Membership Rewards-earning personal American Express cards can earn double miles on gas and groceries for the next year (through March 15, 2010 anyway). Registration is required, which is brilliant, only give the miles to those who are striving for them. And they cap the bonus at 1,000 miles per month. Used to be similar sorts of offers might cap bonuses at 10,000 total. Here they spread the bonus out over a year, whch means you need to consistently use the card over time in order to max out. Habit-forming. To me, annoying, I love promos I can get excited about in a single shot and go crazy with. This is just a good offer for gas and grocery spend over time, and I suppose some folks will exceed the cap or continue their spending habits…
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US Airways Double Elite Qualifying Miles Promo Extended to April 30
US Airways’ double elite qualifying miles promotion, announced back in February, was about to expire. With everyone around them running promos at the moment, they’ve decided to extend theirs through April 30.
Free Silver Status in Accor’s A|Club
Offer is only valid through March 31. New members sign up here and existing members upgrade here. In either case, use promo code SLVRAGT. US and Canadian addresses only. Don’t expect much from Silver, but it may be reaosn enough to join.
The Onion’s Report on World’s Worst Airport
Personally this reminds me of Mexico City… (Hat tip to D.R.)
United Double Qualifying Miles on Tickets Purchased Before the Start of the Promo
I meant to blog this earlier today, but Lucky beat me to it. There’s a way around the rule that United tickets purchased prior to the start of their double elite qualifying mile promo don’t count towards the promo, thus saving you the cost and hassle of rebooking trips… you just have to call Mileage Plus and ask to be registered for promotion code MPW999.
Northwest and Delta Offer Qualifying Mile Bonus For Higher Fares Only
Northwest (register here) and Delta (register here) have jumped on the Double Elite Qualifying Miles bandwagon started by American and followed soon thereafter by United and Continental. Like American and United — and unlike Continental — the offer applies only to tickets both purchased and flown during the promo period. So tickets bought last week, for instance, won’t count. And unlike the other airline offers, this one exludes the least expensive fares from earning double qualifying miles. Specifically, Delta L, U, and T fares and a shifting set of Northwest fares based on region of travel — read the terms and conditions! — are ineligible. Meanwhile, they promote the offer as ‘up to triple qualifying miles’ which is somewhat disingenous, since that applies to the highest fares that generally earn a qualifying mile bonus anyway..…
United Ends Generous Re-faring Benefit
Back when airlines were fighting against a potential ‘Passengers Bill of Rights’ out of Congress (it seems like eons ago, airlines were seen as too profitable and distanced, much as oil companies were a couple years ago, there’s always a villian-of-the-moment) they introduced their own action plans, giving them the argument that legislation was thus unnecessary. United’s version of this was their customer commitment, mostly vacuous statements but there were a series of policies which were useful to customers. They did allow (and still allow) reservations made with them to be cancelled within 24 hours of booking for a full refund, and now also offer a ‘hold’ feature on their website. My hazy memory says that airline pricing was a big issue at the time, United promised to quote the lowest available fare when queried…
Continental Gets On Board With Double Elite Qualifying Miles
Continental is now offering double elite qualifying miles as well (registration required). Like the United and American offers, this one applies to travel through June 15. Unlike those offers, the terms and conditions do not require you to actually have purchased the ticket during the promo period. So it would appear that tickets purchased prior to today, but flown March 20 through June 15, will all count towards double elite qualifying miles. No need to cancel and re-book, eating applicable change fees! So… who’s next? (Thanks to D.R. for the pointer.)
Priority Club’s Annoying Habit of Improperly Denying Points Credit for Stays
One Mile at a Time had to fight for his Priority Club points to post from a recent stay at the InterContinental Grand Stanford in Hong Kong. Priority Club initially refused to credit the points, which didn’t post on their own, even though the booking was made on their own website. They explained, Unfortunately, the room rate paid during the stay in question was deeply discounted and is ineligible for credit to your account. We have provided the link for Priority Club Rewards’ Terms and Conditions below: They also explained that eligible in-hotel spend might earn points, and encouraged Lucky to send his bill in ordetr to credit those points. However, if you have incurred other charges during your stay , you may forward your itemized invoice to us in JPEG or PDF format so…
US Travel Spend Dropped 22% (annualized) in the 4th Quarter
Anyone who has been watching travel costs and deep discount deals recently, in the US for example in New York and Vegas, knows this anecdotally — but US travel spend fell at a 22% annualized rate in 4Q08. Ouch. But great for bargain hunting. It seems like, as far as deals go (and it’s a great time to Priceline!), it’s 2002 all over again! No surprise that United and American are offering a double elite qualifying miles promo through mid-June. There will certainly be more bonus promos to come.
