Via Frugal Travel Guy, here’s a link for an online offer of 50,000 bonus United miles (presumably after $250 in spending on the card within three months) and first year fee waived for the United Visa. Outstanding offer, I’ve never seen a better one. This was recently available as a phone-in opportunity, but that was pulled. This link is likely intended to be targeted to folks who received a specific mailing. But it should still work for anyone. If by some change you don’t automatically receive your bonus, be sure to have printed each page along the way or saved them as .pdf files to show the offer you signed up for. That said, I wouldn’t anticipate that there will be any difficulties. Most folks are able to get the signup bonus for each specific…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for May 2010.
The Alaska Airlines Amazing Pancake Machine
Flyertalk member 1Ksuperstar reports on a miracle of modern domestic lounge innovation: the Alaska Airlines Amazing Pancake Machine. It’s self-serve, push button pancake technology, 1Ksuperstar’s photo: This has to be topped only by the Amazing Beer Machine in the Tokyo United Red Carpet Club: It’s truly the little things. And when you’re used to domestic lounges in the US, the littlest things really do impress. After all, no Lufthansa beer gardens here in the States!
For My Aussie Readers… Get Your Qantas Frequent Flyer Joining Fee Waived
Folks in the rest of the world are often shocked to learn that Qantas actually charges Australians to join its frequent flyer program. Now, the easiest way around this is to use an address elsewhere, I joined Qantas Frequent Flyer for free here in the U.S. Or credit your miles to American if you can (e.g. if most of your miles are from flying, and if you aren’t going to fly enough where upgrades are an issue), American has a more generous premium class long-haul award chart for sure. But this Flyertalk thread points out that you can save the AUD$85 joining fee by signing up through Woolworths Everyday Rewards.
Map of Dangerous Areas of Bangkok
Most of the media attention on the current situation in Bangkok doesn’t really differentiate between areas of conflict and the rest of the city (or country, for that matter). Via Bangkok Pundit, Richard Barrow has been frequently updating a Google Map that shows where violence is taking place in Bangkok. Areas to avoid in Bangkok this weekend: Sala Daeng/Silom area, Lumpini Boxing Stadium/Bon Kai area and Ratchaprarop to Din Daeng area including Victory Monument. Would I head to Bangkok now, all things equal? Probably not, though I have no concerns transiting Bangkok at this point. And if I had an overnight and didn’t want to stay at the airport I’d probably head down to the river via the Chonburi expressway, though I might take a less direct route depending on the hotel I was staying…
Air India’s Entry Into Star Alliance Delayed Until March 2011
On the heels of Brazilian carrier TAM joining Star Alliance, comes news that Air India’s entry is delayed again. The invitation for Air India to join Star was made in late 2007, and their new timeline for getting their act together and meeting all requirements is now March, 2011. So it will have taken them more than 3 years. The biggest remaining hurdle, apparently, is that they have to integrate the IT systems of their two separate carriers (Air India and Indian Airlines). Meanwhile, Star must be getting impatient as Air India acknowledges that Star is having conversations with Jet Airways as well. ‘India is a growing market. So it can have more than one member. The market is bound to grow. But we have made it clear to Star Alliance that Jet Airways should…
Lunch At The Fat Duck Restaurant
(…The Fat Duck Review: a continuation of my trip report “Cathay & British Airways First Class, Philippines and Macau, a Presidential Suite, and the Fat Duck Restaurant”) When planning my American Airlines Oneworld award, I decided to pop through London on the way back to the US. It meant that I’d be able to try British Airways First Class (I’ve flown ClubWorld only in the past) and I’d be able to eat at the Fat Duck Restaurant. Ever since my meal at El Bulli in 2008, I’ve wanted to try the Fat Duck. At the time of the meal, only Heston Blumenthal and his three Michelin stars had bested El Bulli in the San Pellegrino/Restaurant Magazine ratings over the previous 5 years. Now, in fairness I’ll be the first to quibble with those rankings. In…
What are the Very Best Value Mileage Awards?
By reader request, here’s my take on the very best airline mileage award values. I’ll offer my top five. New York-JFK – London Heathrow roundtrip in Virgin Upper Class for 63,000 ANA points. What’s more, they don’t hit you with the extortionate fuel surcharges that Virgin does with their own program when you redeem the same flights. (Theirs is a distance-based chart, from other nearby East Coast cities the roundtrip award is 68,000 points). The award would cost the same on other Star carriers as well. East Coast of the US to Europe in business class, 4 stopovers in addition to destination, for 80,000 Asiana points using Star Alliance partners. Even better if you earn those miles for $40,000 in spend on the Bank of America-issued Asiana American Express. The Asiana chart is distance-based, the…
20,000 American Airlines Miles for a Citibank Checking Account
Ripped from Gary Steiger’s site: 20,000 American Airlines offer. Open and fund a qualifying Citibank regular checking account with a minimum of $1,000 by June 30, 2010. Within the first month of opening your account, start making:at least one (1) monthly direct deposit into your checking account; or at least two (2) electronic bill payments each month from your account; or five (5) or more qualifying signature purchase transactions each month using your Citibank debit card and continue doing so for three (3) consecutive months and earn your first 10,000 American Airlines dvantage® bonus miles. Continue for the next nine (9) months and earn an additional 10,000 Advantage® bonus miles. I leave it to you to carefully read the terms and conditions and fees for both the miles offer and for the account.
The Waldorf Hilton, London: a continuation of “Cathay & British Airways First Class, Philippines and Macau, a Presidential Suite, and the Fat Duck Restaurant”
Last November, after my stay at the Prince de Galles in Paris, I decided that I would always endeavor to pick a hotel in a major European city that had an executive lounge. Now, the Euro has been falling relative to the dollar in recent weeks (oh, those profligate Greeks, Portugese, and Spaniards, you make the Italians look fiscally responsible!). But Europe is just really hard on my wallet, and a lounge there yields especially good value — for my morning coffee, for breakfast, for access to water. I’ll never ‘get’ Europeans who don’t drink water and no I’m not willing to chug multiple bottles of marked-up Evian over lunch every day. So I decided to burn some Hilton points for London, and as a Diamond I had heard that the executive lounge at the…
The Broad Array of Travel Sites Offering Cashback via Ebates
To follow up on my earlier post about receiving cashback or miles for travel bookings — something I try to remember to do for the myriad bookings I wind up making for other people especially — I surveyed the cashback offers at e-bates. Some of them are pretty good, and several of them are ones I hadn’t realized existed. For instance, I rent from Avis all the time. I book at their website, and never go through a portal. So I’m giving up my 3% cashback from ebates. (Dollar offers 3.5%, Thrifty 3%, and Enterprise 2% but I wouldn’t ever rent from Enterprise.) I’m an Intercontinental Royal Ambassador member, I make my bookings on their website, and don’t go through the ebates portal — I’m giving up 5% cashback on Intercontinental/Priority Club family hotels. Wow,…
