Roundup: Articles From Around the Web
Here are some posts from around the web that I thought you may find interesting. Let me know if there is anything good I missed. Email me anything awesome that you find, or write, at Mark@milestomemories.com.
Articles
Resorts World Las Vegas opens underground loop station connecting to convention center – News 3 Las Vegas
We have more Uber in tunnels! Good to see the system expanding and it should help Resorts World with bookings for anyone going to the convention center for an event (the few that are happening these days). I am sure we will discuss this on this week’s MtM Vegas.
Gift Cards Are the Gift That Keeps on Giving—But Not for You – The Wall Street Journal
I know this is behind the paywall so I’ll share some of the more interesting blurbs.
“Mercator Advisory Group forecasts more than $1 trillion will be loaded onto gift cards this year. The effective cost for companies of that mountain of cash? Less than zero…
Unused or expired cards cost consumers, and earned companies, more than $14 billion in 2020, Mercator estimates…
… Starbucks had a liability of $1.95 billion for unredeemed cards as of Jan. 2 and it decided the previous fiscal year that $181.1 million of cards it had sold would never be used. That was up from less than $40 million in 2015. The free loans swell around the holidays: Amazon.com had $5.2 billion in cards outstanding at the end of last year…
…Today, many cards are purchased off racks in places like grocery stores that get a small cut, along with middlemen like Blackhawk Network that distribute the cards. It is easy to get the impression that retailers and restaurants are pleased to see gift cards get lost, but that isn’t so: The only thing better than having a customer give you free money and forget about it is to have them use a card and then spend sums they wouldn’t have otherwise. A recent survey by Blackhawk showed 41% of recipients planned to spend at least $50 more than the face value of the cards they received.
The lower the card’s value, the more likely customers were to “overspend,” in industry parlance.
…And while recipients might think of a gift card as equivalent to cash, they are just an IOU. When companies go bust, the cards often become worthless overnight, as holders of $210 million in plastic bookmarks bearing the Borders logo learned the hard way…
…Even today, the bills in your wallet or the coins in your sofa cushions are a free loan to Uncle Sam. The value of circulating banknotes between $1 and $20 that most normal people might use is around $300 billion—less than the gift cards outstanding.
Some pretty insane numbers right there.
Understanding the Summer Air Travel Mess – New York Times
An interesting look at what is going on. And kind of interesting to see that the rates aren’t that much worst then back in 2019. Although with millions of flights a percent adds up plus these are all hitting at the same time etc. It goes along well with my article on if increased fuel costs are really the reason that airfare prices are way up.
Conclusion
Which article did you find most interesting? Remember to let me know of anything you come across that you want added into the next edition at Mark@milestomemories.com.
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Far as gift cards I make sure to only buy discounted to begin with. And I keep my receipts until I know they have been zeroed out.
That is a good way to do it Donald.
It might be be Uber in tunnels…but this one you can pay in Dogecoin hah! https://lvloop.com/tickets
Haha nice