Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for November 2006.

Miles for Cheese

by Gary Leff

american airlines plane
Nov 12 2006

Specially marked packages of Swiss Knights Fondue and Cheese are offering 500 American Airlines miles. You can pick the stuff up at Costco, Traders Joes, and some supermarkets. Some folks looking to top off their American Airlines accounts may find buying long shelf-life, no need to refrigerate cheese worthwhile just for the miles. The economics aren’t quite as good as buying pudding once was but I suppose you, too, can reduce your cost basis by donating the fondue to charity and taking a tax writeoff. Product website is short on details, such as how long the promotion will run or whether there’s a maximum number of codes a single individual can redeem for their account.

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Starwood’s New Bonus Points Promo

by Gary Leff

Starwood’s new quarterly promo is out. As usual, you have to register and then you’ll find out the offer you get. My offer in the Starry Nights Promo is You’ll earn 3,000 Starpoints after your third stay, 3,000 after your sixth stay and 3,000 after your ninth stay for a total of up to 9,000 bonus Starpoints. So 9000 points for 9 nights between December 1 and February 28. Registration is required by January 31.Some folks get 2000 points for every 2 stays up to 6000 points instead of 3000 points every 3 stays up to 9000. So as they say, “your mileage may vary.”

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And you think it’s tough to spend YOUR miles?

by Gary Leff

I can’t vouch for the veracity of the piece, but Trinidad & Tobago’s Newsday reports that BWIA is not offering any additional mileage redemption seats at all through April 2007. PERSONS wishing to use their BWEE Frequent Flyer Miles to book flights on BWIA may not be able to do so until April 2007 because all mile bookings for confirmed seats on BWIA for the rest of the year and early next year have been filled. Yesterday, Newsday received calls from several concerned persons who said they contacted the BWEE Miles centre and were told that they may not be able to use their Frequent Flyer Miles to book tickets for the remainder of 2006 and possibly the first three months of 2007. Checks by Newsday with the BWEE Miles centre revealed that confirmed seats…

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United Bonus Miles … 5000 to 25,000 miles for ticket purchases

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Nov 11 2006

United is offering: 5,000 bonus miles for completing one qualifying roundtrip 10,000 bonus miles for completing two qualifying roundtrips 25,000 bonus miles for completing three qualifying roundtrips Ticketing and travel must be between November 10 and January 31, and the first roundtrip must be completed by December 31. Only roundtrips qualify, but it looks like all regular paid fare classes count. Registration is required.

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Mileage Programs Drive Airline Profits — and Not Because of “Loyalty”

by Gary Leff

In the second quarter of 2006 United reported net income of $111 million on revenue of $5.1 billion. $97 million of that — 87% — was from “United Loyalty Services,” primarily the Mileage Plus frequent flyer program. In the third quarter of 2006 United reported net income of $220 million on revenue of $5.2 billion. $112 million of that — 51% — was from United Loyalty Services. It’s reasonable to say that United’s frequent flyer program drives its profitability (though it’s certainly possible for the airline to lose enough money that even its frequent flyer program couldn’t make up the difference). Meanwhile, Air Canada’s Aeroplan frequent flyer program (which is a separate publicly traded entity) saw its third-quarter profit jumped 77 percent as it sold more Aeroplan Miles through its commercial partners. Aeroplan earned C$34.3…

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10,000 American Miles for Free Citibank Accounts

by Gary Leff

american airlines plane
Nov 11 2006

There’s been a Flyertalk thread over the past two months on how to earn 10,000 American miles at more or less no cost by opening a Citibank checking and e-savings account and linking an American Airlines Mastercard to those accounts. Even though I have an AA Mastercard! (After all, you can get 20,000 miles or more with first purchase or $250 in purchases with fee waived the first year — and you can cancel before the fee is due, and they’ll give you signup bonuses many times).But the Free Frequent Flyer Miles website has done a writeup on the offer, and now I have no excuse not to participate. Cribbed from their latest update: Super offer through December 31, 2006: Get 10,000 American Airlines miles for linking your existing American Airlines credit card to a…

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Holiday Inn Points Earn You Gold Golf Clubs and Unicycles

by Gary Leff

hotel
Nov 05 2006

This has been out for a few months but it’s my absolute favorite commercial, I can watch it over and over and still laugh. But I’m weird. It’s a great spot on points, but never really tells you why Priority Club is a good program or even how to join. What action are you supposed to take from this commercial? (I guess you’re supposed to ‘look again’ at Holiday Inn because you can earn points?) But it’s sheer brilliance nonetheless.

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Dining for Miles Bonus Offer Roundup

by Gary Leff

Free Frequent Flyer Miles points to a whole bunch of iDine/Rewards Network (dining for miles) bonus offers. Register and dine 5 times for at least $25 or more at participating restaurants by the end of the year to earn elite status in the United Mileage Plus dining program for next year. That means earning 10 miles per dollar spent next year (instead of 1 without an online profile or 3 with a profile). Register for a similar ‘fast track’ to dining elite status in 2007 with the Alaska Airlines program, difference being that qualified dines need to be $20 or more rather than $25. The American Airlines dining program is offering elite status for $250 in spending at participating restaurants by the end of the year. Set up an online account by the end of…

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