Reader Robert writes: Hilton Amex talked me into upgrading from Hilton Amex Plat to “Surpass” mostly because of Gold status; it’s $75/yr + ~ 15k bonus miles?; I have Plat Amex and Plat Intercontinental (ambassador); I almost never stay w/Hilton. Should I back out? and just ask for a match? Should I use US Air winter discount (60k ea) for Envoy to CDG from BOS for my mom & me just to burn? we ea have ~65k dividend mi or is there something better? (membership rewards, CO, Delta, AA) So here’s my rather rambling reply, a bit off-the-cuff and unedited. The value in the Hilton Surpass card is $40k in spend gets you Diamond (top tier) status with Hilton. If you can put $40k in spend on the card, it’s great. Otherwise not worth a…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for October 2009.
20% Discount on United Transatlantic Coach Awards — This Week Only
This week only United is offering a 20% discount on awards between the 48 contiguous United States and Canada and Europe or the Middle East. Book by October 31, 2009 for travel between January 10, 2010 and March 15, 2010 to or from Amsterdam (AMS), Brussels (BRU), Frankfurt (FRA), Geneva (GVA), London (LHR), Moscow (DME), Munich (MUC), Paris (CDG), Rome (FCO), Zurich (ZRH), Kuwait (KWI) and the United Arab Emirates (DXB). United metal only, no Star Alliance or other partner flights.
50% Bonus on Transfers from Diners Club to British Airways
I admit, I didn’t think they were bringing this one back. It used to be, perhaps before 5 years ago, that every year there would be a 100% bonus on transfers from Diners Club to British Airways. And then they reduced the bonus to 50%, but they brought it back every year. It was usually a summer bonus. And this year summer came and went, and no word. I thought it was the end of the line for this lucrative bonus, and said so on Flyertalk. They’ve been slowly killing the card for awhile now, losing partners and taking away benefits, and you can’t even apply for a new Diners Club card these days. So I was pleasantly surprise to read the news today that the bonus is back (or is about to come back..):…
New Website for My Award Booking Service
There have been published kudos and media coverage for my award booking service. So I’ve decided to set up a simple page: BookYourAward.com — to lay out the specifics. Please drop me a line if I can ever help plan your award, gary -at- bookyouraward.com.
Continental is Liberated from Skyteam, Star Will Be Much Better for Onepass Members
Continental exited Skyteam last night. Or as I prefer to think about it, they were liberated. That’s because on Tuesday they join the Star Alliance. Continental has always been known to be stingy in offering award inventory. And this was a huge deal, because their partners were known to be the stingiest as well. Skyteam award inventory isn’t nearly as generous as Star or oneworld counterparts. Just try booking more than one business class seat at the same time on the same flights between the U.S. and Asia. Going forward I still expect Continental to manage its own award inventory in a similar way. After all, Continental offers relatively small international premium cabins and employs a strategy to actually sell those seats (at a discount) rather than offering them for redemption. Continental is also known…
Even in my dreams (aka How to Earn Lifetime Status on American Airlines)
I’ve neglected my American Airlines account too much lately. I haven’t earned much there over the psat several months, there have been too many great promos elsewhere and I feel like I’m ‘wasting’ credit card spend putting miles into that account. Don’t get me wrong, American Airlines miles are useful! I have an upcoming award trip in Cathay First… But I’m really a much bigger fan of Star Alliance than oneworld, mostly for the larger number of carriers offering an international first class product (and in that regard, I don’t even think American’s own product really counts). But it’s probably been a bit of a mistake. I’m a lifetime Gold elite member with American, because theirs is the only program offering lifetime status based on miles earned in an account from any source. One million…
The Practical Implication of the Hilton HHonors Devaluation, or How I’m Changing My Behavior
I’ve written about Hilton’s plan to devaluae their points here and here. Come mid-January many properties will require 25% more points, bizarre in a world where hotels are getting killed, rates are down and so is occupancy. One Mile at a Time‘s comments, “I have about 300,000 Hilton points I need to burn, so I guess it’s time to start thinking about where I want to go.” This got me thinking, how will I change my behavior as a result of Hilton’s gutting the value of my HHonors stash? The thing is that I’ve always found HHonors points to be situationally useful, especially for redemeptions in small cities on personal travel when I don’t want to come out of pocket. Or other pedestrian travels where the hotel is a place to sleep, rather than the…
Even Better: bmi 5000 mile bonus signup offer!
Yesterday I posted a 4000 mile signup offer for bmi’s Diamond Club. It turns out there’s actually a 5000 mile signup offer — so even better! Especially because that’s enough to redeem the lowest cash and points mileage award, just for creating an account. Although do be aware that they’ll only let you redeem signup bonus miles for yourself if you have no other miles in your account. (Hat tip to Flyertalk’s abcx)
4000 Bonus Miles for Joining bmi Diamond Club
Through January 31, bmi is offering 4000 miles for joining its frequent flyer program. And bmi miles stretch pretty far, since they offer one way awards and a cash and points option. They’re especially generous with earning miles on premium class fares, and still offer minimum miles for those short hop flights. So a non-elite United flyer going Los Angeles – Las Vegas would earn 600 miles by crediting the flight to bmi rather than 236 miles crediting the flight to United.
George Clooney Explains His 10 Million Frequent Flyer Mile Goal
New clip of Up in the Air released: “I don’t spend a nickel if I can help it unless it somehow profits my mileage account.” “Well we all need a hobby.”
