To butcher Frank Fukuyama, it’s the end of credit card history and I’m the last man (holding onto a Diners Club card). If there was any doubt at all, the Freddie Awards put an end to it. The card won an amazing 9 straight awards for best loyalty credit card. Last year surprised me, but I imagine there’s often a lag in benefit changes and consumer perception, in other words the card was coasting on its past glory and reputation. This year Diners Club didn’t even garner enough votes (1%) to have their support tallied and reported. The Freddie Awards are a bit of a strange animal, a product has to clear the 1% threshold in votes — not nothing in a contest with over 400,000 voters, but not a huge hurdle — and then…
About Gary Leff
5000 Bonus Miles for Buying Flights Out of Detroit Right Away
May
01
2007
Northwest is offering (registration required) 5000 bonus miles for purchasing a roundtrip flight in the next three days for travel through June 13 to the following destinations: Available Destinations: Boston, MA Los Angeles, CA San Francisco, CA Cancun, Mexico Montego Bay, Jamaica San Juan, Puerto Rico Fort Lauderdale, FL Myrtle Beach, SC Tampa, FL Fort Myers, FL New York – LaGuardia West Palm Beach, FL Las Vegas, NV Orlando, FL
Free $10 Gift Certificates from Ted’s Montana Grill
Apr
28
2007
Sign up to receive (3) $10 gift certificates almost immediately by email from Ted’s Montana Grill. So I haven’t been a big fan of Ted Turner since the ’80s when he was a huge Ayn Rand fan, but I do kinda dig the buffalo meatloaf…
New Amtrak Guest Rewards Credit Card Coming in the Fall
As mentioned back in January, the old MBNA–>Bank of America Amtrak Mastercard was discontinued. Now details of the new co-branded relationship have come out… This fall a new Amtrak Mastercard will be issued by Chase, with no fee and a 2500 point signup bonus. If you pre-register (you’ll need to log into your Amtrak account) with promo code 42507 you’ll get an email when the card is available and an extra 2500 point signup bonus for a total of 5000 points. You will receive a total of 5,000 points with this Bonus Offer. 2,500 bonus points will post to your Chase credit card account and appear on your Chase statement and an additional 2,500 bonus points will post directly to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and appear on your Amtrak Guest Rewards statement. Amtrak is…
BA Edits Virgin Atlantic’s Chairman out of Existence
Upgrade Travel Blog breaks news of British Airways pettiness: they’ve edited Richard Branson (of Virgin Atlantic) out of the movie Casino Royale.
AuctionSniper
Apr
22
2007
I’m hardly an eBay veteran, though I won by first item there at least 6 years ago. For some reason, every so often I’d find something I wanted and I’d bid on it and… usually lose. What little I know about auctions suggests to me that people ought to bid their highest amount for an item, since eBay will only make you pay the amount that’s a single increment higher than the next highest bidder. But that isn’t how people bid. So I finally signed up with a sniping service, AuctionSniper.com, based on some recommendations from Flyertalk. I’m testing it out this evening, but like it quite a bit so far. If you want to sign up for a free account (with 3 free snipes), you can use my referral link at no cost to…
Return of the Great USAirways Mastercard Offer
Apr
22
2007
Free Frequent Flyer Miles points out that the USAirways Mastercard offer of 15,000 bonus miles with first purchaseNo fee for two years50% bonus on all spending the first yearComplimentary USAirways Club pass each year (admit two people)Annual $99 companion certificate (there are some restrictions, but I used mine successfully last month) is still around. Truly a great deal, but don’t bother with the extra 10,000 miles for balance transfers due to the associated fees.As always (and though you’ll rarely need this) it’s a good idea to print a copy of the offer as well as the associated terms and conditions.
The Biggest Travel Risk Abroad
Tyler Cowen points to the biggest travel risk of all, and it isn’t terrorism, disease, or plane crashes… it’s traffic accidents, “the largest cause of nonnatural death among U.S. citizens overseas.” Get a car with functioning seat belts and air bags, and make sure the brakes, lights, and windshield wipers work. And know the local driving customs: “A stop sign is meaningless, or speed limits are meaningless in some countries,” Ms. Sobel said. “If you assume it is safe for people to cross certain streets in some areas of Egypt and Kenya, you are making a potentially fatal mistake.” Ms. Sobel and others advise against driving at night. They also note that headlights are often turned off to save batteries — a false economy since the battery would not drain with the engine running properly…
Airtran Free Flight Certificate Actually Doesn’t Promise… Anything?
Consumerist has the story on an Airtran free flight voucher that can’t be redeemed… because it doesn’t actually promise a free flight? Clearly something else is going on here, like the voucher not being activated somehow, and it thus becomes one of those frustrating endeavors with customer service agents who aren’t empowered to solve problems, where the customer gets caught in a bureaucratic sink hole. Still, it makes for an amusing exchange: When Brett called a customer service representative to redeem the voucher, the story changed. He was told there was no free flight on file for him. Brett writes: I told him I had a voucher, and he said, “but does it actually say you get a flight on it.” I read it carefully and it didn’t. It was deceptively nice and apologetic, and…
Best BA Visa Offer
Apr
18
2007
The usual offer for a British Airways Visa is 15,000 miles with first purchase, and the card comes with a $75 annual fee.Now there’s an offer of 20,000 miles with first purchase, though still with the fee (unlike the United, American, etc. cards there’s no first year fee waiver). As one Flyertalk member wroteAs you only need 25k round trip to upgrade from WT+ to www.newclubworld.com fully flat beds, and the fares start at $650 rtn incl tax with no co-pay, AND you earn 125% of miles on the WT+ ticket you purchase (making the net cost of a US – Europe rtn upgrade around 15k miles) then yes it’s a great deal. Absolutely worth the $75. If you don’t already have a British Airways account, signing up for the Visa will get you one.
