Orbitz has increased its booking fee from $5 to $6.
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for July 2003.
Long distance, credit card combo bonus
America West is offering 15,000 miles for signing up for both Spring long distance and an America West credit card. (Link via Gary Steiger.)
Securing upgrades on difficult international routes
A reader asked for some general advice in securing upgrades on international flights. Here are my off the top of the head suggestions. I’d love it if you’d add your own thoughts to the comments section. Be as flexible as possible. Look over a variety of days if you can. Confirmed seats at booking are the goal. Be as creative as possible in routings. Check every possible connection. Know what those connections are because agents won’t necessarily look at them all without your asking about them specifically. Consolidate your flying a bit so that you have top tier status on a carrier. I like having miles on lots of airlines… but having the highest level elite status will help you clear those waitlists. (You can earn miles on lots of airlines by giving your partner…
Win $100,000 and 100 Sheraton Room Nights
Register for Sheraton’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together” sweepstakes.
But who will lobby for the lobbyists?
Actually, the American League of Lobbyists is there to fill that important niche!
Upgrading on Northwest
Reader Les took me up on my offer yesterday to explain specifics about upgrades. He wrote: Thanks for your wonderful site. I really look forward to seeing it every morning. Any specific Northwest suggestions? Hi Les, Thanks for the compliment. Tell me where you fly to and how many miles a year you fly and I’ll make some specific suggestions. In the meantime, I’ll say that Northwest really has an outstanding frequent flyer program. Their first class doesn’t really compare to some of the other airlines, but the loyalty program is really great. The best way to get upgrades on domestic flights with Northwest is to be an elite — fly more than 25,000 miles. Even Northwest Silver (25k/yr) flyers have a really good upgrade percentage — especially out of DC (ed- I surmised the…
Free books or kitchen appliances
Take a survey for a $10 Amazon gift certificate.
Just bought a really cheap office chair — $299 list price for $37
It’s simple, really. Go to Office Depot. Enter coupon code 35179279 in the box that comes up on the screen. Choose ‘order by item number’ on the left hand side of the screen and enter item 680119 (quantity: 1) Buy the item. It comes with free shipping. Print the $20.99 rebate coupon and follow the instructions (mail in the rebate form plus a copy of the receipt and the proofs of purchase from the box). The rebate isn’t available to businesses and is limited to one per household.
Free mini-entertainment book
You can print 3 entertainment book coupons for free just for registering with them (no credit card required).
How to Upgrade to First Class
Jon Douglas outlines the basic strategies for flying first class instead of coach. I don’t agree with all of it. For instance: But if you have the 20,000 miles that a round-trip upgrade costs, it’s probably worthwhile to save up a few thousand more for a coach-class award, or wait until you have the miles needed for a free first-class ticket. I consider upgrades (at least on flights of over three hours each way) to be a better value than a domestic coach ticket. Why? Because I can buy a roundtrip ticket to California for less than $300. I’d gladly pay a $300 premium to sit in first class on those flights! Plus, I’m earning miles on my paid ticket, but not on my award ticket. And finally, the miles on a paid ticket count…
