ANA is offering double flight miles through March 31. Registration is required. Alas, I’m not planning to fly ANA until April — and even then on an award ticket.
About Gary Leff
I’m Profiled in Sunday’s Washington Post
The Washington Post runs a brief profile of me in the November 27th edition of their Sunday Source section. It includes basic advice on earning and burning miles.
More Media on Expedia
The LA Times is covering the Expedia / Tokyo & Osaka Hilton pricing glitch. What began as a simple error in the conversion of yen into U.S. dollars quickly snowballed into a public relations nightmare for Expedia. … Expedia isn’t saying much beyond a public statement acknowledging the error. Requests for interviews with Expedia executives were declined. The fact that an error can be publicized and acted upon so quickly is very telling. “It’s really not about FlyerTalk per se,” said Randy Petersen, founder and president of FlyerTalk. “It is about the impact of the Internet as a communication tool. “Many industries, including travel, have been pummeled by this social media in terms of the extent that information about a value offer and even mistakes can spread,” he said. … Travelers say much of their…
Roundup of Holiday Shopping Mileage Bonus Offers
As most readers likely know, nearly any online purchase can earn miles provided you enter an online store via an appropriate mileage-earning portal. Andrew Cram’s comparison chart is the best place to start to determine what miles you can earn before clicking on web store. It’s incredibly extensive. That site catalogs the standard miles on offer. However, various mileage malls sometimes offer bonus miles — especially at holiday shopping time. This year the bonus offers seem sparse. I recall earning 10,000 bonus American Airlines miles last year for my online shopping through the AAdvantage mall. There’s nothing so exciting available this year. Here are the bonus offerings I’ve seen so far: American is offering double miles shopping at the AAdvantage Online mile and paying with Mastercard. In addition you get 1000 miles when spending $500…
Massive Devaluation at Capital One
I’m quoted in KARE-11 TV Minneapolis’ story on the devaluation of Capital One miles. Readers of this blog already know to stay away from Capital One, which basically offers a rebate card where the rebate is limited to spending on travel, so it’s less appealing than a traditional cashback card. And as I’ve mentioned before, with miles you can earn from a variety of sources but with a credit card’s proprietary program you only earn through credit card spend — which means it’s tougher to earn enough points for a free ticket. Now the Capital One program has massively increased the number of points required for many awards, and it’s no longer ever possible to do better than 1% return on spending. Since it’s mass market TV, the story doesn’t get into the reasons behind…
New Free Electronics Offers
Nov
23
2005
I’ve written several times in the past about Gratis Networks, now known as FreePay, which offers free electronics for completing their marketing offers and referring friends. In some very real sense it’s a pyramind scheme, but it pays off. Gratis Internet was listed as Inc. magazine’s #18 fastest growing company in the U.S. I just noticed that there are three new offers I hadn’t seen before: free laptops free PS3s. I admit I don’t even know what this is, and it’s not slated to come out until early 2006. $300 SuperCertificate (from giftcertificates.com) For the record I’ve completed all of the offers other than these three news ones and the free Xbox offer. I’ve received everything, too. When you signup for the PS3 offer takes, the site takes you through a few screens of ‘optional’…
New Book Introducing Mileage Programs
Randy Petersen’s new book is out, I’ll be ordering a copy. It’s supposed to be a great introduction to frequent flyer programs, so readers just getting started down the road of miles and points may find it useful. I’ll be sure to write up a review once it arrives. Randy has an interesting blog entry on the process of writing the book.
Best Ever American Airlines Mastercard Offer
Nov
19
2005
Via Fre Frequent Flyer Miles, American and Citibank are offering their co-branded Mastercard with 20,000 bonus miles for first purchase and fee waived the first year.
FlyI to Become a Born-Again Virgin?
Via Tripso Daily, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group appears to be interested in acquiring bankrupt Independence Air as a means toward launching its Virgin America airline. Personally I don’t see this happening, both because I’m skeptical of most Branson efforts. A fabulous entrepreneur, there’s usually more buzz than substance when Branson rumors circulate. The rules on foreign ownership of US airlines are moving towards relaxation, but any changes are unlikely to be in effect in time for an Independence bid. And the Virgin America project has simply demonstrated a greater propensity for inaction than reality over the last couple of years. Still, the piece carried some news about how the Independence bankruptcy auction will work: It said it would auction itself to the highest bidder. Interested parties must register with the court by 1 December…
Catholic Co-Branding
Colloquy reports on a Taiwanese bank which is offering a credit card co-branded with the Catholic church. There’s something truly surreal about it. Taiwanese card issuer The Chinese Bank has introduced a new affinity card in conjunction with the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference, according to the Taipei Times newspaper. The newspaper reported that the bank will issue 100,000 cards, to be called the True Happiness Affinity Card, with maximum credit limits of NT$10 million ($297,397 USD). One-quarter of one percent of a customer’s spend will be paid to the bishops’ conference for charity work. “This credit card is not only for Catholics or those who believe in Jesus,” Chen Kun-chen, secretary general of the bishops’ conference, was quoted as saying. “Everybody can help to spread love regardless of their religion.”
