Let me introduce you to three cards you rarely hear me talking about. Reader Matt K. e-mailed asking whether — as a Minnesota resident — he should consider getting The Sun Country uFly Rewards Card. I’m neither a fan of Sun Country Airlines, or of their rewards program. They went revenue-based a year ago, and they offer a low cost product. I view the program as suffering from the Greyhound Road Rewards problem (where the ‘reward’ for taking 10 bus trips is… another bus trip). But for someone who will fly Sun Country, in a place where it’s convenient to do so, a free flight for getting a getting a credit card isn’t a terrible choice. That’s especially true because Sun Country’s card is issed by First Premier Bank. You usually see me recommend really…
About Gary Leff
Hyatt Points at 1 Cent: the Only Daily Getaways Deal So Far Worth Telling You About
US Travel Association/American Express ‘Daily Getaway’ deals come around once a year. They used to be fantastic Groupon-style deals (back when Groupon was good). Limited in quantity, they offered deep discounts on things that were actually good. They weren’t all good, I found the first two weeks of 2012’s deals disappointing. But they’ve on the whole gotten worse. That’s not entirely about price, in cases where they’re selling hotel points (usually marketed as hotel stays) those points just don’t go as far as they used to. Same price, same number of points, you’ll get less in Marriott with big award category shifts, Hyatt with a new more expensive award category 7 and other changes. Wyndham devalued their award chart, and also transfers of their points to miles (so buying discounted Wyndham points as a means…
The DOT Wants to Clamp Down on Forums and Blogs Spreading Mistake Fares and Having them Honored
The Department of Transportation posted its notice of proposed rulemaking (and thus opened the ‘comment period’) on changes it wants to make to consumer protection rules. But one nugget is included of interest to ‘travel hackers’ that could actually weaken their protections. Cranky Flier reviewed DOT’s plans for making airline fees more transparent, even on third party aggregator sites like Kayak and Google Flights. Today he went back to those proposed rules and called them not terrible. Cranky pointed out something that actually got me to read the proposed rulemaking. DOT defends the policy of requiring airlines to honor mistake fares, but also calls out “bad actors” who are buying mistake fares in “bad faith.” The rulemaking reveals the Department of Transportation’s intention to weaken one aspect of existing consumer protections.
Earn Miles Paying Your Mortgage, Get a Better Room at Check-in, and LifeMiles Conversion Bonus
News and notes from around the interweb: Avianca’s Lifemiles is offering a 25% bonus when you convert points from several other programs into their miles, but it’s not a deal worth pursuing. Amtrak eliminates complimentary amenity kits, free wine in the dining car and pillows in coach. Five questions to ask at hotel check-in. I never want a connecting room due to sound issues. Here’s a success story about paying a mortgage with Evolve Money and gift cards that earned miles. I’m not the only one who doesn’t like feet on the bulkhead. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter…
I Just Drew 3 Winners for Packages of Lounge Passes. Did You Win?
Last month I was giving away 25,000 American AAdvantage miles and a whole bunch of lounge passes. Citibank offered them up to me to share with readers, highlighting their classy move to reach out to American Express Platinum cardholders. Platinum cards no longer offer American or US Airways lounge access, and Citibank is the sole issuer of cards that offer lounge access with the new American Airlines. Citibank has the most generous credit card signup offer in the market with a 100,000 mile signup bonus for their Executive Card which bundles lounge access. It turns out that they sent me a whole bunch of extra club passes, more than I needed to fulfill the last contest, so I ran another giveaway here on the blog! I asked about your favorite airline lounges. Here are the…
A Glitch to Avoid Fuel Surchages on American Express Transfer Partner Aeroplan
Yesterday I showed how to reduce fuel surcharges on British Airways awards when redeeming American miles. Today, a new opportunity (that is likely a glitch and so will be short-lived) to redeem Aeroplan points without fuel surcharges. There’s a glitch right now that will help you avoid paying fuel surcharges when redeeming awards with Air Canada’s Aeroplan, an especially useful program because it is an instant transfer partner of American Express. Last year I called Aeroplan the most devalued program in North America. First there was the gutting of their award chart on July 15, 2011. For instance, my favorite award — first class to most of Asia — went from 120,000 miles to 175,000 miles (a 46% increase in one shot). Australia awards went from 75,000 to 80,000 in coach; 100,000 to 135,000 in…
IHG Rewards Reel Summer Promotion Now Live, Here’s What it Means
IHG Rewards Reel Summer Promotion is now live. (HT: FEV77 on Milepoint) The bonuses attached to the promotion are the only things that interest me, not the Coca-Cola co-brand prize offerings or – per the press release I got yesterday – “team[ing] up with actor Josh Lucas for the Ultimate Movie Moment Experience.” There are some things I really like about IHG Rewards Club these days. I like that IHG Rewards Club has been aggressive and creative with promotions, such as with the Big Win. I like that the complicated, gamified nature of these promotions. I like that IHG Rewards Club offers lots of bonuses, great return on spend for earning free nights. And things I do not like as much. I don’t like that the program lacks meaningful elite benefits (outside of Intercontinental Hotels’…
Etihad’s Abu Dhabi First Class Lounge and Business Class Service to the Maldives
Previous installments Introduction: Maldives and Malaysia in First Class, How I Booked It and What it Cost Etihad Lounge and First Class, Washington Dulles – Abu Dhabi Premier Inn Abu Dhabi International Airport Even though I was staying right at the airport, and had already been checked in for my flight to Male (at Dulles, a day earlier, and just needed to re-check my bag) I left the hotel about 2 1/2 hours prior to my flight. I checked out at the front desk on the way out and asked them to email a folio to me. The Premier Inn doesn’t have the capability to do that inside their system, but the agent at the desk was kind enough to offer to scan the receipt and email it to me from her own account. I…
I Just Drew 4 Gift Card Winners. Did You Win $100?
Last week I offered up (4) $100 gift cards as a giveaway. When I receive things from airlines, hotels, or rental car companies and similar, I try to give them away to readers. And sometimes I wind up with extra gift cards, too, from my own experimentation. I love the opportunity to share my good fortune in travel with readers. I asked readers to say something positive above miles and points, blogs, forums, fellow travelers. Here are the winning entries. Did you win $100?
Chinese Man Stranded In Airport When Son Draws in Passport
Here’s the shocking story of a man who was trapped in South Korea, his passport was invalidated when his young son pulled out his crayons. Or maybe it’s not so shocking, or even much of a big deal at all. In fact we’re going to rate this one as probably false, at least no reason to think it’s true, and not a big enough deal to warrant attention even if it is. And yet it’s getting a ton of airplay, and I suppose is an amusing enough distraction. A story is going ’round social media about a Chinese man denied boarding because his passport was defaced by his son’s doodlings. It’s been covered by Gawker, Fox News, The Daily Mail, USA Today, The Telegraph, and many more. At best the story is sourced to a…
