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 Friday, July 19, 2024, that we think you should read.
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The Morning Shave
CrowdStrike Outage Causes Thousands of Flight Cancellations and Delays.
Today is a bad day to be traveling. And it has nothing to do with weather, worker strikes or anything the airlines have done. Instead, the techies at a cybersecurity firm rolled out an upgrade with some bad code. This outage is affecting major systems for airlines, airports, banks and many other businesses that we often take for granted. If you have a travel credit card or travel insurance with protection against flight delays or cancellations, now is the time to use those benefits.
Alaska is adding premium seats in 200-aircraft retrofit.
During this retrofit, Alaska Airlines is adding more first-class seats on Boeing 737-800 aircraft and its Premium Class extra-legroom seats on 737-900ER and 737-9 Max planes. While this will shrink the number of Economy seats available, it will give elite travelers more opportunities for upgrades. The conversion will start in early 2025, and it is expected to be complete by summer 2026.
![Photo courtesy of Alaska Airlines.](https://baldthoughts.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Alaska-Airlines-plane.jpg)
Hyatt reportedly near deal to link up with Standard Hotels brand.
The Standard Hotel has long been known for quirky and hip hotels located in major cities. One of its locations was across the street from my old office in Downtown LA, and we loved going to happy hour at its rooftop pool & terrace. The company also features two other brands, Bunkhouse and Peri, that I’ve never heard of. Neither company is confirming acquisition talks, but it seems likely that we’ll have some new Hyatt properties to earn and redeem in 2025 and beyond.
The Worst Mistakes You Can Make When Booking a Hotel, According to Experts.
A little refresher on common mistakes to avoid when booking your next hotel room. I typically avoid the non-refundable rates in case my travel plans change or I find a better deal. Award space may become available if others cancel at your preferred hotel. Prices can also change if the hotel realizes that it won’t sell out.
U.S. Air Travel Hit Record in First Half of 2024.
If it seemed like there were fewer empty seats on planes than normal this year, you may be right. Air travel in the U.S. hit a new record during the first half of 2024. Total sales were up 1% compared to the same period last year, reaching a new record of $53 billion. Records were also set for the number of total passenger trips (149 million, up 5%) on a slightly lower average ticket price of $552 (down 1%). And the TSA’s nine busiest days in its history were all set this year.
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