Traveling Blog: Discount Airlines Explore Loyalty + Skift Restaurants Forum Highlights + Hotels Target Locals

Monday, September 24, 2018

September 25, 2018

Editor's Note

What every airline executive should know by now is that any successful business model can be fleeting. The discount airlines, which disrupted the industry with cheap tickets just a few years ago, are hedging against this. Full-service airlines are offering basic economy seats to compete. Add higher fuel prices into this mix, and some of the low-cost airlines that had no time for loyalty programs a few years ago are seeing value in them now. Skift Senior Aviation Business Editor Brian Sumers takes a look at how discount airlines like Frontier are creating new levels of loyalty rewards to keep customers coming back. Cheap tickets are a nice draw, but creating loyalty in general with your customer, no matter what business, should always be a priority.

On Monday, Skift once again proved if you ask good questions, you'll get smart answers that lead to great conversations during the first Skift Restaurants Forum in New York City. You can read a few of those highlights from the Forum below, but please go to the conference website to get it all.

— Tom Lowry, Managing Editor

Last Chance — Are You Coming?

The biggest event of the year starts on Thursday. This is your last chance to snag a spot and be a part of the magic.

Not long ago, all discount airlines needed to compete was cheap fares. But times change, and with legacy airlines poaching some of their customers, more ultra-low-cost carriers are taking loyalty seriously.

25hours Hotels Pilots Its Own Concierge Service for Local Communities

Another day, another attempt from a hotel company to reinvent the role of the hotel concierge.

Airline Loyalty Elites Sit Out a Wave of New Fees

While most of the traveling public saw an increase in baggage fees this month, those carrying airline elite status were once more spared. Sooner or later, that luck will surely run out.

Park Hyatt Tokyo Focuses on Being Egalitarian Ahead of Olympics Spotlight

Empathy. When was the last time you heard a hotel executive talk about that? General manager Hervé Mazella shares his views on service, what makes the Park Hyatt Tokyo unique, and what he has learned from the Japanese approach to hospitality.

Skift Restaurants Forum

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Offering vacation rentals to customers might be some way off, but it shows Thomas Cook is at least thinking creatively about its place in the travel industry. If it is something people want — and they clearly do — then the company needs to at least consider it.

Skift Global Forum Preview: How American Airlines Is Reacting to Higher Fuel Prices

American has spent a fortune in the past five years trying to improve passenger experience and employee relations. The airline has made many strides, but it still has work to do on both accounts.

The New York Times Adds Day Tours to Grab Piece of Booming Tours and Activities Sector

The newspaper business continues to go through an evolution in the digital era, all while the travel industry is thriving and demand grows for tours and activities. City Tours probably won't be the biggest revenue generator for the Times anytime soon, but it could do a lot to make the publisher cooler and more relevant.

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