Via TM Travel World comes the next bonus for transfers of 50,000 points (or more) from American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta: a certificate to return 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards points back to your account or a $250 Macy’s gift card. The offer runs through December 31, registration is required, and you have to select which bonus you want when you register. Hint: take the points. If you’re transferring 100,000 points or more then you should break the transfer up into multiple transactions. You only earn one bonus per transaction, but each separate transfer of 50,000 points will earn the bonus. Either bonus will be shipped by mail 4 to 6 weeks after the New Year, so you don’t get instant gratification here. And of course I never advise transferring Amex points to Delta…
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Continental’s Mile-a-Thon Promo Coming Back
Via TM Travel World, Continental will be bringing back their Mile-a-thon promo where various activities earn credits towards bonus miles. Registation will begin January 1 and activity between February 1 and April 30 will count towards the promo. You can’t register yet, and full details aren’t up yet, so just one for the calendar. At a minimum the offer usually includes a kicker for signing up for a Continental Airlines credit card, so a good opportunity for extra bonus if you’re considering grabbing one of those before the Continental Onepass program goes away (since the signup bonus for each card is usually once in a lifetime, there’ll be no reason to wait for a better offer as in the past — the program itself will go away in a year!).
50% Off Luggage and Bags (including Tumi) at Amazon
The Travel Fund reports a deal found on Slickdeals, 50% off on ‘Sunglasses & Purses & Bags’ which works on luggage. There’s a Flyertalk thread on the offer as well. It seems that the offer requires a minimum $75 item, and applies only to things shipped by Amazon, so filter by ‘eligible for Amazon Prime’. One example is Tumi items, search Tumi and then filter by Mens or Woments Clothing to get only items eligible for the discount, and also filter by eligible for Amazon Prime. Items that come up should be eligible for the discount. The Travel Fund says you should be able to get an additional discount as well using code AZTWENTY. Nothing I want to buy at the moment, but for example one Flyertalk member reports buying this Tumi laptop bag for…
Science Proves Frequent Travellers are Stupid
Or at least, that jet lag may have lasting effects on memory and learning. [T]he impacts of jet lag—memory loss and learning problems—may alter your brain’s structure long after you unpack… The researchers now believe that frequent travelers suffer physical changes to their brains due to chronic jet lag. The jet-lagged hamsters showed a drastic drop in neuron production in the hippocampus area of the brain, which closely contributes to memory processing and learning. “This is the first time anyone has done a controlled trial of the effects of jet lag on brain and memory function,” said lead researcher Lance Kriegsfeld, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley. “Not only do we find that cognitive function is impaired during jet lag, but we see an impact up to a month afterward.” At least now I have…
US Airways Introduces Star Alliance Upgrade Awards
US Airways has been saying it’s coming, I’ve been skeptical, but they finally joined the vast majority of Star Alliance airlines by participating in the Star Alliance upgrade program. Now, the benefit won’t be useful to most. You have to buy a full (Y or B) fare coach ticket in order to upgrade to business class, and a C or D business class fare in order to upgrade to first class, no advance purchase discounted Z business class fares are eligible. If you don’t buy at least full fare coach tickets, you cannot use your US Airways miles to upgrade on their Star Alliance miles. This is the same way it works with other Star Alliance mileage programs as well. Further, each flight segment requires a separate award redemption. And the upgrade can only be…
Free Ticket and 10% Cash Back (in Gift Cards) on First $5000 in Spend from Southwest Airlines Visa
Chase is offering a Southwest Airlines Visa that comes with 16 Rapid Rewards credits on first purchase (enough for a free flight) and Southwest Airlines gift cards based on your spend in the first 3 months with the card: $100 gift card after your first $1000 in purchases $150 gift card after your first $2500 in purchases $250 gift card after your first $5000 in purchases At each spending threshold it amounts to 5%10% cash back to spend on Southwest in addition to the regular credits for spending and in addition to the Rapid Rewards credits at first purchase. That’s a pretty attractive first purchase offer and cash back offer in the first three months. First year annual fee is waived, but if you keep the card then the regular $59 annual fee comes with…
Southwest Preparing to Make a Run at Hawaii
Holly Hegeman reports that Southwest is advertising for an ETOPS manager. One only needs to consult Wikipedia on ETOPS if you aren’t familiar to know that it means they’re looking to fly significant distances over water that are far from the nearest diversion airport. And their current aircraft won’t make it to Europe. The folks down in Dallas are getting themselves positioned to fly to Hawaii!
New York to South Africa $699 Roundtrip
Via Dan’s Deals, and this only prices out on the New Zealand Expedia site. Total is $930 New Zealand dollars which comes out to just $699 US Dollars! This seems to work for tons of dates in January and February. If you can find it in other months please post a comment! Sample dates for JFK-JNB 01/12/11-01/19/11. 02/07/11-02/14/11. 02/15/11-02/22/11. Update: According to the Flyertalk thread on the deal: Works for IAD as well. When AndrewT84 mentioned CPT works as well, I checked and there is the same (or noted +$) base fare to LAD, LVI, DKR, LLW, PLZ, ELS, VFA, HRE, BLZ (+$50), LUN (+$50), DAR (+$120), NBO (+$120), EBB (+$120).
Five Delta Lounge Passes for $99
Via Fly Gracefully, Delta is offering 5 lounge passes for $99. The one-day passes are valid for a year and can only be purchased at a Delta Sky Club through December 31 by mentioning the offer. I’ve got Delta lounge access via the American Express Platinum card (access when flying Delta only) but I always feel like these make nice gifts to the occasional traveler flying Delta. I’d never buy them at the standard $50 per pass but $20 feels about right.
Andaz 5th Avenue: Really Great First Stay, Could Become My New Go-to in New York
The Andaz 5th Avenue is a bit of an enigma, I think the property is widely misunderstood and expectations were certainly high so when it opened a few months ago many of the reviews were lukewarm or negative. It’s not an inexpensive property, but it’s not an expensive property by New York standards either. It not ultra-hip trying to be cool W, but it’s still sleek and fun. And it’s a new brand trying to get out all of the kinks, there aren’t a whole lot of Andaz properties such that they’ve figured out exactly who their customers are (as opposed to what market research tells them to expect) and how those customers’ needs actually match pre-planning. So lots of misses being reported at the outset: people who feel like it’s not their style, trying…
