Sunday, February 21, 2010

“Solomon Jones: Miserable? Hardly! Here's 20 reasons to appreciate Philly - Philadelphia Inquirer” plus 2 more

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“Solomon Jones: Miserable? Hardly! Here's 20 reasons to appreciate Philly - Philadelphia Inquirer” plus 2 more

Solomon Jones: Miserable? Hardly! Here's 20 reasons to appreciate Philly - Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 04:00 PM PST

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MEN'S HEALTH said we were fat, and I almost said something, but then I looked around and conceded that they might have a point. Travel and Leisure said we were ugly, and again I held my tongue, because, well, we're not always the most fetching bunch. But the other day, when Forbes said Philadelphia was the 20th-most-miserable city in America, I'd had enough.

So what if we've gained a few pounds since the '70s, when fighting-trim Philly natives with names like Bennie Briscoe and Boogaloo Watts were winning all those middleweight fights? And maybe we're not tall and leggy like New York (which may be a good thing, since Forbes says New York is more miserable than we are).

This is Philadelphia. We don't diet. We don't wear makeup. We eat cheesesteaks. Does that make us bad people? Maybe, but we still don't like agitators coming down I-95 and threatening our way of life.

Sure, other cities might be nicer. But behind their porcelain smiles and tired McMansions are cities just as miserable as ours. Philadelphia? We've embraced our misery, because misery is a fat, ugly lover who's a really good cook.

So go ahead, Forbes, trash Philadelphia. You can't say anything about us that we don't already know.

Yes, our subways are kinda smelly, and sometimes the rats wait for trains with us when they've got really pressing appointments.

Yes, we've got street vendors who have no visible means of washing their hands.

Yes, some of our streets are so dirty it would take a nuclear explosion to remove the grime, but we're trying to do better, and we don't need no stinkin' magazine to tell us about that or any other shortcoming, including that tired old story about Eagles fans booing Santa Claus.

You wanna know why we booed that fool? We booed him because he was too skinny to be Santa Claus, especially in a city like Philly, where a week on

cheesesteaks is enough to make Olive Oyl look like Big Butt Bertha.

That's right, we booed him. We pelted him with snowballs, too. As bad as it looked to the pinky-in-the-air tea-drinkers at Forbes, Philadelphians knew what we were doing. We were making sure they never tried that skinny Santa mess again.

I love that about Philly. In fact, I love a lot of things about Philly. That's why I'm going to refute our ranking as America's 20th- most-miserable city by listing the 20 things that make Philadelphia a fun place to live:

1. We're fat, we're ugly, and we still manage to mack the honeys.

2. We don't go to the club. We take the club to you.

3. William Penn. From certain angles on the Ben Franklin Parkway, he's kinda vulgar.

4. The Ben Franklin Parkway. So what we stole the idea from Paris? It's still hot.

5. Joe Frazier. He beat Ali. 'Nuff said.

6. Rocky. Even our fake fighters are tough.

7. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Steps are cool. Can't wait to see the inside!

8. Kelly Drive. The Seine . . . ain't got nothin' . . . on us!

9. Philly girls: Tough, tender, treacherous.

10. Philly guys: Crazy, critical, and did I mention crazy?

11. Pat's Steaks. The only place where you can order a heart attack wit' onions.

12. Lawn chairs. In winter, they make great parking-space holders.

13. Will Smith, our most famous export.

14. Temple University. I met my wife there (she made me say that).

15. All my books. Buy them.

16. Soft pretzels. A staple of the Philadelphia high-carb diet.

17. The Phillies. What other team wins a World Series game in a monsoon?

18. History as a moneymaker. Who knew?

19. Penn's Landing. The scene of my first date with LaVeta (she made me say that, too).

20. It's home.

Solomon Jones' column appears every Saturday. He can be reached at

sj@solomonjones.com

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Hotel loyalty points struggle intensifies - Reuters

Posted: 21 Feb 2010 04:00 PM PST

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hilton Worldwide's recent decision to raise the number of loyalty points required for a free stay at its hotels has some rivals smelling blood.

