Rewards Network used to be called iDine, and Transmedia before that. It’ll always be iDine to me. They co-brand with lots of different loyalty programs. In the old days the standard earning rate for an airline was 10 miles per dollar spent, but then they cut that to 1 mile per dollar unless you had signed up for an online account and took their emails in which case the earn rate was 3 miles per dollar. Nice for meals you’re going to eat anyway, but not enough to really re-direct my dining. Fortunately ‘VIP members’ still earn 10 miles per dollar spent (5 miles per dollar plus another 5 for rating the restaurant). But you have to get to VIP status for that to happen. Fortunately right now the United iDine partnership is offering a…
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2500 Priority Club Points for $25 AT&T Cell Phone with $25 Airtime Credit Included
A couple of months ago Flyertalk member AndyAndy reported that the offer of 2500 Priority Club points for an AT&T Wireless purchase could be used for a refurbished Nokia 2610s which runs $25 and includes a $25 airtime card. Now, I wouldn’t spend $25 for 2500 Priority Club points unless my only use for those points was PointBreaks (where 5000 points can be redeemed for a free night), then it’s worthwhile. Otherwise I value Priority Club points at around 2/3rds of a cent apiece. However, since you can sell the phone on eBay even without the airtime for close to the purchase price, for those willing to go through the machinations this could be a great deal to generate more or less free points and free airtime. (Some will use different sim cards with the…
Alaska Airlines IT Challenges Prevent Them From Devaluing Miles… For 18 Days
The previously announced devaluation of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles set to take place on November 1 has been delayed until November 19th due to technical issues. So two and a half weeks more to redeem at the old rates.
$30 Off JetBlue, Book By Tomorrow
Book by tomorrow with promo code JetOct08 and received $30 off travel through December 15 (with Thanksgiving travel blacked out for the promotion). (Hat tip to Channel 9.)
Star Alliance Status Match Options for Alitalia Elites
Status match programs are exceedingly common in the U.S. but extend to very few programs elsewhere. British Midland is known to regularly offer complimentary status based on elite levels in other programs. British Airways will offer status matches as part of corporate contracts. And at least a few years ago Mexicana offered status matches as well. But beyond that, they’re almost unheard of. Although occasionally there will be a Star Alliance-wide offering, sometimes tied to distress of a competitor carrier or losing a member airline (e.g. Varig). Through December 15 there’s an offer for Alitalia elites to comp on over to the Star Alliance member of their choice. Only this time not every Star carrier is participating, notably absent are Lufthansa and Singapore. But Alitalia elites can receive status on Asiana, Thai, Air New Zealand,…
The Krona’s Collapse, for Fun and Profit
Tyler Cowen wonders if he should travel to Iceland to benefit from the collapse of their currency. Icelandair is running some amazing airfare deals. There’s a whole group of folks trying to figure out how to take advantage of Round-the-World airline tickets departing from Iceland (and thus priced in local currency, which means about a 55% discount on flights relative to bookings out of Stockholm). But best anyone has been able to figure, airline tickets are all being issued in hard currency with the ‘old’ exchange rate. Ciredt card companies are using old rates on purchases. While banks will only buy – to the extent they’ll buy – Kroner at the ‘new’ rates, they’ll only sell at the old. Some great deals should be able to be had provided you get yourself to Iceland, bring…
Travelocity Hotel Discount Codes
This Flyertalk thread highlights current Travelocity promotion codes for two, three, and four night hotel stays (you can of course make separate bookings to capitalize on extra savings, e.g. a six night stay could be a 4- and 2- night stay to use both the $100 and $50 coupons): AMAZING50 Save $50 when you book a two-night hotel booking or flight + hotel Package (minmum spend $250) and travel between October 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008. AMAZING75 Save $75 when you book a three-night hotel booking or flight + hotel Package (minmum spend $400) and travel betweenOctober 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008. AMAZING100 Save $100 when you book a four-night hotel booking or flight + hotel Package (minimum spend $500) and travel between October 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008.
Three New Morning Deals
Frugal Travel Guy has three new deals worth nothing this morning — the first I saw on Flyertalk yesterday and the other two were in my email box this morning, but Rick beat me to the punch! AirMilesMart has added Starbucks as a merchant, go through their site to reload your Starbucks card and you’ll earn three points per dollar spent which can be transferred 1:1 into Starwood points. New American Airlines Rewards Network Dining Members can earn 1500 points for a qualified dine of $25 or more by November 30th. If you’re already a dining member with another program, you can still sign up for an American dining account using a new credit card. American is one of the programs frequently offering the best bonuses as well. Restaurant.com $25 certificates are 80% off through…
The New Qantas A380 First Class Seat Reviewed
The Global Traveller takes a promotional flight of Qantas’ new Airbus A380 and comes away impressed by their first class seat. It’s not the incredible over-the-top offering of Sinagpore’s new enclosed suites. And no showers a la Emirates. But he comes away impressed, arguing that it puts Qantas into the top tier of first class seats. As for me, I’m jealous, I haven’t yet set foot onboard an A380 — even in business.
He Leveraged His Lounge Membership a Whole Lot Better Than I Ever Did
(or maybe he was just a British Midland gold member?) The New York Times covers a federal govenrment procurement scandal and centers the narrative around the perpetrators activities in the US Airways lounge at National airport. They huddled in a quiet corner at the US Airways lounge at Ronald Reagan National Airport, sipping bottomless cups of coffee as they plotted to turn America’s missile defense program into a personal cash machine…. He set up a makeshift office in the US Airways lounge at Reagan National Airport, where he followed up on pitches for money to lawmakers and hid out from his Defense Department bosses. He identified lobbyists who could prove useful and contractors — many of them campaign donors — with projects that needed nurturing…. From the US Airways club, Mr. Cantrell could see the…
