Alila Hotels

Hyatt Makes A Big Acquisition, Expands International Footprint!

October 8, 2018By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

Hyatt made a big splash today with the acquisition of a number of brands, including Destination Hotels, Alila, Joie de Vivre and Thompson. Could we be seeing a redemption opportunity upcoming on a pirate ship?

Online Travel Agency Will Increase Their Profit To Protect Customers From Resort Fees. Really

Resort fees are uniformly hated by customers. They don’t bother me as much as some other folks. However, a recent announcement by Booking.com does bother me. The online travel agency is poised to make more money when you book a hotel with a resort fee. And, that’s not good for consumers in any way, shape or form.

Monthly Airplane Wi-Fi Reliability Report Card: April 2019

April marks the fourth month in a row where I’ve kept track of the Wi-Fi reliability on all of my flights. With over 40 flights in the books, we have enough of a sample size to start making some reasonable conclusions.

Wait, What? American Express Deposited 100,000 Points Into My Marriott Account

Color me shocked. Baffled, surprised. Use your own words. American Express came out of left field with an early Christmas present for me.

DEAL: Best Prices I’ve Seen On My Favorite Portable Movie Theater!

I was at a school party for my son this morning and decided to hop on Amazon to research pricing for a microscope he was having a ton of fun with. Right on the front page was an ad for my favorite travel projector at the lowest price I’ve seen, the Anker Nebula Capsule! This is one of those tech products I never thought I’d really have a use for. When I first saw it, I thought it was cute. Then, I tested one at a show and wow! Now, […]

What We’re Talking About Today: Travel Deals And Tokyo Disney!

We’re deep into Daily Getaways week #2 right now and there are plenty of good travel deals amongst the not-so-good deals. Jen and I got together to talk about the first few weeks of travel deals. Then, Joe from As The Joe Flies (and Disney Deciphered) joins us to talk about Tokyo Disney, and why it needs to be on your list if you’re fan of Tokyo or Disney (or both)! Download and start listening here! Hope you enjoy the show! Where Can I Find The Podcast? You can subscribe through […]

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]