Over the weekend American’s “status buy back / buy up” page went from ‘offer expired’ to ‘coming soon.’ That made it a pretty good bet that American would be re-introducing a way to either buy back status you had in the previous year but didn’t requalify for, or buy elite qualifying miles to put you over the top towards elite status without taking an end of year mileage run, or extra trip just for the flown miles. Their offer will go online tomorrow. Unlike in years’ past, it will be open for purchase right away (you won’t have to wait until the year ends to take advantage of it). The American offer will be live right away. The US Airways Dividend Miles version of the offer may take a couple of weeks to go online,…
About Gary Leff
Hyatt Doesn’t Like Monetizing Their Points But Will Sell Them To You With a Bonus
Hyatt Gold Passport is offering a 30% bonus on purchased points of 5000 or more through December 10. With a 30% bonus Hyatt is selling you points at 1.85 cents apiece. I personally value them at not more than 1.5 cents apiece so this doesn’t make me a buyer (points would have to be priced at less than 1.5 cents for that). You can sometimes get more than 2 cents apiece out of your points so if you were going to pay cash for a room anyway buying points can be used to get a room discount. This is a very limiting case. And topping off an account could make sense if you were close to an award (in my experience though Hyatt will allow Diamonds to make award bookings without sufficient points in their…
Starwood: Soon You’ll Have More Upgrade Transparency, and Suite Night Award Update
Starwood Preferred Guest has been on a tear over the past three years. First they introduced a whole new suite of elite status benefits including suite night awards and free breakfast along with 24 hour check-in for top elites. Then a year later — in early 2013 — they introduced additional points-earning and elite recognition in conjunction with Delta (and then added upgradeson Delta for Starwood Platinums). And they’ve launched several initiatives in just the past two months: Starwood launched its new Emirates partnership, Your World Rewards They became the first major chain to offer keyless room entry, using your mobile phone for room access SPG Preferences — customizing room assignments — was introduced SPG Pro bringing their meetings and executive assistant programs under the same umbrella with SPG. I had a great conversation with…
Up to 35% Bonus on Purchased Miles.. One of the Few Buy Miles Offers to Consider
Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 35% bonus on purchased miles. Limited Time Offer: up to 35% Bonus Give the gift of miles to yourself and earn up to 35% more in Bonus Miles. For a very limited time, you can earn up to 14,000 extra Bonus Miles when you buy miles by December 20, 2014. Here’s the bonus earning chart: This isn’t all that uncommon an offer. Sometimes it’s 30%, sometimes 35%, and sometimes 40% — as often as not Alaska offers some sort of bonus on purchased miles. In fact, up through mid- last month the offer was up to a 40% bonus. A purchase of 40,000 points earns 54,000 miles at a total cost of $1182.50 or ~ 2.2 cents per mile. Key things to know:
The World’s Best Hotel Restaurants
Supposedly these are the Best Hotel Restaurants, although with these lists I often wonder how many the writer has actually been to. My personal favorite fine dining in Washington DC (certainly the most beautiful restaurant space) belongs to Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt, not on this list. And it’s hard to imagine leaving off Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. The ceiling fixture in the dining room at Amber is made of 4320 bronze rods. Hokkaido sea urchin in a lobster jell-o with cauliflower, caviar, crispy seaweed waffles Meanwhile, though I’m not a fan, Iggy’s at the Hilton Singapore warrants consideration. And surely Waku Ghin at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore ought to be on such a list? Fresh-shaved wasabi with wagyu beef and a citrus dipping sauce and…
The Insider Scoop on Starwood’s New “Your World Rewards”
The new Starwood Emirates partnership has just gone live: Your World Rewards Details on the Starwood Emirates Partnership A week ago part of the story leaked early when a Starwood website went up with the information unintentionally. What they’re doing with Emirates is very similar to Starwood’s partnership with Delta, Crossover Rewards (minus the upgrades; complimentary domestic or short haul ugprades are very much an American concept). Here are the specifics:. Starwood Gold and Platinum members receive 1 Starpoint per US dollar spent when flying Emirates in (in addition to miles earned for the flight itself). Emirates Skywards Silver, Gold, and Platinum members earn 1 bonus Skywards point per US dollar spent when staying with Starwood (in addition to the SPG points earned for the stay). Starwood Platinums receive elite priority check-in and boarding with…
Understanding Double and Triple Miles Awards: And When They Make Sense for You
I try to get the best value out of my miles, which means not just getting awards at the lowest mileage price but also paying attention to value even then – do I want to pay cash, or use miles? Are there ways of reducing the cost of a ticket? Miles are a currency, and while I have lots of them my supply isn’t infinite. So it’s strange to be looking at the value of awards that cost more than the ‘low’ or saver price, and actually find myself booking one. US Programs Let You Spend Extra Miles to Get the Seat You Want Extra miles award – sometimes referred to as double miles awards, although they could be more or less than double the price – have gone by various names at different times……
One of the Worst Deals in Travel, and You’ll Never Believe Who’s Buying It (Maybe Even You)
When you buy tickets from an airline, or check-in online or at a kiosk, you may be asked whether you’d like to buy additional frequent flyer miles … usually some multiple of the number of miles you’ll be flying. This may go under the moniker, mileage maximizer. Since the offer is based on what you’re going to fly, at the time you’re a passenger, it’s natural to think you’re being offered some sort of limited-time ‘deal’. Usually you’re being charged ‘full price’ for the miles, some amount hovering around 3 cents apiece depending on airline. Sitting on hold for the Executive Platinum line at American just now I was told by the recording to ask the agent about Mileage Maximizer. I could buy miles for award tickets or upgrades. Never mind that my American and…
Airline Change Fees Blamed for Spread of Ebola
Christopher Elliott suggests that airline change fee policies could contribute to an Ebola outbreak. No, really. The idea is that a passenger with Ebola might choose to fly because they can’t cancel without penalty. They’ll risk infecting others over their $200 airline change fee. He suggests the government needs to do something. [U]nless Ebola is contained quickly, it seems the travel industry’s cancellation rules, which themselves are slow to change, could collide with an infected customer’s aversion to losing a ticket credit. This may be the right time for the government to take a more active role to ensure Ebola isn’t spread by travel via air, land or sea because of shortsighted corporate policies. I am generally not a fan of buying trip interruption and cancellation insurance (a position I have held for quite some…
Travel Tip of the Week: Avoid Amateur Day at All Costs
Baseball Hall of Famer Wee Willie Keeler is possibly best known for his advice to batters, “hit ’em where they ain’t.” If he wasn’t one of the best hitters of all time, and likely the creator of the hit and run — and of course if he had been active a hundred years later — that advice could have made him a travel writer. Coming up on the holiday season we’re approaching peak amateur days. Among those peak days: The Wednesday before Thanksgiving The Sunday and the Monday after Thanksgiving December 23 (the business day before Christmas) December 28 (the Sunday after Christmas) I’ve made a habit of leaving the country rather than traveling domestically at these peak times. A couple of times in recent years I’ve gone to India in November (I like having…