Competitors like InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG.L), Best Western and Carlson Hotels have announced promotions aimed squarely at potentially-disgruntled Hilton stalwarts.

"I've already shifted -- I'm taking 25 nights from Hilton and giving them to Sheraton," said Troy Myers, a Nashville-area consultant who is on the road some 200 nights a year. "I will still spend well over a 100 nights at Hilton -- but not 150."

Cutbacks in corporate travel spending during the recession have made the struggle to attract well-heeled customers more cutthroat than ever -- and the use of loyalty programs as an enticement is a major part of that struggle. At the same time hotel companies seeking to cut costs are wary of offering too many free rooms.

Hilton, acquired in 2007 by Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) and now struggling under a huge debt load, in mid-January rejigged its loyalty plan -- effectively devaluing members' point balances by about 20 percent.

Many of the company's top-tier customers have lit up message boards with complaints about the move, showing they are not quite as devoted to the brand as the road-warrior played by George Clooney in the recent hit movie "Up in the Air."

InterContinental, operator of brands like Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, plans to give out more than 400 million loyalty points to its members who lost Hilton points, while Carlson early this month dropped by as much as a third the number of points needed for a stay at one of its top-tier properties, like the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino.

Best Western said on Thursday it would match the elite status of any other hotel loyalty program free of charge. Operators like Marriott International Inc (MAR.N) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT.N) will do the same thing, but typically require a certain number of stays to keep the status.

"What we heard loud and clear was that there was quite a lot of customers that seem to be upset about this," said InterContinental chief marketing officer Tom Seddon. "People think about loyalty points as cash in the bank."

Executives from hotel companies, including InterContinental, Marriott, and Starwood, are due to speak at the Travel and Leisure Summit, being held at the Reuters office in New York this week.

LOUNGE REPLACED BY COFFEE AND PASTRY AT STARBUCKS

It is not unprecedented for hotel operators to change their loyalty reward structures, but Hilton's move at a time of great economic uncertainty and weak hotel rates has some observers scratching their head.

"I understand the business challenges Hilton faces -- the points are a financial liability for the company on their balance sheet," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Forrester Research. "Hilton for a while ... had a more generous program. Apparently they didn't see a commensurate improvement in market share or room rates paid by honors program members."

The loyalty plan for the operator of chains ranging from Hampton Inn to Waldorf-Astoria is called Hilton HHonors.

"We had an increase in free night redemptions. We did see a need to recalibrate," said Jeff Diskin, senior vice president of global customer marketing at Hilton.

He said the Hilton program is now in line with loyalty plans at key competitors like Marriott and Starwood and the company plans to widen the scope of its program beyond just points.

But one perk for frequent guests that may be getting shorter shrift at some brands these days is the executive lounge -- an area of the hotel that caters to its most loyal customers with free drinks, breakfast and hors d'oeuvres.

High-profile Hiltons, like those near San Francisco's Union Square and Anaheim, California's Disneyland, have closed their lounges. Top-tier Hilton HHonors members now receive coupons for coffee and pastry at Starbucks.

Hilton's flagship San Diego Bayfront property, which opened a year ago, has no executive lounge.

"Executive lounges were a cost center, not a profit center -- especially in union markets," Bjorn Hanson, a hospitality professor at New York University said, in reference to hotels that have higher wages because of labor union agreements. "Owners didn't mind running them when things were doing well, but now they are cutting back."

Harteveldt also said hotels in general have been paring back their executive lounges.

"The reason is some of their most frequent guests are the least profitable -- they know how to shop and get discounts. The hotel ends up not making money," he said.

He and others said hotels are going to have to take a look at loyalty programs and say "if you pay us more, you will get more."

(Reporting by Deena Beasley, editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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WEEKAHEAD-The view from Reuters Editors in the Americas - Reuters

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 02:26 PM PST

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Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

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