Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for November 2002.

Web panhandler pays

Web panhandler pays off $20,000 debt. After an 18-month bacchanal buying Manolo Blahnik, Gucci and Prada, Karyn Bosnak found herself unemployed and more than $20,000 in credit card debt. When the 29-year-old spotted a sign in a supermarket with an odd request — “Wanted: $7,000 To Pay Off Debt” — it made perfect sense. The television producer launched a similar appeal to a much larger audience: the World Wide Web. Internet panhandling was born. Here’s her website and a spoof website making fun of her.

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I’ve previously noted a loophole

I’ve previously noted a loophole that lets you transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to United Mileageplus miles, even though United does not participate in Membership Rewards. The gist was transferring Membership Rewards points into Continental miles, transferring the Continental miles into Amtrak points, and then transferring the Amtrak points into United miles. (This method also allowed you to move miles out of Continental and into United.) The loophole has been tightened somewhat: Amtrak limits the number of Points that a Member can redeem for Program Partners or Merchants frequent traveler points and/or miles in a calendar year (including but not limited to United MileagePlus, Continental OnePass, Midwest Express Frequent Flyer and Hilton HHonors). The yearly limit for Amtrak Guest Rewards Select Members is 50,000 Points. The yearly limit for standard Amtrak Guest Rewards Members…

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