US Airways is offering a targeted bonus of up to 100% additional miles when you buy miles through August 22. The offer is targeted, then you go to the buy miles page you have to enter your account information to see whether you’re being offered a bonus. (And there may be other, smaller, bonuses targeted to some accounts.) If the offer is available to you, buying miles at a 100% bonus means buying them at a cost of 1.88 cents per mile. US Airways is almost always selling miles on the cheap, which is to say at a price higher than I’m willing to pay but much lower than the ‘retail’ price that almost never prevails. As far as I know, crazy as it sounds, the Federal Trade Commission never launched an investigation of US…
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The Cheapest First Class Fares from Each Airline
Last month I highlighted The Cheapest Business Class Fares From Each Airline. FlightFox has now put together their list of best airline first class products, and the routes with the cheapest fares you can buy to fly them. I don’t really agree with them that Singapore Airlines offers the best all-around first class product (though they do restrict the claim to Singapore’s A380). Or that Lufthansa has the 5th-best. I’d take Qantas’ A380 First Class Suites (#15) over Air France (#12), JAL (#11), or Qatar (#7) in first.. in a heartbeat. But the list is useful for finding routes where you can buy tickets, try the products, and do so without shelling out tens of thousands of dollars. In most cases I’d redeem miles for first class, but some have been known to buy an…
Better United Awards to Africa, Rats Catered on a Plane, and Get Uber for Less
News and notes from around the interweb: United has changed several published award rules. Here’s a change that appears to have actually been implemented into their pricing logic, though: US-South Africa awards successfully routing via China or Brazil. A million people are listed on the US government’s terrorist watch list. Once everyone’s a terrorist, is anyone? Air India plane grounded in Delhi as rats run riot, sent for fumigation. “The most common way for rats to get on board an aircraft is through catering vans.” Lovely. (HT: Claire M.) OneVanilla Prepaid Visas Working at Walmart Again? 1000 free air berlin miles when you sign up for a no cost duty free program. Uber launching UberPool — on-demand carpooling. You split your ride cost with a stranger headed in the same direction. If they can’t find…
REVEALED: First Look Inside the Fantastic American Express Centurion Lounge at New York LaGuardia
American Express’ new Centurion Lounge at New York LaGuardia airport is ready and will open in a matter of days — the specific day is uncertain, although they promise “by mid-month.” I had an opportunity to see the lounge last night, though and try the food since I was invited to the pre-opening party and dinner there. So I flew up to New York for the night (4500 British Airways points each way for the US Airways Shuttle from DC, and cash and points at the Sheraton LaGuardia). What American Express has created is a stylish, comfortable departure lounge with good food and drink. The LaGuardia location is smaller than their other lounges — 5000 square feet compared to 8000 – 12000 elsewhere, including the new lounges under development. It’s the space that was available,…
The Big Hotels Are the Least Rewarding — Why US News Gets Hotel Loyalty Backwards
Just like US News presented a highly flawed ranking of frequent flyer programs that was mostly a ranking of the airlines themselves, they have also put out a ranking of hotel programs that is as much about “how big is the hotel chain?” as it is “do they provide any value in their loyalty program?” As a result the biggest chains, for the most part, win. (As before, a hat tip to the indispensable Terry Maxon.) Here are their rankings:
Hyatt Offering Many Members Opportunity to Buy Points With 40% Bonus
Hyatt Gold Passport is offering up to a 40% bonus on purchased points through August 18. The bonus is targeted. Emails are going out to Diamond members and to Platinum members, “As a [Status level] member, you can enjoy an exclusive bonus when you purchase points:” I do not know if all members with status are getting this or not, or if anyone without status in the Gold Passport program is receiving it. But the system they’re using to verify eligibility looks exactly like the one US Airways uses:
Which Frequent Flyer Program is Best? Don’t Be Fooled By US News!
US News has come out with a ranking of best frequent flyer programs. (HT: Dallas News Aviation Blog) Here are the rankings:
Window Shuts on 75,000 Bonus Miles But 50,000 and 60,000 Still Possible
Citibank’s 100,000 mile signup bonus for its American Airlines Exzecutive card was like the Kenneth Branagh / Emma Thompson film Dead Again. Except that no one murdered anyone in a past life. That offer ended on July 15 after first ending earlier on June 25. It was a sad day (for the second time) as it was the very best signup bonus out there ever since it appeared at the beginning of January. And it topped my list of card offers that wouldn’t last. It didn’t. First the landing page for the offer disappeared but a direct application link still worked. It went away and came back before it died. That left the 75,000 mile offer for the card as the biggest one around. Sadly the 75,000 mile offer has died, too. The best remaining…
An Inflight Cell Phone Ban Is On Its Way, and That’s Not a Good Thing
The Department of Transportation’s General Counsel says they plan to introduce formal rules by the end of the year which would ban inflight cell phone calls. (HT: Alan H.) This is precipitated by the FCC’s merely talking about the prospect of lifting its rules since it no longer believes there is any technical justification for them. And that the idea of inflight calls are highly unpopular. Is Inflight Cell Phone Use Even Bad? Lots of consumers think that it would be really annoying if their seat opponent got on their phone. I don’t like talking on the phone when I’m on the ground, so inflight cell phone use doesn’t excite me either. But I also don’t see the harm. But passengers elsewhere in the world use phones on planes and terrible things don’t happen In…
Comprehensive Guide to Tipping Plus Bonus Starwood, Hyatt, and American Points
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: A Comprehensive Worldwide Guide to Tipping. And here’s my simpler approach to tipping no chart to memorize.. The hotel whose contract includes $500 fines per negative review? Likely enforceable. Register to earn 1000 – 3000 bonus Hyatt points for every 3 nights stayed in Las Vegas. You can now earn American AAdvantage miles for Groundlink car service bookings. Double Starwood Starpoints for stays in Europe, Middle East, and Africa for stays this month. 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 for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
