its geography and listening to customers. Even during the tough pandemic era, Hyatt found opportunity to grow in key markets and evolve with the ever-changing travel landscape. All of this helped position Hyatt for the post-Covid travel boom, benefiting both consumers and investors.

Two travelers to the Barcelona airport carrying a fortune worth of jewelry and cash in a diamond-encrusted bag nearly left the country $9.3 million poorer after thieves snuck away with their luggage.

Hilton’s durable HHonors program has a new name: Honors. The second “H,” which stood for Hilton, was deemed unnecessary and apparently caused confusion when it came to pronouncing the program’s name.

In February, when Starbucks announced it was converting its frequent-drinker program to a revenue-based scheme, there was a collective groan from the caffeinated crowd. As with similar conversions by the major airlines, Starbucks’ new earning rules would mean fewer rewards for most customers.

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.

Earlier this year, Starbucks made a move that will be all too familiar to travelers: The company converted its loyalty program to a spend-based scheme, rewarding members according to the amount of their purchases rather than the number of their visits.

With 7,800 properties in more than 70 countries, the Wyndham Hotel Group is the world’s largest hotel network. That’s right: bigger than Marriott, even after it absorbs Starwood. Bigger than InterContinental. Bigger than Hilton.

By traditional measures, Alaska Airlines is a carrier of decidedly modest size, even after its acquisition of Virgin America. Its own flight network is small, compared to those of American, Delta, and United. And it’s not a member of one of the three global airline alliances.

After years of biting criticism by animal-rights groups and the general public, SeaWorld this week announced that it will immediately cease breeding killer whales, arguably the company’s signature attraction.

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.