United complains to the feds about the Alaska/Hawaiian merger, Hyatt buys another boutique brand and the easiest business class flights to actually book. All that and more in this week’s Saturday Selection, our weekly round-up of interesting tidbits from around the interwebs (links to the original articles are embedded in the titles).

United complains to DOT about Alaska/Hawaiian merger

It’s time for this week’s thrilling episode of “As the Merger Turns.” First of all, a quick recap for those folks who haven’t been on pins and needles while following the latest action of the Alaska/Hawaiian merger. Alaska Airlines surprised nearly everyone last year when it announced that it was grossly overpaying for its “off-the-mainland” compatriot, Hawaiian Airlines. While it was a arguably questionable deal for Alaska shareholders, it was very exciting for most of us points and milers. Hawaiian brings a Pacific-Oceania route map and some fresh, widebody 787s that have never before darkened an Alaska hangar, while at the same point providing some potentially exciting ways to load up on roundabout Alaska miles. The DOJ, who hasn’t been a fan of domestic airline mergers over the last few years, spent several months reviewing the transaction, asked for two extensions before finally letting the review period expire without objection. That usually means smooth sailing, so points and miles folks started flocking like Emperor Penguins towards previously ugly ducklings like the Hawaiian credit cards and a transfer bonus from American Express to HawaiianMiles. But, not so fast, my friends. That champion of domestic airline competition and pedigreed consumer advocate, United Airlines, has filed a complaint saying that the merger would violate its own codeshare agreements with Hawaiian, leading to over-consolidation and a negative impact on consumers…an interesting argument from an airline that has an almost 80% market share in Houston International and a 65%+ market share at Newark and Dulles Airports.

So is the merger on or off? Who can say. But, like the Beatles famously sang, “I don’t know why you say aloha when I say aloha.” Or is it the other way around?

The easiest business class flights to book with points

Who doesn’t like international business class? Getting to fly across an ocean or continent in your own bougie little cubby with a seat that doubles as a lie-flat bed is one of the great, obtainable luxuries in modern travel…something that us funny-money hoarders sometimes don’t fully appreciate. That said, it isn’t always easy to find and book space on these pleasure cruises, and seats during school breaks can be like finding cigarettes in prison. Last week, Thrifty Traveler compiled a list of what they consider to be the six easiest business class products to actually seal the deal with when using points and miles (trigger warning – it’s also a bit of an advert for their premium service). Some folks on the East Coast might quibble with the Japan Airlines inclusion, but it’s nonetheless a good rundown on products that tend to have more availability than many others and are worth considering when you’re trying to find a bed in the sky.

Hyatt acquires a small, boutique brand again for the very first time

Hyatt’s been on a bit of an acquisition bender of late. In the last year or so, World of Hyatt has picked-up the boutiqu-y marketing consortium Mr & Mrs Smith (MMS), Germany’s me and all Hotels, and the high-end “glampground” company, Under Canvas. Now, Hyatt is diving even further into the depths of chic, hipster lodging by purchasing the international chain Standard Hotels. Standard is a far-flung company, to say the least. It only has 24 properties, but they’re scattered to the winds, with locations in Australia, Thailand, Singapore, China, The Maldives, Ibiza, London, Mexico and the US. Hyatt describes Standard as being part of an eventual “lifestyle” division that includes other “lifestyle brands” like Andaz, Dream, Thompson, and Hyatt Centric. One wonders how many “lifestyle” brands a company needs to feel well-centered…or even what a “lifestyle brand” is. Regardless, ever since the addition of Mr & Mrs Smith, we hold our breath a little when we see a new Hyatt purchase, waiting to see if these will be a part of the company’s very good-value award chart or the poor-value, dynamically-priced awards that MMS subjects us to (and that’s also shared by Under Canvas). We reached out to Hyatt to see what the pricing would look like on these properties and are still listening to the crickets in the backyard. Hopefully, that’s not an omen of dynamic pricing to come.

Points, miles, FOMO and lifestyle inflation

For points and miles collectors (and spenders), it’s easy for our eyes to be bigger than our stomachs. Ideally, this “hobby” that we’re all involved in is something fun and rewarding, adding rich experience to our families and lives. But, it can be a compulsion as well. The combination of social media and fear of missing out (FOMO) can quickly draw people into spending more time, money and effort than they intend to in pursuit of “maximizing” all those rewards floating around out there. A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about how points and miles should serve our lives and the way we travel, not the other way around. Last week, Leana over at Miles for Family wrote an interesting post in a similar-ish vein about her “…struggle to not let miles and points derail our financial future.” She paints the picture of someone who gets in the “game” looking for points to help take a family vacation to Florida and ends up manufacturing spend in pursuit of vacations to the Maldives and first class flights…that they may never take. It’s a worthwhile weekend read and something to consider for anyone who reads points and miles blogs on the weekend, like me.

