Boeing CEO Out, Fake Service Animals, & Marriott Assault [Roundup]

Last updated on Mar 31, 2024

Posted on Mar 31, 2024

This week has mellowed out in terms of drama, however we still saw some pretty big news headlines and the internet exploding over some fake service animals. It was a very opinionated week. The biggest headline of them all saw Boeing's CEO stepping down.

There were a couple of articles that I saw floating around about the Boeing CEO leaving, I think the general feeling is that it's a good thing to see management change and hopefully a better person fills those shoes. I also saw some opinionated articles saying that concerns about Boeing planes are overrated. I find this untrue as their recent overall record has shown they've learned nothing from the first two 737 MAX crashes.

Changes at the top at Boeing; CEO Dave Calehoun and Commercial Airplanes head Stan Deal to exit company - Live from a Lounge
Boeing has seen a mass restructuring of the top-deck of the airline. CEO Dave Calhoun will exit the company, and so will the CEO of the Airplanes Division.

For still some somber news, but not as saddening, Hyatt announced point changes to almost 200 hotels with most increasing their point redemptions. I love Hyatt hotels, they're always in a different class compared to Marriott or Hilton. My problem is that they don't have many hotels around the world, so working on status with them is difficult. I still think they're the best point value redemptions.

Hyatt 2024 Award Changes: 137 Increasing In Price, 46 Decreasing In Price - Doctor Of Credit
Hyatt has announced award changes for 2024. There is a spreadsheet found here for easy sorting. The main points are as follows: Changes will go into

Just have to plug another guest article by me over at Eye of the Flyer. United has had a number of highly publicized incidents in the past few weeks. As such, the company announced that the FAA will be looking closer into their operations. As discussed in the article, this shouldn't concern anyone. Airline inspected keep us all safe.

Airline Professional: Here’s Why You Should Feel Safe Flying Now With the FAA Taking a Close Look at United - Eye of the Flyer
Let’s address the elephant in the room: Are you worried about flying United Airlines, or Boeing airplanes in general?

Robinhood burst out on the news cycle this week, offering a 3x points card, which is unheard of in the credit card space. There are only a select few cards offering 2x points, and as pointed out, there's no way this is going to last. It will be used and abused and within just a few months we could see them putting heavy restrictions on these cards.

Robinhood To Launch New Card (3x Points On All Purchases) - Doctor Of Credit
Full details now available here. Robinhood is set to launch a new credit card, although this is really a rebrand of the X1 credit card after Robinhood

In all my years of point redemptions, I've never really had to think about replacing my frequent flyer number on a point ticket. It might be because that I mostly use my points to redeem business or first class tickets, where the majority of the perks I would get with my status are included with the ticket. However, this is inline with Alaska's terms, so I'm not sure why people are so mad.

Alaska Mileage Plan Adds Strange Award Ticket Restriction
Alaska Mileage Plan will no longer let you add another program’s frequent flyer number when making an award booking. Weird.

Whenever I watch movies on an IFE screen (which is rare these days), I always seem to see a content warning about a movie being edited for any number of reasons. I am someone who doesn't want to see parts of movies being cut out just because, but I understand if a move features nudity. You never know who is sitting by you on a plane or who can see your screen. You're not watching the move alone, you have silent audience all around you.

Should Airline Movies Be Edited? - Live and Let’s Fly
While edited airline movies are the norm, should airlines actively censor films in an era of streaming video and personal seat-back monitors?

The reason why I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve card over my American Express Platinum card is the restaurant access that it has. However, it seems like that's all coming to an end as Chase is axing the restaurant benefit from their cards. This leaves little value to me for Priority Pass, and I'm sure we'll see some people cancelling their cards because of this.

Sad News, Chase Sapphire Reserve And Ritz Card to Lose Access to Priority Pass Restaurants - Miles to Memories
American Express was the first credit card issuer to drop restaurants from its Priority Pass membership in 2019, and then Capital One followed in 2023.

Fake service animals are a pain, I wish there were more punishments for someone lying about their service animals or fake documentation. While I am not saying that the dog in this situation was fake, I am speaking in general terms that it always seems like fake service animal owners get a slap on the risk. I would be ok with an airline ban if someone is found to have a fake service animal.

United Airlines Passenger Upset Over Fake “Service” Dog - Live and Let’s Fly
A United Airlines passenger has expressed indignation over a fake “service dog” that was recently spotted in a first class cabin.

TSA PreCheck is the best, I don't care about the long lines more than I care about removing things from my luggage just to repack them again. It's nice to see more international carriers being added to this list. One stand out mention is New Pacific Airlines, which announced this week they are ceasing scheduled service and going to an all charter operation. 😦

WOW! TSA PreCheck Adds 8 New Airlines, Drops 1
As exciting as it is when the TSA adds new airlines to its list of participants in TSA PreCheck, it’s equally as frustrating when an airline you plan to use…

I highly encourage everyone to always check their doors when they enter a hotel room, make sure they close all the way, and always use the secondary locking latches on the door. This man seems to have been jailed multiple times before for similar actions, and hopefully he will see some actual jail time. I'm not entirely sure how this guest could have missed a non-functioning door.

Hotel Guest Sues Marriott After Stranger Sexually Assaults Him In His Room - The Bulkhead Seat
After an a cancelled American Airlines flight left him stuck at the Charlotte Marriott City Center, a man checked in and went to his room for the night. The door apparently did not fully close and was left unlocked. Another man entered the room as he slept and the first man was awakened as the other performed oral sex on him as he “howled in terror and lashed out to punch” the offender. Now, he’s suing Marriott for $160 million.

Lock your doors and stay safe!

What was the most interesting article you read this week?

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