I guess the Customer Service in the US is better then, because dealing with Lufthansa InTouch Brno etc. (previously known as Lufthansa Global Telesales), AF/KLM - which is mostly handled by BlueLink in Prague - is a royal pain in the back. Even Singapore Airlines has outsourced its Customer Service to Teleperformance Hellas in Athens and the service provided sucks most of the time.

Regarding Rental Cars: I used to book via Hertz with my CDP No. (CDP Name: : HERTZ EUROPE SRVC CNT LT), but nowadays it is only 15 % discount. Used to be 50 % back in the days, more than all the VIP's with their management invitation etc. got. Nowadays I prefer a broker like Sunnycars with all the insurance etc. included.

I'm a little confused as to how you inferred narvik thinks customer service from US airlines is somehow praiseworthy.

The way I read his post is that he feels, in places other than China, it is often more efficacious to deal directly with airlines. I agree with this idea, for the most part.

When it comes to booking flights in Europe nowadays it is better to deal with Trip.com, even E-Traveli via Chat etc. than with the Airline customer service. LH InTouch, BlueLink, TP Hellas are on a race to the bottom of whats possible.

If one followed the issues with Saudia and rebookings after flight the Seoul flight cancellations, that also seems to be the case for some of the MEA Airlines.

Back in the days, when I used to work for Hertz in the European Service Centre in Ireland, (mind you that was almost 20 years ago) we told Airline staff to deal with their issue once they are back in the USA...because back then, at least compared to Europe, Service/Customer seemed to be King....but I do not know how it is nowadays. I am out of the loop for ages so to speak.

For Marriott and Hilton hotels in mainland China, is it worth the hassle to go through Ctrip or Trip?

I'm pretty sure Marriott doesn't award points for third party bookings (Hilton seems a little more lenient but there is fine print), and I know that both Marriott and Hilton guarantee that their official channels will have the best rates. Ctrip does frequently undercut official channel rates though, so it might be worth checking their rates for due diligence purposes and possibly to use as ammo for a price match claim.

I have not used a TA (online or otherwise) for years. If one books a flight with Trip/CTrip, would the airline status work? Would you get miles?

Sounds like at least for Marriott, it is better to book direct.

I see these Chinese Youtubers travelling in Mainland China getting really cheap hotel rates at local hotels that seem decent. I guess those might be those who are NOT officially "equipped" to handle foreigners?

Airlines and hotels work very differently with OTAs. Airlines pay very little in commissions to OTAs, but passengers who book their flights with OTAs will generally earn frequent flyer miles and enjoy their statuses with the airlines. Hotels, OTOH, pay much higher commissions to OTAs, but guests who book their stays with OTAs generally won't earn frequent guest points, or enjoy their elite statuses (with some rare exceptions).

For Hilton Gold, overseas properties seem to honor the benefits better than the US properties. Do you still get upgrade and free breakfast in China if you book through Trip.com?

Hotel brands set their minimum standards for elite benefits and Hilton sets a low minimum standard, compared to Hyatt or Marriott, but individual hotels can go above and beyond those minimum standards (and many in China and elsewhere in Asia often do). In the US, there're simply too many guests with elite statuses (particularly Hilton, because Hilton Gold, for example, comes automatically with a $150/yr AmEx card).

Generally speaking, you wouldn't get elite benefits (upgrades, free breakfast, etc.) when you book through a third-party OTA (some premium credit cards offer their own specially curated hotel collections that provide similar benefits if you book hotels in those collections through such channels). Again, some (few) individual hotels may provide some elite benefits to their frequent guests even though they aren't required to do so.

I generally don't book stays at hotels where I have elite statuses. Because hotels in Asia (including China) tend to provide better elite benefits (and more of them provide executive lounges), booking through an OTA (including trip.com) almost never makes sense if you value those elite benefits (or stay credits or hotel points), IMO.

The easy to reach Diamond-tier status will be a thing of the past starting at the end of October.

To reach the Diamond-tier status afterwards you have to have 12 bookings. The eight bookings after one has reached Platinum-tier status have to have a minimum value of USD 1.000 to be eligible for the new Diamond-tier status.

I was in Amsterdam last May and we could not buy tickets for the Van Gogh Museum (5 days ahead) on their website as they were sold out. To my great surprise, we got 4 tickets on ctrip. The fee was small but it was our only alternative.
I was quite surprised by this.

I just realized that trip.com platinum and diamond status offers a lounge benefit. In Asia, the eligible airports are Changi, Daxing, Pudong, Hong Kong, Narita, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang.

Link: https://www.trip.com/ask/questions/t...ge-access.html

My question is specific to Changi and Hong Kong. From the link above, trip.com mentions the SG Silverkris lounge and Cathay's The Pier First Class. If true, this would be a real benefit, especially if you're traveling on a ticket that wouldn't normally get you access. Has anyone tried to use this benefit?

(note that this benefit can only be used once with platinum, and twice with diamond)

Dang, thanks for that - I had no idea.
Had to check: I am Diamond with trip.com, so will definitely try and make use of that benefit, although not sure I can, given that all those airports are not ones I often frequent.


EDIT:
Okay, so I may actually have the opportunity to make use of a lounge access at Narita, BUT: looks like trip.com only offers lounges there that I'd have access to with PriorityPass/StarAlliance Gold anyways.
With PriorityPass having fewer and fewer accessible lounges, I was hoping trip.com had access to some better ones. Oh, well....

Yeah, that's why I highlighted the two lounges at HKIA and Changi. If those are accessible by trip.com status, then there's some value.

What you say about PP resonates... I was at Haneda today, and the only PP lounge has been pushed out to near gate 108 where you go down, vs. up, for most other lounges. It's ok, but it's in the basement basically.

I went there just to check it out a few weeks ago. Got depressed pretty swiftly and left immediately! :)