Over the weekend I noted a story about how the TSA has admitted in court documents that it does not believe there are any active terrorism threats against US airlines or airports. Courthouse News has more on how the leaked truth happened. Classified TSA documents revealed by clerical error show that the agency does not think terrorists are plotting to attack airplanes, suggesting that nude body scans are unnecessary to protect passengers. …In the course of discovery, the TSA gave Corbett classified documents, which he incorporated into the brief that he filed under seal. A clerk at the 11th Circuit somehow neglected to place the document under seal, however, allowing the public to see the redacted information. This mistake revealed the TSA’s apparent admission that terrorists are unlikely to target airports in a subsequent attack.…
About Gary Leff
The New Orbitz Rewards Program Creates Another Quintuple Dipping Opportunity When You Book Travel
One of the reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best all-around rewards credit card is how useful it is for booking travel, including double and triple dipping (and even more). The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card already earns double points on all travel. This is in addition to the miles you would earn from flying (or the points from a hotel stay, or from renting a car). Add onto that going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall, where you earn 1 point per dollar for purchases made at Expedia or Orbitz (2 points per dollar for Travelocity). And add onto that the programs of the online travel agencies themselves which offer you an additional level of points and rebate. Expedia Rewards points are credit towards hotels or airfare. Orbitz has a brand new…
Another Double Points Offer, This Time from JetBlue and Today Only
JetBlue is offering double TrueBlue points for tickets purchased by 11:59pm tonight in your departure city. The offer is valid for travel November 5 through December 18, 2013, but excludes travel on Fridays and Sundays and travel between November 22 and December 2 are blacked out from this offer. This may truly be the single most restricted double points offer that I have ever seen which is not route-specific. No registration is required, but fares booked on Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, CheapTickets, Travelocity, Priceline or LowestFare are not eligible, and there may be different day of week restrictions and blackout dates for certain routes. United is offering double miles. So is Southwest. Delta has a bunch of route-specific offers, as does Alaska (and also route-specific elite qualifying offers). US Airways has their own 50% – 100%…
Alaska Airlines Offering Double Elite Qualifying Miles Through May 2014 on Several Routes
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is running double elite qualifying miles through May 31… on a handful of routes. Here are the routes: Registration is required prior to travel. Double elite qualifying miles (not redeemable miles) applies to non-stop Alaska Airlines flights with Alaska Airlines flight numbers. What’s more, there’s an overlap with a bonus miles promotion you can register for that applies to the Seattle-Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco routes with 2 roundtrips by November 12 earning 5000 miles or 3 roundtrips earning 10,000 miles. Those Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco routes are also being bonused by Delta to promote their ramped up service. Coincidence? I think not. All is not nearly as copacetic in the Delta-Alaska bromance as it once was. (HT: Lucky) You can join the 30,000+ people who…
United Reduces Free Checked Bag Benefit for Partner Airline Elites
United has reduced the free baggage allowance for their partner airlines’ Star Alliance Gold and Silver members. Without any public, official announcement (and just changing details on their website) the free checked baggage benefit for Star Alliance Gold members was reduced from 3 bags (up to 70 pounds each) to a single bag (up to 50 pounds) on domestic itineraries. And Star Alliance Silver members no longer will receive a free checked bag on domestic itineraries at all. This change does not affect United’s own MileagePlus elite members, only the elite members of United’s Star Alliance partner airlines. De-emphasizing Alliances Both Lucky and Matthew think United’s move mean alliances have become less important to them. And while there’s a general trend in aviation towards bilateral relationships and smaller joint ventures (elites of those partners are…
Stackable Promotions for New US Airways Club Membership: Discount, Bonus MIles, and Elite Qualifying Miles
When you sign up for a new membership with the US Airways Club, You can get a $50 discount and waived $50 initiation fee using promo code NM500 by October 25. That promo code will give you 5000 elite qualfiying miles as well through December 31. Buying a US Airways club membership qualifies you for a 100% redeemable miles bonus on flights through November 17 (registration required) I get US Airways club membership both via my American Express Platinum card and through my Aegean Airlines Gold status. So this isn’t for me. But the confluence of opportunities here will certainly appeal to some, especially as US Airways lounge access offers reciprocal lounge benefits with many of their partners (though who those partners are would change if US Airways leaves Star Alliance for oneworld). (HT: Loyalty…
Did You Win Points or Status from National Car Rental?
This past week I ran a contest to give away National car rental points and also elite status. There were (4) prize packages: One grand prize winner: 300 points + Executive Elite status 3 runner-up winners: 300 points each. 300 points can be used to jump-start your participation in the One Two Free campaign. “One Two Free” gives you a free rental day for every two rentals of a mid-size vehicle or larger that’s two days or longer. The grand prize winner is: Eugene Cronshagen said, I think I’m already signed up. Better go check! And the three runner up winners are: Scuta said, Definitely! Dan said, I’m in! Mike said, being able to pick your own vehicle, without having to stand in line waiting for a customer service agent, is a very lucrative benefit.…
American Airlines 2-Day 30% Off Sale on Lounge Day Passes
American Airlines is selling lounge day passes for $35 through Noon central time on Thursday when purchased online. The usual price is $50 when purchasing a single day pass which gets you access for the full day, across multiple airports, so it’s a $15 discount… but still relatively pricey. If I had a very long layover and needed the free wifi, a somewhat quieter place to sit, and power outlets to plug into I would consider it (if I didn’t have access already). Or during irregular operations and delays, where I wanted better help than the long lines at customer service in the terminal. But I’ve always found it hard to justify at that price on a per visit basis. Getting lounge access via a credit card makes more sense for me, spreading an annual…
This Simple Mistake Can Cost You Your American Airlines Upgrade (Like It Did for Me)
When American Airlines makes significant schedule changes, upgrade requests can sometimes appear in your list of reservations online to have fallen off. Domestic upgrades either show ‘requested’ or have a check box to submit a request. Even though you’ve made a request for an upgrade, the box can show up unchecked after schedule changes roll through the system. Do not just check the box and re-request your upgrade. American’s domestic upgrades are prioritized based on status and then based on time of request. You don’t want to make a new upgrade request closer to the date of travel because you can wind up lower in the upgrade queue as a result. Instead, I generally call up American. They’ll usually reassure me that my upgrade request is still in the system with the original request date…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Saudia’s Jeddah Lounge and Jeddah-Lahore
Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah And now P.C. continues with the Saudia lounge in Jeddah and arriving in Lahore, Pakistan. Welcome to King AbdulAziz International Airport, Jeddah. The airport is fairly small but the signs for the Saudia lounge were misleading. Also, as an unacompanied female, I was not allowed to remain in transit for more than 18 hours but this wouldn’t be a problem because my onward flight was supposed to leave long before that. Eventually, I found the lounge on my own because no one wanted to talk to me and kept redirecting me to talk to someone else, or asked if I was…
