In June 2013 United announced that earning elite status would require minimum spending on tickets. This followed almost dead-on what Delta had announced. Status in 2015 would require not just miles flown in 2014, but a minimum amount of spending for each status level as well. Silver: $2500 minimum qualifying revenue Gold: $5000 minimum qualifying revenue Platinum: $7500 minimum qualifying revenue 1K: $10,000 minimum qualifying revenue
About Gary Leff
Get Tickets to Sold Out Frequent Traveler University Events
Frequent Traveler University in San Diego next March, which I posted about this morning, sold out in under 3 hours. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go. Here’s the Milepoint thread for FTU Advanced in San Diego. There are a handful of tickets held back, I’m told, and they’re right here. There are no doubt some folks that jumped on the opportunity to attend but where their schedules won’t work out. Follow the thread to see when someone wants to unload their ticket. In fact, the September 26 – 28 event in Chicago is fast approaching. There’s a couple of people with tickets for the event that can’t attend, so if you’re interested in taking their place visit the Milepoint discussion. Or just wait for the next event. My understanding is that there’s a large…
The Economist Endorses American Airlines! Plus TSA Screens Passenger AFTER Flight.
News and notes from around the interweb: The worst airline passengers in the history of travel. The TSA ‘forgot’ to do secondary screening of a passenger whose name is on the terrorism watch list. So they made up for it by screening him on arrival, after he had flown. (HT: Toqueville) Lucky asks if he is a ‘travel’ blogger. And I agree with him, the answer doesn’t matter, he’s built a niche that many find useful. Similarly, I don’t put labels on my own writing. From the very beginning, I’ve written about whatever I found interesting at that moment, for whatever reason and broadly conceived. And I’m fortunate and flattered that many find that worth reading. I’ve never targeted an audience, or a genre, per se — other than those great folks who share enough…
Where to Find the Best Specialized Travel Agents in a World Where Most Bookings Are Online
Online travel websites killed the traditional brick and mortar travel agency for the basic booking. You don’t call up your local agency (unless you’re a business traveler working through a managed travel program, and even then chances are it’s online) to buy airfare anymore. You choose from what a computer offers you. Gone is advice about the nuances of which city is best for connections, how long a connection do you need, or for hotels which ones offer the sort of character, experience, and service you may be looking for. Instead, there are lists of features. You can read reviews of seats at SeatGuru or SeatExpert. You can read traveler reviews on blogs or at TripAdvisor (which is mostly useful for the photos and revealing consistent themes but the rankings of properties are next to…
One Week Only: The Cheapest Price IHG Rewards Club Ever Sells Points, Should You Buy?
IHG Rewards Club is offering points purchases with a 100% bonus through September 22. Here’s the offer: Get up to a 100% more points when you buy between September 15th and September 22, 2014:Buy 1,000 to 49,000 points and get 50% more pointsBuy 50,000 to 60,000 points and get 100% more points This is the normal pricing: You may purchase points in 1,000 increments: 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points As a result, you can buy points for as little as $0.00575 apiece (half of $11.50 per 1000) or $690 for 120,000 points which is the maximum allowable purchase. The points are processed by Points.com so this doesn’t count as hotel spend for credit…
United and Aeroplan: Up to 35,000 Bonus Miles for London Flights and Most Fares Eligible
The offer is: 7500 bonus miles for your first roundtrip 10,000 bonus miles for your second roundtrip 17,500 bonus miles for your third roundtrip That totals 35,000 bonus miles for three roundtrips. Flights on United and Air Canada are eligible. And most fares — but not the cheapest – are eligible (W or higher on United). On United, MileagePlus members will earn bonus award miles on nonstop flight segments flown between the U.S. or Canada and London in fare classes F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V and W. On Air Canada, MileagePlus members will earn bonus award miles on nonstop flight segments flown between the U.S. or Canada and London in fare classes W, S, T, L, K, F, M, U, H, Q, V, Y, B,…
Frequent Traveler University Advanced – San Diego is Now on Sale!
FTU Advanced San Diego tickets are now available. The regular Frequent Traveler University events can be huge, they’ve been as large as more than 600 people. Participants often requested smaller, more intimate events allowing for greater in-depth discussion and really getting to know fellow participants. Both the first FTU Advanced and the second one each sold out in under 24 hours. The former was held at the Marriott O’Hare at the end of July, the latter later this month at the same place. More advanced. FTU events welcome everyone, at all experience levels, and of course everyone is welcome. But the program will feature a more focused conversation geared to people that have spent more time with the activity. If you’re already a guru then most of it may not be new to knew, but…
IHG’s New Promotional Free Nights: No Special Gotchas, They Really Are That Good
IHG Rewards is running a super generous free nights promotion. At least it’s super-generous for some, the specific offers a member will get vary. But the base offer is pretty good where three Holiday Inn nights booked carefully can be turned into two free nights at any Intercontinental Hotels Group property in the world. Regarding the usefulness of these nights, I had already written: IHG confirmed for me that these free nights work just list their co-brand credit card’s annual free night: usable at any participating IHG property (as long as reward nights are available) But others were talking as though they thought the inventory would be more limited. This concern seemed to trace back to a Loyalty Lobby post that relayed word from IHG on the promotion terms and concluded, This seems to imply…
Did You Know That New Delta Members Can Earn 40,000 Bonus Miles (Not Counting What Amex Will Give You)
This offer has been around since 2012, but I don’t think I’ve written about it since then. Most readers probably already have Delta Skymiles accounts, but there are always new readers and folks just getting into the hobby. Overall I don’t recommend focusing on the Skymiles program, but if you’re hub captive in Atlanta, Detroit, or Minneapolis (or if you live in the Upper Midwest) then you’re going to wing up flying Delta. And it makes sense to get the most out of the tickets you’re buying anyway.
Buying the Middle Seat Next to You for More Space: British Airways Raises Price But It’s Still Cheap
Head for Points writes about the increase in price that British Airways is pushing through for buying the middle seat next to you. Truth is, this is something I didn’t know, just how inexpensively BA offered this in the past. You would pay the same fare for the empty seat as for the one you were occupying, minus taxes. For short haul intra-Europe tickets this could be $10 – $100, since the bulk of the cost of these tickets is often in fuel surcharges. A few weeks ago British Airways changed the method they use to calculate the cost. They’ve set a minimum of £40 roundtrip on short haul flights and £300 roundtrip on long haul flights. They’re basing the price on the fare you paid, not the fare at time of request. So requesting…
