This month I’ve shared my experience getting Turkish Airlines to match my british midland Gold status and also getting Aegean to do the same. My bmi Gold status was valid through December, but no longer a member of the Star Alliance it was not going to be useful to me — no more Star Alliance redemptions, no more cash and points redemptions on partners (there are fewer and fewer bmi flights and I don’t need to redeem on those), no more lounge access for domestic United flying. Here’s what I get out of Turkish: Turkish status lasts two years and they give you two years to re-qualify. Since I do not live in Turkey, the rules are 25,000 Status Miles in year one or 37,500 Status Miles in two years to requalify, and they will…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for June 2012.
Introducing the Must-Have Karl Marx Mastercard
And you thought the Chase Sapphire Preferred card made a statement.. I’ve written extensively about the three different types of cards you want — those with the best signup bonuses, those that are best to put spending on (other than meeting minimum spend for signup bonuses), and those that are best for the benefits (that you don’t want to put spend on). But it turns out I’m missing a category of card. Some get their alma maters. Or their favorite charity. They get to affiliate with a cause and express themselves, and their alma mater may get a cut of the interchange fee. Reuters reports on a new card that those with access to East German credit cards may want to consider: the Karl Marx Mastercard from Sparkasse bank in Chemnitz in Eastern Germany. Some…
Three Great One Mile at a Time Posts
Ben was on a tear yesterday: You can book flights on Iberia using Iberia miles without paying fuel surcharges. If your Iberia and British Airways accounts have been open at least three months, you can move your British Airways points over to Iberia and redeem from that account to save on fees. American Express Membership Rewards points also transfer to Iberia, so it’s a way to use Amex points fuel surcharge-free on Iberia travel. The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa is available with 70,000 points after first purchase and fee waived the first year. That’s enough points for two nights at the lowest category Ritz property. The real benefit of the card is upgrades to club level three times a year, Gold status in their loyalty program (which has modest benefits), a $200 airline fee credit similar…
500 Free Delta Miles
Join Le Club Accorhotels with this promotion link by August 31, select Delta Skymiles as your preferred loyalty program in your membership profile, and enter your Skymiles account number. This offer is open to existing Le Club Accorhotels members as well, just use the offer link and change your preferred loyalty program to Delta and give them your account number. Update: the offer should still be valid but appears to be returning an error at this time.
50% Off Sale on the Park Hyatt Maldives
I reviewed the Park Hyatt Maldives extensively after my trip there in February. It was a phenomenal resort, in the middle of nowhere (with the good and bad that comes from that), and at the time I considered it to be one of the very best uses of hotel points. It’s a top reward category 6 property in the Hyatt Gold Passport program, 22,000 points per night, and that gets you a villa that frequently runs $1000 per night. Rates aren’t always that high, villas can often be had in the $750 range. And the property itself isn’t an inexpensive place to be — roundtrip air/boat transfers from the Male airport run ~ $400 per person. Food is expensive (though breakfast is included for all guests). Excursions are very high priced. But the points open…
What Part of Lifetime Didn’t They Understand?
I received the latest update by e-mail on the british midand Diamond Club program today. You can no longer earn or spend miles with Europcar or bmi hotels, and you can no longer earn miles with Purple Parking. Spending miles on Gifts and Treats goes away June 17. No big deal, partnerships and offers change. But it’s one small step in the continuing dismantling of the once great british midland Diamond Club program. I generally assume programs that offer truly superior value won’t last, or at least the superior offerings won’t, but I’ll enjoy them while they do. What I don’t like — more than anything else coming from a loyalty program — is changes without notice. Members earn their perks, privileges, and benefits. There’s an offer, they do what’s necessary to meet the conditions…
I Wish Buy On Board Really Looked Like This
Austrian Airlines has introduced per-order paid meals in coach from Vienna-based caterer DO & CO, the company which caters Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal and Lounges in Frankfurt (and First Class Lounge at New York JFK). My favorite thing about the First Class Terminal — besides the Mercedes or Porsche ride across the tarmac to the plane,, of course — is the wiener schnitzel. Now, at the fifteen euro price point and served within the constraints of onboard catering, subject to the reheating skill of flight attendants, and packaged to be provided at 30,000 feet I’m not sure what the implementation will ultimately be like. But the pictures sure look good. The menu is available on international flights to and from Vienna, except for Budapest, Prague, and Zagreb. And some will consider it a downgrade, as…
Priority Club 3rd Quarter Promotion “Stay X Nights, Earn Y Points”
Priority Club’s third quarter “stay x, earn y” bonuses are now out. As usual, there are three different levels — earn 5000, 10,000, or 15,000 points depending on how much you stay during the promotion period of July 1 through September 30. Pick the promotion that you’re most likely to successfully hit. Register here with the code of the offer you want. Code 4871, Stay 3 Nights – Earn 5,000 Points Code 4872, Stay 4 Nights – Earn 5,000 Points Code 4873, Stay 7 Nights – Earn 10,000 Points Code 4874, Stay 8 Nights – Earn 10,000 Points Code 4875, Stay 10 Nights – Earn 10,000 Points Code 4876, Stay 12 Nights – Earn 10,000 Points Code 4877, Stay 15 Nights – Earn 15,000 Points Code 4878, Stay 18 Nights – Earn 15,000 Points Of…
Is a US Airways Acquisition of American Becoming More Likely? (I Still Hope Not)
Two years ago I called American a bankruptcy waiting to happen. Their costs were too high. Sure, their revenue was too low also and bankruptcy wasn’t necessarily going to solve that. But their major competitors had been through the bankruptcy court cost-cutting exercise. Staying out of Chapter 11 was both noble and a preservation strategy for existing management. (The day American did file Chapter 11 their CEO resigned…) When American filed for bankruptcy I said that AAdvantage miles were safe. And that a bankruptcy could even be good for American’s frequent flyers at least in the short term, as the airline could use the mileage program to drum up revenue and traffic, awarding bonus miles, all the while not wanting to rock the boat with its customers through any sort of devaluation. In the long-run,…
TSA Screeners Disciplined for Not Doing Their Jobs, But Since Their Jobs Don’t Affect Security, Nothing Was Harmed
5 TSA workers were fired and 38 suspended for failing to perform random screenings last year at the Ft. Myers airport. The 43, a combination of front-line screeners and supervisors, represent about 15 percent of the roughly 280 TSA employees at the airport. .. “It’s the random secondary [check] that did not happen,” he said. “At no time was a traveler’s safety at risk and there was no impact on flight operations.” Rather boggles the mind. A few bad apples who in no way undermine the hard work that thousands of men and women at the TSA do to keep us safe, day in and day out. It takes a lot to reach the disciplinary stage, and that happened with 15% of the workforce at this airport. In how many other cases did they simply…