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By Alex DeMarban
Anchorage Daily News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The city of Anchorage is tearing down abandoned houses that have become neighborhood eyesores and can attract criminal activity.

Officials with the first-ever program say it’s starting small, but they’re looking to expand it.

The goal is cleaning up neighborhoods and making lots available for new housing to alleviate the city’s severe housing crunch, they say.

The Development Services department, working with other city entities, plans to tear down 10 houses under the program, said Kenny Friendly, a spokesperson for Public Works.

The department is using $500,000 in pandemic funding from the 2021 American Rescue Plan, he said.

The property owners have agreed to the demolitions, he said. The removal of the run-down property benefits them, he said.

Four houses have already been removed, including two in Mountain View, and one each in Fairview and Abbott Loop.

The targeted houses are a stain on the neighborhood, residents say.

They also drain city resources, requiring constant attention through the year to keep them boarded up after people break-in, said Scott Campbell, chief inspector for Development Services. People sometimes move in illegally, litter the yard with waste, start fires or do drugs there, he said. The activity can lead to responses from police and fire departments.

“They’re a hazard,” he said.

The units to be torn down are just some of the 174 properties on the city’s vacant and abandoned building registry, which includes about 25 commercial properties, Friendly said.

Six houses remain to be torn down under the program — two in Spenard, two in Mountain View, one in the Abbott Loop area and one in the Huffman/O’Malley area.

Nearby residents have been ecstatic to see the houses removed, Friendly said.

Jorge Colocho lives in Mountain View near a crumbling house on Hoyt Street.

Built in 1950, the house looks like it was once well-groomed. But it’s now covered with plywood and overgrown with weeds. The roof is falling in, and the exterior walls are ripped open. Someone spray-painted “STAY OUT” across the front.

The abandoned house is a problem, attracting squatters and other criminal activity, Colocho said Thursday.

On nearby Lane Street, the charred remains of an abandoned house have already been demolished under the program.

Last spring, a man pointed a gun at other people in the house and barricaded himself inside to evade police, city officials said. He also started a fire, engulfing the house in flames before police arrested him, they said. Fire crews responded and neighbors evacuated their houses.

Krista Chapman, a nearby resident, walked past the empty lot Thursday.

She’s glad the house is gone, she said.

“It was an eyesore,” she said. “A lot of people threw trash there.”

A boarded-up turquoise house in Fairview was recently demolished as part of the program, along Ingra Street near 13th Avenue.

Anchorage Assembly member George Martinez was there.

The house had been abandoned for years, he said. The yard was piled high with debris like old appliances, furniture, car and bike parts. Two junk cars also occupied the lot.

“The house was ripped and shredded internally, the structure was on a property with all sorts of trash,” Martinez said. “It was horrible, incredibly stinky, and the amount of rodents that ran out of the property was terrifying.”

There’s now an empty lot that could support multiple housing units, he said.

“The opportunity here is that we eliminate blight, reset a property and hopefully get it back on the market,” Martinez said.

The city is taking steps to ensure the program can continue, Martinez said.

Mike Robbins, head of the Anchorage Community Development Authority, is applying for federal funds to do that. The entity would purchase vacant and abandoned properties and prepare them for redevelopment, he said.

James Thornton, president of the Fairview Community Council, said there are several abandoned and boarded-up properties in the neighborhood near downtown.

The Fairview council would like to see them gone, he said.

The dilapidated buildings hurt the quality of life and property values in the neighborhood, he said.

“When you see these abandoned, boarded-up houses, it makes the community feel like it’s not a good place to be, like it’s forgotten about and left behind,” he said. “And that’s not the way we feel about Fairview.”

Friendly said the demolitions can cost $20,000 to $50,000. The removal of hazardous materials can increase costs.

The property owners benefit, he said.

They often live out-of-state, but still pay taxes on the property.

The properties are listed on the city’s vacant and abandoned registry, which requires costly annual payments over time.

The demolition allows the property owners to “wash their hands of issues they deal with year after year,” he said.

They’re left with a cleared lot that they can sell, with utilities already in place for development, he said.

Some of the property owners under the program are selling their cleared lots to the city, he said.

“This is a huge win for the community, Public Works, the assembly and the administration as we take these steps to make Anchorage a better place,” Friendly said.

(c)2024 the Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, Alaska)
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