I used to really like the Chase AARP card, it offered 5% cash back on all spending for the first six months, it was great to get if you were about to do a major home improvement project or pay a huge tax bill. Sadly the 5% cash back isn’t offered on that anymore, but a reader passes along that Citi has a no annual fee Thank You Preferred Card offer of 5 Thank You Points per dollar spent on all purchases for the first six months. Given the expectation that Citi Thank You Points will become transferable to airline miles (eg Singapore Airlines, British Airways, possibly even American) in the coming weeks or months, this could be even more valuable. It’s possible the transfer option will be limited to cardholders with specific flavors of…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for April 2012.
April 23 Daily Getaway: Cheap Hotel Stays or Airline Miles from Wyndham
On Monday I wrote about the first two weeks of Daily Getaway offers from American Express and the US Travel Association. The really wasn’t anything I found enticing. The concept is that there are a limited number of items available for each offer, deep discounts on travel packages that you can pre-purchase. But the first two weeks of deals weren’t things I’d want to prepay for, either because the items didn’t interest me (20% discount on Marriott Travel Cards — great for frequent Marriott guests) or because they weren’t so deeply discounted (you can buy Priority Club points just as cheaply any time you wish by booking and cancelling cash and points awards). Via Mommy Points, the Daily Deals week 3 offers have been released. On Wedmesday, April 25 you can buy Hilton HHonors points…
British Midland to Leave Star Alliance April 20th
On bmi’s Facebook page they’ve posted some details on their expected exit from Star Alliance. The sale of the airline from Lufthansa to British Airways’ parent is expect to close on April 20, at which time bmi will no longer be a Star Alliance member though they plan to work on some period of transition for Star Alliance benefits, and tickets booked prior to April 20th for travel after that point using miles will of course be honored. The specific April 20 date could slip, but that’s the best information as of now. I have perhaps 70,000 miles in my account, I probably won’t get around to burning those in the next two weeks, and sadly they’ll eventually become Avios unless I come up with a brilliant plan for them. In response to the queries…
65,000 Miles for Virgin Atlantic Credit Card Signup
Another big fuel surcharge carrier, Virgin Atlantic, has a new co-branded credit card offer from Bank of America: 20,000 miles after first purchase 2,500 miles for each of the first two authorized users added to your account. 25,000 miles after $2,500 spend within 90 days 15,000 miles after one year: 7,500 for $15,000 spend within the anniversary year and an additional 7,500 if you hit $25,000 spend within the anniversary year. The previous best offer was similar, 50,000 miles — which I just signed up for myself — but without the 15,000 miles on card anniversary. Those miles may not be enough to incentivize keeping the card, however. So I really don’t consider myself to have lost much applying for a version of the card that doesn’t include this. Bank of America cards are generally…
News and Notes for the Evening of April 3, 2012
AAdvantageGeek links to an American Airlines double elite qualifying miles offer between Dallas and Boston. Register prior to travel, the offer is valid between April 3 and June 30. A strike against new market entrant JetBlue! Lucky points out that Delta has apparently resolved the ‘glitch’ that made it impossible for Skymiles members to book Air France or KLM business class award seats that those partner airlines were offering. Strangely, the problem had been resolved at the Asia call centers days earlier. But certainly good news that there’s no need for the Singapore and Hong Kong workaround. New Girl in the Air says that Hertz will waive under 25 year old driver fees through June 30 using code 144314.
Hertz, Thrifty, and Dollar Pull Out of AutoSlash, But the Site is Still Just as Useful to Consumers
Via InACents, several rental car companies — Dollar, Thrifty, Hertz, and Advantage — have pulled out of allowing their cars to be listed at AutoSlash.com. This follows on Avis’ early refusal to allow AutoSlash to display their availability and pricing. On face, that would seem to be a huge blow to AutoSlash. But in reality, the site remains just as useful to consumers as ever. The concept is that rental car prices change all the time. You book a car, but the price may drop, most people don’t continue to check on the price after booking. AutoSlash does this for you, and will automatically rebook you at a lower price when one avails itself. There’s real savings to be had from customers when car rental companies adjust their pricing. The key here is that AutoSlash…
Maximizing Miles in the Maldives: Cathay First, Eating in Singapore, and a Park Hyatt Water Villa – Park Hyatt Maldives – Part III
Introduction Positioning flights to San Francisco, Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf, and Some Dim Sum for the Day Cathay’s New San Francisco Lounge Cathay Pacific First Class, San Francisco – Hong Kong The Wing and Cathay Pacific First Class, Hong Kong – Singapore A Grand Suite at the Grand Hyatt Singapore Eating in Singapore Dinner at Waku Ghin, Marina Bay Sands Singapore Airlines Business Class: Singapore – Male Transfer to the Park Hyatt Hadahaa, Maldives Park Hyatt Maldives – Part I Park Hyatt Maldives – Part II Park Hyatt Maldives – Part III Maldivian, Kaadehdhoo – Male Singapore Airlines Business Class, Male – Singapore Cathay Pacific Business Class, Singapore – Hong Kong Conrad Hong Kong Cathay Pacific First Class, Hong Kong – Chicago American’s Chicago Flagship Lounge and the Final Journey Home The first night on property…
Free Hyatt Platinum Status for 90 Days
Visa Signature is offering 90 days of free Hyatt Platinum status. Platinum is Hyatt’s first level of status, which gets you: 2pm late checkout (subject to availability at resorts) Free internet access 15% bonus on points earned from Hyatt stays Just enter a US-issued Visa signature account number to activate the form. Status should update right away. The offer runs through May 11, 2012, so you may want to time your registration based on when you have potential Hyatt stays in order to get the most out of your 90 days of status. (HT: One Mile at a Time blog)
American Selling Miles at 2 Cents Apiece through Noon on April 5
Pizza in Motion has details of a short-term promotion on buying miles from American AAdvantage. Through noon Central time on April 5, American is offering both a 30% bonus on purchased miles and a 15% discount on the purchase of those miles. They’ll sell you up to 40,000 miles in a year, which means you net 52,000 miles, and the cost all-in is $1035.13 or 1.99 cents per mile. The 40,000 mile limit means you can’t straight-up buy yourself a transatlantic or transpacific premium class roundtrip award. But if there’s any mile out there right now that I, for my own particular preferences, value highly it’s American miles as best-able to access international first class award seats more than a couple of weeks prior to travel. Folks often forget that when they put spending on…
Citi Introduces New Benefits from American Airlines Co-Branded Credit Cards
Citibank hasn’t been nearly as aggressive as Chase (especially) or American Express the past couple of years in attracting cardmembers by adding on benefits. Perhaps it’s been their financial condition, along with Bank of America (which has been similarly sleepy in the credit card game) they’re the ones which have received some of the biggest bailouts. There are signs that that is changing with Citi. They introduced the Citi Executive card bundling American Airlines lounge access and offering the chance to earn elite qualifying miles. I get my lounge access via the American Express Platinum card, and get waved foreign currency conversion through several cards. It’s an expensive card to carry, but if I needed the elite qualifying miles to hit Executive Platinum I’d probably shell out on that basis alone, $450 for 10,000 qualifying…
