Over the weekend I noted Iberia’s 50% off award sale that will allow you to book one-way transatlantic business class awards for as little as 20,000 points. That requires booking by Tuesday. Unfortunately the easiest way for many to get Iberia points is to transfer them in directly from American Express Membership Rewards. Only Iberia has disappeared from the list of Membership Rewards transfer partners. (Another way to get them is to transfer them over from sister airline British Airways — but you can only do this if you have an active Iberia account, you cannot just open a fresh Iberia account for this purpose.) The good news, at least, is that Iberia isn’t actually gone as an American Express partner. here’s what American Express had to say when I queried them over the weekend:…
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Re-Introducing the Virgin America Credit Card
Virgin America’s co-brand credit card relationship soured with Barclaycard, for reasons that were never disclosed. The bank and airline parted ways, and there’s been no Virgin America credit card on offer for months. That has now changed, which MileCards flagged earlier today. There are two cards, both issued by a bank I had never heard of — Comenity Capital Bank. It’s a darned sexy card. It’s one that Virgin America regulars looking for help towards elite status may be interested in (and Virgin America regulars flying with a companion will be able to get value out of keeping), and a card that can be strategically useful for partner awards (most with high fuel surcharges). And it’s good to have a card from a secondary bank with a signup bonus out there again. But it won’t…
A Quick Jaunt to Southern India: Park Hyatt Chennai, the Best Value Hyatt in the World?
Previous Installments: Introduction and Trip Planning Etihad Lounge, Washington Dulles Etihad First Class, Washington Dulles – Abu Dhabi Etihad Business Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi Terminal 1, and Abu Dhabi – Chennai Business Class A Park Hyatt representative was waiting outside of baggage claim. I walked up and he immediately rang to summon our (complimentary) car to the hotel. The car itself was an interesting experience — the back of the vehicle had tons of room, and was cut off completely from the driver. You could push a button to speak to the driver, though. And since you couldn’t see out the front of the car, there was a large video screen displaying the view from a camera. The drive to the hotel was only about 15 minutes. I was thoroughly exhausted at this point, after…
Even Better: 9000 Club Carlson Points for a 3-Day Avis Car Rental
This morning I posted that Avis is offering 7500 Club Carlson points for a three day rental and somewhat lamented that the offer they used to make of 9000 points on a three day rental is no longer available. Fortunately I have fantastic readers — al613 quickly pointed out in the comments that indeed 9000 Club Carlson points for a three day Avis rental is alive and well, also through June 30. TERMS AND CONDITIONS Offer of 9,000 total Gold Points is valid on rentals of three days or longer at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. Bonus Gold Points are in addition to the base points you receive each time you rent with Avis. 9,000 total Gold Points…
7500 Club Carlson Points for 3-Day Avis Rental Extended Through June 30
Avis had been offering 9000 Club Carlson points for a 3-day rental a bit over a year ago, and then was reduced to 7500 points for all of 2013. The 7500 point offer for a 3-day rental was set to expire December 31 but has been extended through June 30 using the same coupon code MUHA018. Be sure to enter that coupon code and your Club Carlson number when making a reservation. You can earn these points without using the ‘discount code’ that offers up to 25% off of your rental, I usually find these discounts don’t provide the best pricing. (HT: Loyalty Lobby) 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…
Eat Your Hotel, Transatlantic Business Class for Just 20k Points, and ‘How To’ for the Coolest Redemptions (Bits ‘n Pieces for January 4, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Iberia transatlantic one-way business class for just 20,000 points if you book by Tuesday. In case you missed it: how to book two Singapore Airlines A380 Suites award seats and how to redeem Qantas A380 first class awards between the US and Australia. Seattle’s Frequent Traveler University, coming up in April is half sold out. I put out word that it was set up right before the holidays. I need to get on finishing the schedule! American Airlines is Jaunted’s airline of the year for 2013. Marriott’s Autograph Collection rewards category 6 (30,000 points per night) culinary-themed Epicurean Hotel has opened. (HT: Stephen M.) You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one…
Amtrak Rolling Out Two or Three Trips for a Free Trip Starting Monday
Amtrak will start their “Go Free” promotion with registration opening Monday on the Amtrak website. Take three qualifying roundtrips on Acela from January 6 through March 1, 2014, and you’ll get one free roundtrip for travel July 1 through August 31, 2014. Take two qualifying roundtrips on Northeast Regional from January 6 through March 1, 2014, and you’ll get one free roundtrip for travel July 1 through August 31, 2014. Take two qualifying roundtrips on Cascades from January 6 through March 1, 2014, and you’ll get one free roundtrip for travel March 2 through April 30, 2014. Take two qualifying roundtrips on Hiawatha from January 6 through March 1, 2014, and you’ll get one free roundtrip for travel March 2 through May 31, 2014. Hiawatha is Chicago – Milwaukee and Cascades connects Oregon, Washington, and…
Stacking Bonus After Bonus On Your Next IHG Rewards Stay
Points are so easy to earn with the IHG Rewards (formerly Priority Club) program. I don’t love IHG Rewards. Their terms and conditions exclude most elite benefits when staying on points (though some hotels will still give you benefits). There is also no option to spend more points or a better than base room on an award night. So at many properties no matter your status or points balance you can be stuck in a base room when claiming your reward for loyalty. But piling on the points is something you can really do because they run many concurrent promotions, ostensibly targeted but that are often in practice open to everyone and can often be stacked on top of each other. You don’t always know which promotions will post and which will not with this…
Triple Points at Restaurants Today With the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
If you’re not one of the folks that’s completely snowed in, then today is the day to go out to eat. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner — since the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card earns 3 points per dollar on dining. It’s the monthly ‘First Friday’ triple miles on dining bonus. It’s also a great day to buy any gift certificates from your favorite restaurants as well! I believe I’ve only written about this once before, more than 8 months ago when the benefit was first introduced, so it seemed worth a reminder in the new year. I do like the capitalized ‘First Friday,’ that makes the day sound almost religious. Of course on days that aren’t the First Friday of the month, the card earns double points on dining still so as my grandfather used…
2000 Free Lufthansa Miles for Joining Their Kids Program (And Why You Want To)
Several years ago I joined the JetFriends program which is designed for children. The reason I wanted to be a member is because for some reason I’ve not known the answer to, the Miles&More program wouldn’t allow members without miles in their account to search for award space (and I much wanted to be able to search Lufthansa and Swiss award availability as offered to their own members as opposed to as offered to their partners like United or ANA), but that restriction was lifted for members of this program. At the time I had to mail in written parental consent to be a member of the program. I had no problem giving my own consent, of course. Fortunately it appears that paper and postage is no longer necessary, consent is now handled via email.…
