I’m a guest on the new Upgrd Podcast out today discussing Delta’s fine over involuntary denied boarding compensation, listener questions and advice on credit card spend, iDine, and splitting miles across programs, and using United Red Carpet Club membership to access other Star Alliance lounges.
About Gary Leff
United Award Discount Details Now Up
The United Mileage Plus award sale that I mentioned this morning is now up on the United website and a few more details are available. As previously noted, the sale is for travel August 18 through November 18, is for coach travel only, and must be on United (or United Express) flights, no partner airlines. What’s new is the news that tickets issued under this promo must be issued by July 24. And the discount is a minimum of 20% off, but as much as 29% off: Origin Destination Regular Sale % mileage mileage Off North America North America 25,000 20,000 20% (excluding Hawaii) (excluding Hawaii) Hawaii 40,000 30,000 25% Central America, Caribbean 35,000 25,000 29% South America 55,000 44,000 20% Europe 55,000 44,000 20% Australia 80,000 64,000 20% …
Free Internet On American Airlines
American is offering free wifi through August 23 using promo code AAWiFi76194A1. Of course, they don’t have their whole fleet wired up yet, You should be good flying 767s, and some MD80s have wireless. (Hat tip to Frugal Travel Guy.)
United 20% Off Mileage Award Sale
Details aren’t available online yet, but Flyertalkers discovered it (and Lucky has mentioned it as well). United’s “FALL 2009 ECON AWARD SALE – MPW039” is now live — a 20% discount on coach awards flown entirely on United flights between August 18 and November 18. So a good time to redeem if you like to redeem for coach, and if you’re a 1K who already has some coach redemptions on United flights and award space is still available for those flights you can call back and reticket and save some points (1Ks only, of course, as anyone else would have to pay a fee to redeposit the miles).
30% Bonus on American Express Transfers to Northwest
Now that Northwest Worldperks is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner, Northwest is offering a 30% bonus on transfers through July 31. Registration is required prior to transfer in order to earn the bonus.
US Airways Double Miles for Shopping
US Airways is offering double miles on shopping transactions through August 31, no registration required. That means 5000 miles for a Netflix signup, 6000 miles for opening a Sharebuilder account, 40 miles per dollar at FTD, and of course double the listed miles at all Dividend Miles Mall merchants. The bonus is limited to a maximum of 10 transactions per partner, and of course you should always check EV Reward for other mileage and cash back offers before making a purchase. Sometimes even at double miles US Airways won’t be the best offer out there.
Two New Starwood Discount Offers
Starwood is offering up to 50% off of bookings made by July 20 for stays between July 16 and October 20. Now, this is up to 50% off of rack rate, which means it will sometimes be a small savings off the rates you’ll otherwise find from Starwood’s website. But it’s worth checking rates under this promo. The rates are available in North America, South America and Asia Pacific. Some hotels place a 4 night maximum stay under the rate, and seven nights generally at resorts. They’re advance purchase, non-cancellable rates. Another interesting offer is Starwood’s $100 spa credit per night offer for hotels in the Southeast, Florida, and Carribean. Bookings must be made by July 31 for stays through September 30. Rates will likely be a bit higher than booking without this package, but…
US Airways Club Cutbacks
They’re closing Las Vegas and reducing staff in Phoenix. At some point the unique U.S. model where airline lounges are paid memberships rather than a perk of status, becomes no longer sustainable. Crowded rooms with insufficient furniture, virtually no snacks, pay cocktails, and without special services agents don’t make for an attractive sales proposition. I realize that they’ve reduced their Vegas flying, and they claim they’re not seeing the usual staff attrition hence the need for Phoenix club layoffs. But this is just another step n the US Airways model of catering less and less to the premium customer. One less club in the US system, though no expected corresponding reduction in club membership fees…
Northwest Worldperks Added as American Express Transfer Partner
With the Delta/Northwest merger, Northwest Worldperks has become an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner. Of course, you could already transfer to Delta and then from Delta to Northwest. And this will only last until the Worldperks program is officially folded into Delta Skymiles. But it makes the process a little easier if you need to top off a Northwest account, as you get to skip one step.
Priority Club PointBreaks and 50% Off Redemptions in Mexico
Lucky points out that the new Priority Club PointBreaks list is up, noting in particular the Intercontinental properties in Vienna and Warsaw and the Intercontinental COEX Seoul. That is, these are properties being offered for redemption at only 5000 points per night. I’d add that the Intercontinentals in Wellington and Fiji to the list of notable Intercontinentals. And until I clicked on Mexico, where I found no Point Breaks on offer, I hadn’t been aware that Priority Club was offering ALL Mexico redemptions at 50% off through December 1.
