News and Notes from Around the Interweb: The 12 Coolest Airport Lounge Perks Free $45 Uber credit for first time users is still alive! Business Week covers award chart price hikes at Delta and United. Contra the explanation that partners are charging more for seats so programs have to charge more miles, I note that other international alliance members (buying the same seats) haven’t had similar award chart increases. The award ticket level hikes have not been matched by Delta and United partner airlines and suggest the U.S. airlines may be trying to reduce the number of award redemptions, says Gary Leff, a travel blogger in Arlington, Va., who writes for View From the Wing. Difficulty in redeeming frequent-flyer miles for a free ticket is one of the most common complaints from mileage collectors. “If…
About Gary Leff
First Look: Hyatt Times Square
NY Insider emailed me off his iPhone last night while visiting the new Hyatt Times Square: [S]oft opening happening now…rooftop bar scheduled to open right before the Superbowl (but not for New Years)…decent size footprint for rooms….Braun alarm clocks, people will definitely steal them….53 (maybe 54?) stories….limited meeting space, gym is ok…outsourced spa, still under construction. Suites are smallish, but stylish enough…friendly staff (but then again, I was on a hospitality tour). Here are some iPhone photos of the rooms: Beds Desk Side table with alarm clock that is going to disappear Television and minibar This is what the toilet looks like Tub Sink You can join the 30,000+ 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…
Amex Black Card Holders Get to Keep US Airways Platinum Status Through February 2015
American Express Centurion (“Black Card”) members have received US Airways Platinum status since 2007. This was a benefit inherited from the US Airways-America West merger, where Centurion cardholders had FlightFund Gold status which was one level below top tier at the time. The American Express relationship with US Airways and American Airlines ends March 22. And US Airways has extended the status of current elite members through the end of March. Yesterday I wondered how these two changes would interact with each other — since Black Card Platinum members’ status would last through the end of the current American Express relationship, I wondered whether they’d be able to have their status extended prior to March 22nd. One of my Centurion cardmember readers forwarded American Express’ response to him on this very subject: Since you are…
Marriott’s MegaBonus Free Night Promotion is Back for February – April
Via canucklehead in the Milepoint thread discussing Frequent Traveler University, Marriott is back with its MegaBonus promotion — one free night (at a category 1-4 property) after two stays, and you can earn the bonus twice. Registation is required. Register by March 31, 2014 Stay between February 1 and April 30, 2014 Free night award will expire one (1) year after the date of issuance. Some members get targeted for other offers instead: Their free nights are valid for up to category 5 instead of category 4. Additional 1,000 bonus points per stay for up to 10,000 bonus points on top of the free nights (capped at category 4). Bonus points instead of free nights (40,000 – 55,000 for as many as 45 nights during the promotion period). Marriott has, in the psat, been willing…
25% Off Virgin America For a Refundable $5 Buy-In (Strange, But True!)
Amazon Local will sell you a coupon you can use right away for up to 25% off on Virgin America. If you don’t use the coupon you can have your $5 back. You can only book roundtrip coach. There are blackout dates. And you have to book 21 days in advance of travel. Travel on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday receives the full 25% off. Travel on other days of the week yields just a 15% discount. Book by January 15 for travel between January 8 and March 6. If you don’t your $5 is automatically refunded. In order to receive the full value, travel must be booked by 11:59 P.M. PT on January 15, 2014 and travel must be completed between January 8, 2014 and March 6, 2014. If travel is not booked by January…
United Decides Not to Let Members See Singapore Airlines Award Space Online, Misleads Members About It
In recent times airlines have worked to improve the ability to find partner award seats on their website. That saves on call center time, and helps members fulfill their searches with less frustration. United’s website has gotten pretty good at this. They don’t have all of their airline partners like Brussels Airlines online (and it isn’t always obvious to members that typing in where you want to go doesn’t show all of the options to get there) but they have most. American and Delta have a few partners online. Alaska has the bulk of theirs. Among major US programs, only US Airways Dividend Miles fails to show any partner airline availability at all. Against this trend, last week United removed the ability to search and book awards on Singapore Airlines from its website. United claimed…
50% Bonus on PointsHound Hotel Bookings Made By End of Year (Plus 1000 Miles)
PointsHound awards you frequent flyer miles when booking hotel rooms. Hotels noted as “DoubleUp” let you earn miles through PointsHound in addition to the points you normally earn from the hotel for the stay (along with elite status credit and benefits). PointsHound usually offers 250 miles extra for your first booking when you’re referred by an existing member. But through the end of the year my link gets you 1000 miles as the first time bonus. Usually I invite folks to post their own referral link, but in this case mine provides a 4x better bonus. In addition, PointsHound is also awarding an extra 50% more miles on bookings made by January 1. Always price compare, there are certainly some folks that have reported some times where PointsHound has shown higher prices than booking direct…
A Sneak Peak Inside American’s New Premium A321 Aircraft
Yesterday I had a chance to get onboard American’s new A321T (the “T” stands for ‘transcon’) which will be flying New York JFK – Los Angeles and San Francisco. It’s a new narrowbody plane configured with tons of updated premium seats. Its inaugural flight in commercial service will be January 7. (Disclosure: I bought my own tickets to get to and from New York to see the plane, but did eat three pieces at sushi at the event.) There are (10) first class seats, (20) business class seats, (36) main cabin extra (coach with ~ 4 inches of extra legroom), and (36) standard economy seats. That’s a cabin that’s mostly premium, and an A321 (the ‘stretch’ version of the A320) with only 102 seats. A Very Competitive Business Class Product The point of thee planes…
The Next Frequent Traveler University is Coming – And Seats Are Limited
The next Frequent Traveler University event is now a reality! It will be held in Seattle, starting the evening of Friday April 25th and running through the afternoon of Sunday, April 27th. Tickets are on sale Hotel is available for booking Here’s where to discuss the event with fellow attendees I’m just starting to put together the program, but you’ll be able to meet and hear from folks like Ben from One Mile at a Time, Greg from Frequent Miler, and Summer from Mommy Points. I’ll be sharing the rest of the speakers and schedule in the weeks and months to come. April’s event outside Washington, DC was the largest gathering of frequent flyers in history, with well over 600 people in attendance. It sold out months in advance. That actually seemed too big, and…
50% Off W Hotel Store Mattresses and Sheets
It’s a year-end sale so the discount code N3G7K through January 7. You can get a plush top Queen with box spring for $689.50 and free shipping. I recommend that bed and adding a feather bed to go on top (as opposed to the pillow top mattress, since the featherbed can be changed out). They ran a 50% off sale in October that was limited to beds and bedding. I purchased a W Hotels bed in March 2007 using a 40% off code, so back before the May 2010 price increase on beds. My cost then was about what’s being offered with this sale. I don’t recall ever seeing lower pricing than this, though. W Hotel Store purchases post as double points earning when paying with a Starwood Preferred Guest American Express. You can join…
