Via Head for Points, when you register for an Iberia Plus account you’ll get 500 bonus points with your first transaction within 45 days of membership. I don’t see a reference to it on their website, but his commenters confirm that it’s noted in their welcome email. You want to open an Iberia Plus account: Because when an account has been open for 90 days and has had any activity you can transfer British Airways Avios over to Iberia Avios. Iberia doesn’t add significant fuel surcharges onto Iberia flight redemptions. So you save most of the cash cost you’d spend with British Airways points to book Iberia, by transferring your points to your Iberia account and booking the same flight. Iberia runs award discounts that can make transatlantic premium cabin flying quite cheap. (They often…
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80% Bonus When You Buy Virgin America Points (Good for Partner Awards)
Virgin America is offering up to an 80% bonus on purchased miles. (You have to log in to see the details, though I produce them below.) I’ve seen them run this offer a couple of times before — though in the fall it was only for 8 hours. This time it’s valid through April 4. With this offer — at the 80% bonus level — you’re paying about 2.9 cents per mile, which sounds high but Virgin America’s currency is somewhat deflated compared to most mileage programs. Virgin America’s points are worth 2.2 cents apiece towards Virgin America travel, so it’s not a good deal to buy points and redeem them on Virgin America. But it can be a good deal to top off an account towards a specific award. For instance, 30,000 miles is…
Here’s Why American is Excited About Their New Boarding Music. (And It’s Really Pretty Good.)
In the fall American changed their boarding and arrival music. And since the new tunes are getting positive reaction they’re sharing the current and upcoming playlists. No doubt some of the excitement stems from seeing tweets from LA-based celebs who dig the new music.. the little things that help them in that fiercely competitive market where United, Delta, Southwest and even Alaska have a strong presence and no one can get more gate space to expand. Interestingly, they’re candid that they made the change because of customer complaints about the old music.
The Man Who Earned 19 Million Miles With a Single Purchase, and the Man Who Mailed Himself to Australia
News and notes from around the interweb: The Official Position of American’s Pilot Union: they don’t like their new uniforms. IHG is running a 30% off paid rates flash sale for Mexico for bookings through Sunday and stays through June 15. Emirates further restricting chauffeur service for premium cabin customers. Apparently Qantas codeshares no longer get car service. Man mailed himself to Australia Uber signup bonus of 2 free rides up to $15 each (versus the usual 1 ride up to $20). The guy who earned the most points ever in a single transaction has learned to use them (HT: Alan H.) What does it cost an airline to cancel a flight?
American and US Airways to Combine Programs Within 30 Days, Plus More Answers (Million Mile Status etc)
Following yesterday’s communication from the US Airways side that Dividend Miles would be folded into American AAdvantage in April, American is out today with more information. The programs will be combined ‘within 30 days’
Would You Help the Homeless You Meet in Mumbai or New York LaGuardia?
We already know that homeless live in Frankfurt airport. And they used to live at the Radisson JFK. Of course, actual homeless shelters are even on TripAdvisor. I’ll often do quite a bit of eating, trying a great variety, on my travels abroad. The goal there is to experience lots of things not to fill myself up. I won’t finish everything. That’s rather striking in, say, Mumbai where there are so many street kids. They’re out there because begging is effective, and the most effective children aren’t just persistent but visibly disabled. I don’t really want to give money, that probably doesn’t benefit the kids as much as their handlers (though they could well have a quota..) but I will certainly give leftovers. That way I figure they’re more likely to actually eat than if…
What Do People Complain to the DOT About? These 10 Government Complaints are Awesome!
I’ve had terrible customer service, awful flight delays, cancelled flights. Things happen in travel. I try to let it go, and appreciate what Louis C.K. reminds us is “the miracle of human flight.” I have never submitted a complaint to the Department of Transportation. (Nor have I ever complained to the federal government about credit card marketing.) Have you? I’ve often wondered what it would take to cause me to escalate an issue, make it federal. Reader Paul H. points me to this piece on complaints filed with the DOT, based on a FOIA request for submissions referencing customer service and discrimination during a two month period in 2014. Here are some truly special highlights…
Get 1000 Free Hilton Points Just for Updating Your Password! (They Promise..!)
United, American, and Hilton all suffered recent data breaches. Indeed, Hilton points have been among the most available for sale on the DarkNet. Starwood was hacked, too. Hilton accounts have long used 4-digit PIN numbers. That’s not a lot of unique combinations, and Hilton has decided that’s not secure enough. Three weeks ago Hilton reached out yesterday to let me know that they’re moving to passwords.. At the time they offered 1000 points to get you to update your password. But their IT wasn’t ready for their announced changes. And they followed up with a hold off. Indeed, about a week ago I checked in and they let me know they were still working on things. Well, apparently they’re ready to go. HHonors members will need to update their passwords by April 1. As of…
Virgin America Offering 2-for-1 Flights (It’s Like a Dallas Companion Pass, Without the Work)
Airline seats are mostly sold as commodity products. The genius of frequent flyer programs has been to take what is essentially an interchangeable thing — a seat one from city to another connecting in a third city — and create differentiation and brand loyalty. What hasn’t historically worked in the US market is to offer a better value proposition. Certainly it hasn’t earned a price premium. American had ‘More Room Throughout Coach’ but they put seats back into their planes because customers weren’t choosing them over competitors. People choose, for the most part, on price and schedule. It’s interesting that Virgin America is taking a different tack — they aren’t advertising that they’re more expensive but worth it. They’re advertising that you pay the same and get more. They’re promoting travel out of the Dallas…
US Airways Card Should Be Around for One More Month
US Airways announced that their miles would be combined into the American AAdvantage program next month. We’ve long known that the US Airways co-brand credit card would stop taking applications when the US AIrways and American programs combine. I’ve seen speculation on several sites recently that this week would be the last chance to apply for the US Airways credit card. I was surprised by that, since I hadn’t heard it myself and since I’d expect Barclays to want to acquire new cardmembers up until the last moment. @MattEnder received a solicitation for the card with a deadline of April 12. That’s consistent with our previous understanding of Barclays taking applications until the merger of programs actually happens (or more likely up until when US Airways partially freezes its data for the migration, perhaps no…
