Monthly Archives for December 2005.
As a companion to the best ever American Airlines Mastercard offer, Citibank is also offering 20,000 bonus miles and fee waived the first year on its Business Mastercard.
Priority Club is offering 3000 bonus points or 1000 bonus miles for every third night you stay between January 16 and April 30, 2006. Members can earn the bonus 10 times. Registration is required.
There’s a new Priority Club Visa offer which is better than the standard 10,000 points with first purchase: 15,000 bonus points with first purchase Free $20 statement credit with first purchase 10,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on the card each year No fee the first year ($29/year thereafter) Gold status in the Priority Club program (which doesn’t offer much) It’s still not a great card to put large amounts of spending on. It only offers 1 Priority Club point per dollar spent (3 per dollar at Priority Club hotel properties, e.g. Intercontinental and Holiday Inn). I’d take almost any other card’s earning strength. But the offer is an improved one and the signup bonus is nice. And the earning isn’t bad when earning 3 points per dollar spent or if you put exactly the…
One of the easiest stories to do on travel right now is the exploding cost of Manhattan hotel rooms. USA Today‘s Matt Krantz turns in the obligatory piece, focusing on the $330 a night Super 8 and then draws the stark contrast For less than the price of the Times Square Super 8, guests could stay this week at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, for $249 a night. It boasts an award-winning high tea, a cigar bar and full spa. The Super 8 offers an iron and ironing board. Of course, the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix isn’t anywhere near Wall Street or Broadway, making it difficult to use as a jumping off point for New York City’s business and sights. But the point is still a shocking one. (On less busy nights New York City properties are of…
David Rowell reviews the new Randy Petersen/Tim Winship book, Mileage Pro. His bottom-line: If people buy the book to get a complete standalone and ordered presentation of all data that would otherwise take a lot of surfing to try and piece together, they may be disappointed. But if they buy the book seeking a strategic overview of what mileage programs are all about and how best to approach them, they’ll be very pleased. My copy hasn’t arrived in the mail yet, it was held up slightly waiting to be autographed by the authors, but I’m looking forward to reading it!
About 30,000 people were mistakenly added to a terrorism watch list that causes them to be selected for extra screening. Kennedy said that travelers have had to ask the TSA to clear their identities from watch lists by submitting a “Passenger Identity Verification Form” and three notarized copies of identification documents. On average, he said, it takes officials 45 to 60 days to evaluate the request and make any necessary changes. The government made a mistake. It’s up to affected people to file paperwork to get things straightened out. But even then the government still adds an extra hassle because there’s still someone else (not those affected) out there. After submitting their notarized forms and identifications, and waiting for evaluations, the vast majority of the people mistakenly matched to names on the watch list have…
Hartwick and Grove, which offers overpriced wine and expensive shipping, is finally worth buying from. They’ve got a mega-United mileage offer: Earn 25,000 Mileage Plus miles. When you spend over $1,000 on a single Hartwick & Grove order and pay with your Mileage Plus Visa Card, you’ll receive 25 miles per dollar. That’s 25,000 miles for a $1,000 purchase. As you know, 25,000 miles gets you a round trip ticket to anywhere United flies in the continental United States, so start making travel plans. * Harvest special offer now through December 31, 2005. Earn 2500 extra bonus miles when you spend $50. This is in addition to the miles per dollar spent. Offer limited to one 2500 bonus per mileage number. Mileage Plus Visa cardholders: Double Your Miles – Earn 20 miles per dollar spent!…
The Airport Security Screening Playset — unfortunately, it’s out of stock. They’re supposed to email me when it’s available again. Concurring Opinions already has one, and reports that it’s not very realistic: There was only one passenger to be screened. Where were the long lines? The passenger’s clothing wasn’t removable for strip searching. The passenger’s shoes couldn’t be removed either. Her luggage fit easily inside the X-ray machine. There were no silly warning signs not to carry guns or bombs onto the plane. And there was no No Fly List or Selectee List included in the playset. Another oddity was that the toy came with two guns, one for the police officer and one that either belonged to the X-ray screener or the passenger. The luggage actually opened up, and the gun…
Amtrak’s online mall is offering 100 points for spending $100 by the end of the year.
The W Hotel Store is offering 20% off everything through December 9 with code P4X8A.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
