Monthly Archives for April 2015.
The New York Times has a useful piece that helps understand what makes a credit card useful for consumers, and identifies some of the best ones currently in the marketplace.
Apparently he just wanted a date. The immigration officer started by asking probing and seemingly unnecessary questions “like how many children I have, do I drink, do I smoke or eat chicken”, the woman told Indian news channel Times Now. “He also asked me whether I sleep with other men when my husband is at work,” the woman alleged. The passenger was departing Delhi enroute to Hong Kong. Apparently her alarm bells only went up when she was asked “if she would like to have her third child with” the immigration officer. Eventually allowed to clear departure formalities, the officer followed her through the airport. He has since been arrested.
Lufthansa generally opens first class award seats to their partners only within 14 days of travel.
Their Los Angeles and San Francisco – Frankfurt flights are among the toughest to get, even then.
And yet right now most days currently have 2 first class award seats open from late November through March…
A reader made two mistakes booking his award trip that cost him a chance to experience Etihad’s First Class Apartments, the most luxurious cabin in the skies. What mistakes did he make, and how can you avoid them when you book your own award trip?
Today’s key stories and more: An airline actually making coach better, the ultimate DYKWIA passenger, and a US cell carrier now offering free data and text in 15 key countries. Read on…
Starwood is offering up to a 25% discount on purchased points. And even though it’s just a 25% discount, it can make real sense. Through May 31 here’s the tiered discount: 10% off 500–9,500 Starpoints 15% off 10,000–14,500 Starpoints 20% off 15,000–19,500 Starpoints 25% off 20,000 Starpoints This isn’t an uncommon offer — Starwood offered this in April and November of last year, and they offered it in 2013. But it’s also the biggest discount I’ve seen. The ‘normal’ price on Starpoints is 3.5 cents per point. Ouch. Fortunately, unlike airline miles, you don’t pay an additional tax on top. And there’s not also a ‘processing fee’ like many of the airlines charge. If you max out on the discount, and buy 20,000 points, it would cost you $525… that’s 2.625 cents per point. Still…
A coffee spill, and an attempt to clean it up, caused a plane to plunge — fortunately for the President of Serbia who was onboard, control of the aircraft was regained, and the flight was aborted.
A mobile payment app that can be charged to your cell phone bill, so when you pay you can earn 5x for cell phone charges with your credit card — and double dip with rewards points, too!
In this post: special tax imposed on hotel suites, 1000 miles just for checking your bag, a cool rental car discount, and the very best street food…!
I don’t aspire to be Gordon Gekko (though I used to have his cell phone more or less, a long long time ago – ever notice how cell phones are one of the great democratizers, no matter how wealthy you are you can’t really get a better iPhone or Galaxy S6?). I’ll never be ‘rich enough to own my own jet’. But I do not like to waste time. I hate checking bags, because I don’t want to wait for them on the back end of a trip. (Not to mention that if something is important enough to bring with me, it’s important enough so ensure I don’t lose). But I also hate carrying on… because I don’t want to board early to ensure I’ve got overhead bin space, and ideally bin space near my…
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
