Welcome to The Morning Shave. We read a ton of travel articles each day for our research to share the best travel tips, tricks, and news with you. Here are the articles for Tuesday, July 9, 2024, that we think you should read.
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The Morning Shave
The Hotel Service Everyone Forgets About — but Can Change the Way You Vacation.
In today’s world of doing everything yourself online, the hotel concierge is often overlooked and forgotten about. Yet, they can open doors to dining reservations, tickets, transportation and more better than you ever will. In many cases, you don’t even have to pay extra to use their services. Concierges are typically reserved for fancy hotels, but many of the best credit cards also offer complimentary concierge services that you can use. I even had them search for toilet paper when store shelves were empty during the early days of COVID.
Why Your Favorite Loyalty Program Has You Hooked.
I admit that I typically go out of my way to fly Southwest domestically and stay at either Hyatt or Kimpton properties. These brands totally have my loyalty, and I love the perks that I get with them. And the Southwest Companion Pass has saved me so much money since I first got it in 2007. But all of these brands (and others) continue to test my patience and loyalty with their unfriendly changes to their loyalty programs and frequent devaluations. What are your thoughts?
![Kimpton Canary King Suite welcome amenity](https://baldthoughts.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Kimpton-Canary-King-Suite-welcome-amenity.jpg)
Barcelona anti-tourism protesters fire water pistols at visitors.
I’m writing this from a small town just 30 minutes from Barcelona, so this news is surprising. Especially since I considered going to Barcelona over the weekend to do a little sightseeing. Being frustrated with the sky-high prices and lack of housing due to overtourism is understandable. Some destinations are taking action to limit tourism and preserve historical attractions, the local way of life and the environment. But taking it out on tourists by squirting them with water and yelling at them is uncalled for.
Copenhagen Launches CopenPay Tourism Program to Reward Being Green.
In a world where we’re all trying to reduce our eco-footprint, this is a wonderful experiment. Many people aren’t going to go out of their way to recycle or take public transit unless there’s something in it for them. With this program, you’ll get “paid” for taking eco-friendly steps to reduce your impact on the environment. Hopefully, these habits will stick and the people participating will continue to reduce, re-use and recycle and perform other positive actions in their local community when they get back home.
Here’s what to do if you’re involuntarily downgraded.
In a prior life, United would just beat you up and drag you off the plane. The airline is better now, but passengers may still not get the seats they paid for. While this is just one example, all airlines are guilty of involuntarily downgrading passengers. If you’re facing this situation, knowing your rights and standing up for yourself can lead to compensation that can reduce the sting of sitting in the back of the plane with the rest of us.
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