American Airlines and Marriott Rewards announced a partnership today, restoring a relationship which was severed back in June 2010. Members will be able to earn AAdvantage miles for Marriott stays (rather than Marriott Rewards points) if they wish, and will be able to convert Marriott points to AAdvantage miles. The conversions will take place at the ‘higher’ tier that Marriott offers, similar to transfers into Aeromexico, Aeroplan, Alaska, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, GOL/Varig, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, and Virgin Atlantic. The conversion rate of Marriott Rewards to American miles (and to the mileage currencies of the other airlines listed above) is: 10,000 points = 2,000 miles 20,000 points = 5,000 miles 30,000 points = 10,000 miles 70,000 points = 25,000 miles 140,000 points = 50,000 miles Other air…
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Bits ‘n Pieces for June 17, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Passengers stuck on a plane for hours were charged for water. And it wasn’t even Spirit. Or an attempt to utilize the price system to ration scarce resources. (HT: sobore on Milepoint) Tasting notes on Hyatt’s private label Canvas house wines. If you didn’t win Briggs & Riley luggage in my recent giveaways, you can enter Points, Miles, & Martini’s TORQ bag giveaway. (Well, strictly speaking, you can enter there even if you did win here.) 20% off a Virgin America ticket valid for travel September 10 – November 6 by liking and entering info on their Facebook page. United partner Silver Airways introduces its own frequent flyer program that earns… United miles. You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day —…
Why Frequent Flyers Are LESS Likely to Cheat (Despite Survey Data)
Point Me to the Plane flags a story about cheating spouses traveling in order to carry on their affairs. “There’s no better time to pursue a discreet affair than when you’re hundreds or even thousands of miles away from home,” said AshleyMadison.com founder Noel Biderman. “Our members have stated that the distance not only lessens their fear of getting caught, but also alleviates feelings of guilt.” …And how on earth do these cheaters pay for these rendezvous without getting caught? Turns out more than half pay for it through a business trip, either directly on a corporate card or through a rewards program (no paper trail!) or by adding days onto a business trip. Using miles under the belief that there’s “no paper trail” seems naive at best. Sure, strictly speaking the tickets are electronic…
My Two Favorite Blog Readers for When Google Reader Goes Away July 1
The closest experience to Google Reader is Bazqux. Literally two clicks and I had an account with all of my Google Reader feeds imported (since I created an account by logging in via the same Google account that my RSS feeds are linked to). There’s a $30 free trial, and then it’s $9 (or more if you like) per year. The website is super fast, it has the same general feel that Google Reader does although it’s missing some of the customized functionality that I got used to in Reader (or at least in a few minutes of playing I haven’t found it yet). Only downside is that it doesn’t have its own mobile app, it’s feeds are compatible with other apps but there’s no ‘Bazqux’ I can download in the Google Play store. The…
Cathay Pacific Getting New First Class Cabin Next Month
Cathay Pacific has my all-around first class, though it certainly isn’t the newest product. Their food is good enough, though not fantastic. I always choose the Chinese entree, I do love having dim sum for breakfast, and the smoked salmon and caviar is good. Singapore probably does a better job with main meals, and they serve both Dom Perignon and Krug rather than just Krug. But Cathay does a better job with mid-flight snack options. (I think Asiana and ANA do a better job with food than either Cathay or Singapore does.) Their lounges in Hong Kong are fine. I like The Wing’s first class lounge, and I haven’t been there in the past few months so haven’t seen the refresh. But there’s no real special ground service — such as escorts to and from…
Alaska Airlines Visa 30,000 Mile Signup Bonus
The standard bonus for the Alaska Airlines Visa is 25,000 miles, and it’s been offered with as much as 40,000 miles in the past. But 30,000 miles appears to be the best current offer. The offer is for 25,000 miles on approval (no minimum spending) and 5000 more miles “for being a customer.” There doesn’t appear to be any verification that you need to be a pre-existing customer, that they will do anything like check to see whether you have bank accounts with them already for instance, and I’d bet that anyone — even folks who have never had a Bank of America account before — will get the full 30,000 miles. Though since they only promise it to folks as a thank you for being a customer (gee, getting upproved for the card makes…
Up to $100 Rebate from Hotels.com
Reader Dan B. passes along that Hotels.com is offering a rebate for bookings — $20 back for 3 night booking up to $100 back for a 12 night booking. You have to enter promo code REBATES13 at checkout when making your booking to be eligible for the offer. You’ll have to mail in a coupon after your stay. Rebates will be credited back to the card used for purchase. You can only redeem the rebate once for bookings made by December 31 for stays through January 31. Of course, in some way this is just an alternative to getting cash back for your bookings. Other pseudo-cash back options are getting miles instead of money from either PointsHound or Rocketmiles. You can double dip with Hotels.com’s loyalty program. And you can double dip with loyalty points…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 14, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Earlier this month Delta announced that flights on Korean Air would no longer count for elite qualifying mile, despite Korean being a member of the Skyteam alliance. They said at the time that each airline chooses their own level of participation with Skyteam. Cranky Flier says that isn’t what happened at all, that it wasn’t Korean’s choice but rather a unilateral decision by Delta possibly to try to force Korean to join a joint business venture. Bad, Delta, bad but the sort of untruthfulness we’ve come to expect from an airline that claims it isn’t legally allowed to tell its members in advance when it will be increasing award prices. Through June 27 American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 20% bonus on transfers to Hawaiian Airlines. Decent…
Did You Win a Briggs & Riley @work Bag?
There were over 1000 entries this week to give away a Briggs & Riley @work bag. Since Briggs & Riley offers a pretty unparalleled lifetime guarantee on their bags, I asked commenters to answer, “Do you worry something is going to happen to your luggage?” The winner is Alex who wrote, Yes! I’ve had at least 4 handles broken off of my checked luggage. The @work line epitomizes the business market that’s right up the middle as far as folks choosing Briggs & Riley. And Alex gets to choose his preferred bag/color! 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 RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
How Many of the Good Seats Will American Be Getting Rid Of?
The Dallas Morning News Aviation Blog reports that American will add seats to its 737 and MD80 aircraft. American says they haven’t determined how many seats will be added, and we don’t yet know whether this will be accomplished by removing Main Cabin Extra (coach seats with extra legroom) or First Class seats. If I had to wager I would guess that a row of first class seats would be removed (American’s domestic fleet generally has more first class seats than US Airways’ does) and that they will also shrink the main cabin extra cabin. American did reiterate its commitment to an extra legroom in coach product; something that United manages to make money on. Adding seats to the 737-800s that currently seat 150 will require an additional flight attendant. They obviously think the revenue…
