Citibank announced last month that ‘fixed point redemption’ (which allows redemptions valued up to 3 cents a point instead of the standard 1 cent) would be ending March 1. It appears that they’ve already gone ahead and pulled the plug on 3 cents value, capping redemptions at 2 cents as of last week. This despite the FAQ on the Citi Thank You Network website still showing the 3 cents value, and the Thank You Network terms and conditions requiring 30 days written notice for changes to the program. This is all second-hand, at this point, per this thread on Flyertalk. It’s of particular concern to me because I’m hurtling towards 90,000 points to make a redemption… and I need to wait until my credit card points post on or about February 19 in order to…
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5000 Bonus Thank You Points for 2-Night Hotel Stay Booked on Expedia
If you book a 2-night hotel stay on Expedia using promo code TY5K09 you’ll earn a 5,000 Thank You Point bonus. Frugal Travel Guy suggests it as a hail mary ot get to 90,000 Thank You points prior to March 1, getting in before the devaluation of the program. I’m a bit more conservative. Sure, if you have no other plays it’s worth trying. As Rick notes, it’s unclear whether you have to check in to get the bonus (though on an Expedia pre-paid hotel I doubt it) or whether the points will post in time (my gut says no). As a result I wouldn’t spend incremental dollars to ‘buy’ Thank You Points this way, even the property he suggests @ $15/night. But if you’re going to be booking hotel rooms anyway (by March 1…
Singapore Offers 25% Discount on Awards Booked Online
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is offering 25% discounts on all awards booked online by September 15 for travel from March 1 through September 30. In addition, coach awards on specific routes in specific months are being discounted 50%. But that’s not the part that interests me most, it’s the 25% discount on first class awards that’s interesting (of course, on those routes where it’s still possible to redeem at standard levels for first class, which means where Singapore still flies 747s). Singapore Airlines is an American Express Membership Rewards partner. On the one hand, you won’t want to go transferring bucketloads of points without checking out their standard reward chart, it can be expensive relative to US-based programs. On the other hand, availability on Singapore Airliens is generally better for Singapore KrisFlyer redemptions than for partners.…
Double Miles for Tax Payments with United Visa
In the first of the tax season bonus miles offers I’ve seen, the Chase United Visa is offering double miles on tax payments charged to the card up to 15,000 bonus miles for charges made between March 14, 2009 and May 31, 2009. Of course paying your taxes online entails a ‘convenience fee’ so you’re still paying better than a penny a mile. So if you were going to put your taxes on a credit card anyway, this may be the one to use — unless and until other cards match with a similar bonus, as several have in the past. Sadly the best bonus days are behind us, I recall one year when the United Visa offered 5000 bonus miles for any tax payment and so I charged $1…
1000 Delta Miles for any Skymiles Shopping Purchase
Via Frugal Travel Guy, registering for Skymiles Shopping and making a purchase yields 1000 bonus miles. From Fatwallet and there from Slickdeals comes an easy 1000 DL miles for registering with SkymallShopping. Here is your link Terms and Conditions: And a sample purchase for $1 Link Just what we all really want a Prince CD. Go ahead and register. And then use the Skymiles shopping website to navigate to your store of choice (don’t just go to the Prince CD link above). I notice that that CD is backordered, and that the $1 mentioned above doesn’t include shipping. So take it as an example only.
Another Generous Hyatt Promo: Up to 20 Southwest Credits
Similar to the Air Canada promo I posted this morning, Hyatt is offering progressively bigger bonuses for staying up to 8 nights through April 30 — this time as many as 20 Southwest Rapid Reward Credits are the prize, and registration is required. Stay 2 nights 4 nights 6 nights 8 nights Bonus Credits Earned 2 +4 +6 +8 Total Bonus Credits 2 credits 6 credits 12 credits 20 credits Not a bad return on eight nights, clearly Hyatt is looking to leverage their loyalty program to fill up someotherwise empty rooms.
1000 Northwest Miles for Custom Luggage Tags
Perhaps one of the more interesting low-end redemptions I’ve seen. It’s 1000 Northwest Worldperks miles and you can even upload your own images for the tags.
1000 Mile Bonus for Joining US Airways Dividend Miles
US Airways Dividend Miles is offering 1000 miles for new signups. Usually these offers require some sort of flight activity before earning bonus miles. This one gives you the miles just for joining. So a good chance to join if you aren’t already a member.For a limited time, enroll in Dividend Miles online and receive 1,000 bonus miles. That’s right, all you have to do is sign up and we’ll automatically credit 1,000 miles to your account. The miles don’t count toward Preferred status, and you can’t combine this enrollment bonus with any other offers. Enrollments must be made on usairways.com and only one bonus is permitted per individual.
Generous Hyatt Promotion: Up to 20,000 Air Canada Aeroplan Miles
Hyatt stays through May 3 accumulate significant Aeroplan bonuses. The bonuses grow with additional nights up to 8 total nights, as follows: 2,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (two nights) + 4,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (four nights) + 6,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (six nights) + 8,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (eight nights) = 20,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (And you still earn the standard 500 miles per stay as well.) The offer is valid at all Hyatt brands, and Registration is required.
Air Tahiti Nui Cutting Routes, Perhaps Partnering With Delta?
Air Tahiti Nui is pulling out of the New York-JFK market. JFK-Papeete didn’t do especially well for them, even during high season, and they previous pulled out of JFK-Paris. They’ve also ended their Osaka service, and are pulling out of Sydney. This leaves Auckland, Los Angeles, and Tokyo from Papeete and Paris from Los Angeles (providing one-stop service from Tahiti, matching Air France’s offering and allowing their politicians to visit the administrative bosses while flying their state carrier). Fewer than 200,000 people visited Tahiti in 2008. I seem to recall a statistic (which I never validated) that more people arrive in Hawaii in a day than in Bora Bora in a year. While I don’t always trust with 100% certainty the accuracy of Tahiti Presse stories, there’s been some speculation amongst frequent flyers about what…
