Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for October 2005.

Amtrak Guest Rewards Registration Bonus

by Gary Leff on October 23, 2005

Earn 1000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points for signing up for the program with promo code MIDWS and taking a train trip by April 30. (This is an improvement over the standard 500 point offer.) (Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)

Online Dirty Tricks at American Airlines

by Gary Leff on October 18, 2005

Oct 18 2005

The Wikipedia entry on the Wright Amendment (the law which restricts destinations of flights taking off from Dallas’ Love Field, which serves — and was intended — to protect American Airlines from Southwest) was edited by someone using an American Airlines domain. Someone using an Internet service provider registered to American edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia last week to describe Southwest Airlines as “a notoriously litigious company constantly seeking to change laws to gain an advantage.” For a time, the site also said Dallas-based Southwest is “known for its PR machine and litigious nature.” American dismisses the event as actions by rogue employees that it cannot identify.

Double Elite Qualifying Miles are Back at United

by Gary Leff on October 18, 2005

Oct 18 2005

In what’s becoming an end of year tradition, United is offering Double Elite Qualifying Miles for sale. Register by December 15th, pay $200, and your flight miles from October 25 through December 15th will count double towards 2006 status. No reason to register right away, wait until early December to see whether doubling your flight miles during the qualifying period will bump you up to higher status.

Who gets to issue the USAirways Visa, after all?

by Gary Leff on October 17, 2005

Oct 17 2005

Bank of America, which is being replaced by Juniper Bank as issuer of USAirways’ co-branded credit card, is suing the airline for breach of contract. Bank of America claims it has exclusive rights to offer a co-branded card through December 2008. Juniper Bank has been sold the exclusive right after December 2008… but their deal with USAirways involves a two-year “transition period” in which both banks can issue a card.

Update on Free Electronics Offers

by Gary Leff on October 17, 2005

My free digital camera takes some outstanding pictures, I’ve been using it to take photos of all the hotel rooms I’ve stayed in over the past six months or so. A couple posts below you can see the view from my deck at Bora Bora Nui. I’m still working on the free Xbox 360 though. As long-time readers of this site know, I spent a lot of time figuring out the best ways to go about getting these offers. In general, you have to complete a marketing offer and get several friends (3 to 10, depending on the electronic item you seek) to do the same. If you wait long enough, easy offers will show up — offers that are free or free for a trial period long enough to cancel without getting charged. Customer…

Several United Mileage Offers

by Gary Leff on October 17, 2005

Oct 17 2005

I’ve been swamped the past few days, I have an inbox full of great deals, and no time to cull through them. Fortunately FreeFrequentFlyerMiles does much of the work for me. Gary Steiger points to several worthwhile offers: United’s Silver Wings Plus has a promo (promo code SWA16-2904) — join for $264 and get 25,000 bonus miles, (3) $100 travel credits, and double miles on your next 12,500 flown miles. You’ll have to cancel before the first year is up or they’ll auto-renew you for another $264. Silver Wings Plus is United’s senior citizen program. The offer may expire November 4. United is offering 4,000 miles for signing up for Netflix and paying with a United Visa (2,000 miles otherwise). United is offering up to 36,000 bonus miles for flights to the West Coast and…

St. Regis Bora Bora

by Gary Leff on October 17, 2005

Turns out that the long-awaited Ritz-Carlton on Bora Bora is going to be a St. Regis instead. Louis Wane owns this property along with the Sheraton Tahiti, Sheraton Moorea, and Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa — all managed by Starwood. This latest property should be even more over-the-top luxurious than Bora Bora Nui, where I stayed in June. The Nui is already the most expensive points-redemption property in all of Starwood-dom. Will Starwood have to create a whole new redemption category for the St. Regis? Or will the hotel build a low-end ‘points room’ for SPG guests? Interestingly, Bora Bora Nui was originally intended to become a St. Regis. Two stories explained why this didn’t happen. One was that Louis Wane visited the St. Regis Monarch Beach and St. Regis Los Angeles and was…

Ghost in the Motel

by Gary Leff on October 12, 2005

Are two hotels in Anchorage haunted?

More Proof Of the Tremendous Economic Value of Frequent Flyer Programs

by Gary Leff on October 10, 2005

Oct 10 2005

United’s Mileage Plus is such an important economic engine that JP Morgan Chase, which issues United’s co-branded credit card, has been the largest funder of the airline’s bankruptcy. It’s BankOne unit put up hundreds of millions of dollars in debtor-in-possession financing and JP Morgan is putting up a chunk of United’s $3 billion in bankruptcy exit financing. Now a deal to extend the co-branding relationship together with a large pre-purchase of airline miles is taking the place of hundreds of millions of dollars in reserves that United would have to post to its credit card processor (which is majority-owned by JP Morgan). As part of a deal extending United’s co-branding relationship with J. P. Morgan Chase through 2012, the bank agreed to make a “substantial” advance purchase of miles from United, according to an Oct.…

Monthly Archives

Amtrak Guest Rewards Registration Bonus

Online Dirty Tricks at American Airlines

Double Elite Qualifying Miles are Back at United

Who gets to issue the USAirways Visa, after all?

Update on Free Electronics Offers

Several United Mileage Offers

St. Regis Bora Bora

Ghost in the Motel

More Proof Of the Tremendous Economic Value of Frequent Flyer Programs

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About Gary Leff

	Bilt Mastercard® Earn Points Paying Rent (up to 100,000 each year) plus earn 3x at restaurants; 2x on travel; as long as you make at least 5 purchases per month. No annual fee.
	Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months (See rates and fees)
	Citi® / AAdvantage Business^TM World Elite Mastercard® For a limited time, earn 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening. AAdvantage miles are the currency I've redeemed most.[See rates and fees]