- Last night, Marriott announced a significant devaluation to their awards program: over 1,300 hotels have moved up a category (i.e. now require more points for each award night), and only 46 have moved down a category. And just for good measure, a new category (nine!) was added to the award chart, and that category requires 45,000 points for each night (for comparison, consider that Hyatt only 22,000 points for its top-tier properties). I’ve never thought much of the Marriott program, and this certainly doesn’t improve my perception. The only silver lining here is that if you have a stockpile of Marriott points, you have until May 15th to use them before these price hikes kick in.
- By way of update to my post about the Ally Bank interest checking account, a reader raised a great point that hadn’t occurred to me:
The one better thing about Schwab compared to Ally is they refund international atm fees as well as in the US. So it makes sense if you travel a lot.
It’s true — Ally only reimburses for ATM fees incurred in the U.S., whereas Schwab reimburses for all ATM fees. In light of the much higher interest rate offered by Ally, this doesn’t change the calculus for me, but it might for people who spend lots of time abroad.
- This video of a flight attendant rapping the safety instructions is simply awesome — courtesy of Gary at View from the Wing.