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, January 9, 2024, that we think you should read.
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The Morning Shave
More than a trend: How airlines and hotels are catering to sober travelers.
In honor of Sober January, I wanted to share this article. Airlines and hotels are picking up on the fact that even sober people want delicious drinks for social hour and to pair with their meals. Personally, I prefer alcohol, but it is great to know that these options exist when you don’t want to be a little tipsy.
Choice Hotels rolls out ad campaign starring Keegan-Michael Key.
With its recent acquisition of Radisson Americas, Choice Hotels is on a mission to become more relevant in the travel space. It’s even in the midst of a push to acquire Wyndham to further expand its brands and reach. While Choice has long been known for budget-friendly accommodations, this hotel brand is branching out into mid-tier and luxury properties as well. For instance, I’ve stayed at the Cambria Nashville a couple of times and really enjoyed the property.
The One Service That Makes Getting Through the Airport Easier Every Time.
Although we have Global Entry and CLEAR, you need to get creative when traveling outside the U.S. We used an airport greeter when we traveled through St. Thomas, and it was the best $20 we spent the entire trip. We skipped every line and were brought directly through to airport security. The whole process took 5 minutes vs. 45+ minutes for everyone else. Have you ever used a service to expedite your way through airport security?
Requalifying for Jetblue Mosaic: Worth a Card Application.
With the Delta status match, travelers could extend their JetBlue Mosaic elite status just by having a JetBlue credit card. For as much as people spend trying to earn status, a $99 credit card annual fee is an absolute steal. What do you think?
How to Get Free Entry to US National Parks in 2024.
Get out and enjoy the fresh air of nature by visiting state parks and U.S. National Parks. These iconic destinations throughout the U.S. offer incredible value… even when paying the nominal fees to enter. But there are ways to get into National Parks for free when you know how. Read this article and learn all the tricks.
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I don’t drink, but have no problem with those who do. But I do find some annoyance with hotels or such that offer free bar drinks as a welcome amenity or elite perk but don’t offer an alternative. Example: Intercontinental stay as an IHG Plat and they offer me two alcohol tickets to the bar. I don’t want these but will take a bottle of water (which they have an opened case sitting behind the counter) and am told no, but I’m welcome to pay $4 to buy one. I understand the unit cost to them for a couple of mixed drinks in minimal, but the unit cost of a bottle of water is pretty low at their volume (when you can buy a what, 36 pack at a consumer wholesale store for less than $0.20 per bottle). I think it’s just cheap.
A little common sense goes a long way. While the ingredients for some bar drinks are fairly inexpensive, it’s hard to compete with average water bottle costing less than $0.25 when bought in bulk. This is definitely a failure of management in educating or empowering employees to make common sense adjustments for the satisfaction of guests.
On a side note, have you tried using the two drink tickets to ask the bartender for bottled water instead or a non-alcoholic drink? They may be more willing to accommodate you than the person behind the front desk counter.