No, I’m not writing about downloading the Priority Club toolbar over and over for hundreds of thousands of points. That didn’t work out for many folks who had their accounts closed, which I expected to happen and was why I didn’t write about the ‘glitch’ while it was live. Although some folks did cash out their points quickly on merchandise, and I haven’t heard of anything untoward occurring as a result. Wasn’t my cup of tea. And I’ve written in the past that I’m not a fan of shopping portal toolbars. These are programs you can download to your computer so that when you are shopping on a website that earns points in the program whose toolbar you’ve downloaded, you’ll earn points for the purchase without having to start off by clicking through to the…
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Another 5000 Mile Bonus for United Co-branded Credit Card Spending
Yesterday I posted an offering of 5000 miles for spending $1000 between August 1 and October 31 on a United credit card. The offer terms and conditions do not indicate that it’s targeted. Instead, the terms say, You must be an existing cardholder as of August 1, 2012. You must register for this offer….Bonus may be earned one time per primary cardholder. To be eligible for this offer, your account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment… Offer valid once per MileagePlus account number. All statements that would indicate pretty clearly that the offer isn’t targeted. Of course it also says, “[o]ffer subject to change without notice” so there are no guarantees. But it’s worth signing up. It turns out there is also an offer of 5000 mile for spending…
Last Day to Enter to Win a Free Trip on Star MegaDO 4
Today is the final day to enter for a chance to win a seat on the Star Mega DO 4 charter flight, with hotel nights and cash for expenses thrown in. Additional details on the contest, and a list of other blogs where you can enter, can be found here. Good luck!
Jeff Smisek Participating in Star MegaDO 4 and United Launches a Contest to Join the Trip
As part of putting together these trips, sponsors will take a few seats on the charter. Hyatt and United will be coming along. United also arranged to have a seat that they could give away in a contest, and the contest has been announced. What’s interesting, in addition to giving away a seat (plus positioning flights and hotel nights) is that it looks like they’ve been willing to share details of the trip that had otherwise been held close to the vest by event organizers — such as United CEO Jeff Smisek’s participation. ..starts with an evening reception in San Francisco. Right after breakfast the next morning, we’ll take everyone to the maintenance facility at our San Francisco hub to take part in events hosted by Star Alliance™ network. Next up is a charter flight…
5000 United Miles for Spending $1000 on MileagePlus Visa
If you had a United Visa on August 1, then all you need do to earn 5000 United miles is spend $1000 on that card between August 1 and October 31 and register here. The unusual thing is that spending prior to registration counts. So you didn’t need to know about the promotion, and I’m not entirely sure how I didn’t know about the promotion (fortunately someone on Milepoint did). You just have to have spent the $1000 during the promotion period and register by October 31.
New Bigger 1000 Point Signup Bonus for Southwest Rapid Rewards
Early in the week when I wrote about all of the various bonuses you could quadruple or quintuple dip with on Marriott stays over the next few months, I highlighted an offer of a ton of Southwest Rapid Rewards points for buying Marriott gift cards. In that post I noted that if you aren’t already a Southwest Rapid Rewards member, you could join with a 750 point bonus. It seems there is now a 1000 point bonus — 500 for enrolling and 250 for each of two e-mail signups. As it happens, and while I’m a member of perhaps 80 different loyalty programs, I’m not a member of Southwest Rapid Rewards. So I’m perhaps more interested in a signup bonus for a new account than the median reader might be.
Monday’s Big oneworld Announcement and the Future of the Alliance
A couple of days ago I received an email from the Weber Shadwick PR folks about oneworld’s announcement on Monday in New York. The briefing will be at 2pm with oneworld’s Chairman, Willie Walsh of British Airways and Iberia, and oneworld’s CEO. On Monday we’ll find out what the oneworld announcement really is, there has been tons of reporting and denials amidst claims of leaked documents. The smart money has been on Qatar, either joining oneworld outright or creating some sort of alliance with part of oneworld rather than full integration (the recent Qantas-Emirates alliance, and termination of partnership with Qantas and other oneworld carriers on Australia – Europe routes, makes it tough for Qantas to also partner with Qatar). Although it’s conceivable that it’s something more mundane, full integration for Malaysia Airlines or formal…
Last Chance to Get Hyatt Visa’s 2 Free Nights With No Minimum Spending Requirement
Hyatt Visa: 2 free nights at any Hyatt property, no minimum spending requirement. Chase is introducing a $1000 minimum spend requirement (within first three months) to earn the signup bonus on their Hyatt Visa. That new requirement is already reflected on the Chase website. But my link — which offers referral credit to me if you choose to use it — still allows you to get the card and free nights with no minimum spend required. I understand that even my link will no longer be offering that effective on Tuesday morning or earlier. As far as spending requirements go, the new one will be modest. But if you’ve been considering the card, it will be a whole lot more convenient not to have to put $1000 on it before receiving your free nights. I…
How to Get Turkish Airlines to Match Your Elite Status (or “Free United and US Airways Lounge Access”)
Back in June I was given mid-tier elite status by Turkish Airlines, Gold in their Miles & Smiles program, as a result of my british midland Gold status. The bmi program was winding down as a result of the airline being acquired by British Airways, and Turkish was making a play to acquire their customers. What that meant to me is that I would continue to have lounge access with United and US Airways whenever flying either airline, even domestically. Because “Star Alliance Gold”-level frequent flyers with non-U.S. frequent flyer programs are entitled to that access. (Of course I already get US Airways lounge access from my American Express Platinum card. So for me this was about free United access.) Here’s what’s interesting, though. It wasn’t just a limited-time offer to pick up British Midland’s…
Bits ‘n Pieces for October 5, 2012
News and notes from around the interweb: The subscription-based ExpertFlyer.com website now lets you search award availability across the full Star Alliance. There’s not really information here that isn’t available for free on websites like United.com and Aeroplan. But ExpertFlyer lets you set up email alerts so that you are notified when the award space you want opens up, which is huge. (I outlined Expertflyer and its benefits back in June.) Hilton’s 4th quarter promotion is out and available for registration: 1000 bonus points per night for every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night you stay between November 1 and December 31. So everything is bonused except for Tuesday and Wednesday nights, though 1000 points is a pretty modest offer (worth about $5 in my view). There’s also a pretty extensive list (.pdf) of…
