The Hyatt Visa has a pretty good signup bonus, I used it recently on my trip to Singapore and the Maldives — Base members receive 2 free nights at any Hyatt in the world as a signup bonus, for use within a year. That means the Park Hyatt Paris, in the Maldives, or Sydney are all possibles. The card comes with a $75 fee, but this link which I found advertised on the Hyatt website offers a $75 statement credit after first purchase, effectively making it first year free. And the signup bonus is actually better than it appears at first blush. Existing Platinums get 2 free nights at any Hyatt in the world and two confirmed suite upgrades valid on paid stays. And through May 11, anyone can be a Platinum, instantly. Just enter…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for April 2012.
Starter Tips for Collecting Miles and Points
Over on Conde’ Nast‘s blog, I offer six tips for folks just getting started with miles and points. The basics are: Start with a goal, that motivates you and also helps your choice of program. Nothing worse than finding out you want to go to French Polynesia, but United miles only let you get there flying to New Zealand first. Never pass up miles, always sign up for frequent flyer programs even when it’s not your primary program. The miles add up eventually. Lots of programs become easily manageable at a site like AwardWallet.com. Choose a card that earns flexible points which transfer to miles (Starwood, Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards) and then earn miles for everything you do, I note Gary Steiger’s Free Frequent Flyer Miles is a good resource o make sure…
Traveling with Business Attire in Your Carryon
How to pack without wrinkles: I hate checking bags, though a checked bag maybe a large garment bag would probably be the best way to pack suits and avoid wrinkles. If I had to wait around half an hour on each end of a trip, did just two trips a month, then I’m literally wasting more than a month of my life at baggage claim. And that’s if the bag is delivered each time instead of lost. A large carryon is ideal, most airlines allow 22″ (Alaska Airlines actually allows 24″). But I prefer to go smaller, I really don’t need to travel with that much stuff on a trip that’s four days or less, and I prefer to be as flexible as possible fitting my bag into an overhead bin, whether sitting on the…
Qatar Airways Awards Now Bookable on United Website
Dan L. emails to ask why, in my recent discussions of the Maldives, I didn’t mention flying Qatar? The context was that I had taken very much ‘the long way’ to get to the Maldives, I actually wanted to go to Singapore first, but I probably shouldn’t have returned back through Singapore given that I wasn’t looking for a stopover on the return. And I decided given my preferences for in-flight product and the miles at my disposal that when I go back I’ll probably fly Etihad — they’re a new partner with American, award availability is generally excellent, especially for first class (suites with doors) on the New York JFK – Abu Dhabi route. They’re also adding DC-Abu Dhabi service a year from now which may work out great for me. The connections aren’t…
$50 Mail-in Rebate on 2-Night Weekday Stays through August 2 from IHG
Stay at any Intercontinental Hotels Group property (your Intercontinental, Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc. family of hotels) for 2 weekday nights in a row – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights count – and earn a $50 gift card. The offer is open to US residents only, and registration is required prior to stay. The rebate form must actually be mailed in, with postmark by September 1. Once you get your rebate Mastercard in the mail use it right away, after 6 months from issue date it draws down $3 per month automatically. This has been covered extensively elsewhere, it wouldn’t influence my stay decisions so I didn’t jump on posting it a couple of days ago, but still figured worth flagging because it’s definitely worth registering for in case you wind up with qualifying…
Best Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes Yet at the Andaz 5th Avenue
I’ve certainly written my thoughts ad nauseam on the Andaz 5th Avenue in New York, my usual go-to for overall combination of price and value, for instance here, here, here, and here. (I promise I don’t write about the place every time I stay!) I’ll simply add to the pile by noting the first time I’ve gotten a suite here without balcony, I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed that feature before given that I don’t actually spend time outside on it! I was actually originally assigned a balcony-less suite that was smaller than an XL King (non-suite here), the room didn’t seem to get cell coverage with AT&T. After some initial pushback on assigning a different room (and an offer to buy up to the Presidential Suite), they offered a different suite that worked…
Drag Stars Must Pass Through Security in Drag or Check Their Fake Boobs
Passed along without comment: A Britney Spears drag star contends the Transportation Security Administration is guilty of a double standard: Why were his silicone chicken cutlet breast enhancers a screening issue when women routinely “roll through airports with them?” Derrick Barry said he was turned away at McCarran International Airport on Friday because the cutlets exceeded TSA’s liquid limit of 3.4 ounces for most carry-on items. “Would this happen if I were dressed as Britney Spears?” asked Barry, a featured star in Frank Marino’s “Divas Las Vegas” at Imperial Palace. He was not in drag at the airport. …Which brings up another touchy subject: What about silicone implants in males? “I’ve gone through with my fake butt and my fake boobs and never had a problem,” said Barry’s boss Marino, a Las Vegas drag icon…
Discounted Attendance at Randy Petersen Travel Executive Summit for Milepoint Members
This past week I wrote about the Randy Petersen Travel Executive Summit being held at the Renaissance Newark on Friday, April 27th. I also mentioned it over on the Conde Nast blog where I contribute frequently. Last year’s event was an opportunity to meet the heads of the major loyalty programs, and ask them tough programs. In my post earlier in the week I recapped some of the answers and impressions we got. This year’s is even bigger, with more loyalty program execs. And proceeds from the event go to charity. But it’s also important to make the event accessible to a wide range of frequent travelers. The $99 price (inclusive of lunch) is a barrier to some. So Milepoint has arranged a $49 price (you still get lunch…) with Milepoint making up the difference.…
This is the #1 Travel Blog…and that’s worth making fun of.
Technocrati’s listing of top travel blogs yesterday showed View from the Wing as number one in travel, as well as top 100 in finance and living. I’ve never paid too much attention to the secret sauce involved here, I think it largely has to do with what other blogs deemed influential link to each other, but even that could be off. I don’t place too much stock in this, but it’s still nice to be listed as more influential than Google’s travel blog. Points Envy appropriately skewers the listing and reproduces the graphic with itself inserted in position 3.5. Over the past couple of months, we have spent four or maybe even five hours toiling over credit card bonus details and award booking rules to bring you that hit of information needed to satisfy your…
Frequent Flyers Donate $50,000 to Susan G Komen for the Cure
The oneworld Mega DO raised money for several charities, one of them was Susan G Komen for the cure, and American Airlines has posted a video of receiving that $50,000 check for Komen, with comments by Randy Petersen, AAdvantage President Suzanne Rubin, LeAnn Marchbanks Morris who handles Cause Marketing for American.
