Choice fails in its multi-billion-dollar attempt to steal Vacasa’s joy, Frontier refuses to refund a man who missed his flight because he stopped breathing, and are euro bedbugs as bad as everyone says? All that and more in this week’s Saturday Pick, our weekly roundup of interesting tidbits from around the interwebs (links to each article are included in the titles).
Choice tries (and fails) to take over Wyndham
Anyone who reads Frequent Miler knows we’re big fans of Wyndham Rewards… and it’s not just because of their industry-leading, scary hotels in South America. No, it’s because using Wyndham points to book vacation rentals in Vacasa is one of the best deals made with points and miles today (especially when combined with the 8x bonus categories on the Wyndham Earner Business Card). So you can imagine our horror when we found out that Choice Hotels attempted a hostile takeover of Wyndham this week, making three cash and stock offers that represented a 20% premium over Wyndham’s current stock value. All of us at the FM team witnessed Vacasa die before our eyes, but fortunately, Windham stood strong and rejected the offers. Unfortunately, rumors suggest that the suitor is not necessarily unwelcome, and that Windham may simply be waiting for a better offer. Collect beachfront vacation homes in Hawaii as much as possible.
Frontier refuses to refund money to man who stopped breathing at the gate
Frontier isn’t just known as the airline where you have to pay for seats, bags, snacks, drinks, and air. no, The most popular airline in the United States He is also known to be a whiner when it comes to refunds as well. How much complaining? Well, a local Phoenix TV station reported a case where a woman was waiting at the gate with her father for the plane to board, and suddenly, her father passed out and appeared to stop breathing. Emergency services were called and the man ended up spending three days in a local hospital before returning home. The gate agent gave her the incident number and assured her that when she requested her refund, the number would already be in the system. However, when it did, Frontier refused to do any such thing, saying that the flight “was not canceled” and that the woman and her unconscious father “did not show up.” Frontier finally relented after the TV station contacted them and asked them to explain themselves, but it did give us another valuable data point in the oft-asked question, “What do I need to do to get my money back from Frontier?”
Have bed bugs really taken over Paris?
Anyone who travels, and perhaps even those who don’t, live with a basic fear of bedbugs. I think the idea is primarily this: While you’re sleeping, these little prehistoric monsters come out of hiding during the day to feed on you while you sleep like a creepy little Dracula. I’ve been their victim at least once to my knowledge, at a dingy airport hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Those 12 to 15 itchy bumps on my lower legs scared me more than the hundreds of mosquito bites I’ve had over the years. Right now, there is an almost hysterical level of panic about the bedbug “infestation” taking place in Paris. A brief search on YouTube will turn up videos of tiny creatures in hotels, on chairs… and even on the subway. But are they really that bad, or perhaps extraordinarily bad, as all the media coverage suggests? Loyalty lobby shares Interesting article from Scientific American As two “bedbug experts” effectively say, “Not really.” Their general view is that it was probably a bedbug infestation Unusually low During the coronavirus pandemic and now people are starting to notice it again. As an example, Seven hotels on the Las Vegas Strip have been reported to have bedbug infestations A few months ago, suggesting that Paris is not the only place where these creatures enjoy the joy of life.
MGM leaves Hyatt World…Goodbye to cheap globalization
Earlier this month, MGM ended its long-standing partnership with World of Hyatt in favor of a new deal with Marriott that is supposed to begin… Later this month In late 2023 In early 2024. We actually filed one for the end of this partnership, which gave us MGM/Hyatt status on a fun run and waived resort fees at MGM properties. Perhaps the biggest hole left in the lives of some Hyatt fans is the run of cheap mattresses made possible by Sunday-Thursday stays at the Excalibur. Combining weeknight rates under $20 with corporate stays and mobile check-in, adventurous types have been able to get elite nights in groups of 4 to 5 nights for just a few dollars a night. Everything is made better by the fact that you never have to set foot in Excalibur, which adds several hours to your life expectancy. Unfortunately, all good things eventually come to an end… and that’s the case with one of the cheapest ways to give Hyatt International a leg up.
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