Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.
If it was a good deal—or a notably bad deal—from an airline, hotel, or car rental loyalty program, you can read all about it here, and plan your travel accordingly.
Marriott Wins Bidding War, Will Merge with Starwood
The weeks-long bidding war to acquire Starwood Hotels ended abruptly late today, with Marriott the apparent winner.
Is Virgin America’s New Logo a Hoax?
The day before April Fools’ day, Virgin America unveiled a new logo. Please connect the dots.
Southwest Partners with Rideshare Service
Members of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program can now earn bonus points for their first Lyft ride.
Virgin America Will Match Your Elite Status
If you’ve already earned elite status with American, Delta, Southwest, or United, Virgin America will match that status, for three months.
Hilton Deepens Ties with Uber
Hilton HHonors members can now order an Uber straight from the HHonors app.
Virgin America May Be Close to a Merger Deal
Credible rumors are circulating that Virgin America is in serious discussions regarding a merger with either JetBlue or Alaska Airlines.
Alaska Air’s Bad Day – Highlights and Lowlights
This week, Alaska Airlines’ likability quotient (and its mileage program) took a hit. A big hit.
Airline Employees Behaving Badly
In the past week, three instances of airline-employee misbehavior have made the national news. All the miscreants were flight-crew workers, responsible for flyers’ safety.
Win a Trip to Dublin, Ireland, for 2
Enter the Pernod Ricard “St. Patrick’s Day” sweepstakes by April 30 for a chance to win one of six trips for two to Ireland, including air and hotel.
Somebody has to win, right? Might as well be you.
More from SmarterTravel: State Department Travel Advisory: ‘Be Safe’ This Week, American Devalues AAdvantage SeaWorld’s Killer Whale Program to End – Can Zoos Survive?
After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
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The website maxtravelz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
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.”
In a first for a U.S. airline loyalty program, Alaska Airlines is offering members of its Mileage Plan program the option to redeem miles to pay for TSA PreCheck service.
Hilton announced early this year that there were significant changes coming to the Honors program, set to take effect on April 3. This is a reminder of what’s coming, and how it’s likely to affect you.
Enter the United Airlines “Billion Mile Giveaway” sweepstakes by September 30, 2016, for a chance to win one of 100 grand prizes of 1 million United MileagePlus miles, plus $750 to cover taxes, each. Runner-up prizes include smaller numbers of miles. In total, 1 billion miles will be given away.