Martin Feldstein says we’re in a recession and it could be very, very bad – perhaps the worst since World War II. We have a liquidity crisis. No trading even in auction market preferred securities, which were previously thought to be as safe as cash (you get a slightly higher rate than a money market in exchange for tying up your cash for say a week). The securities are still asset-backed and AAA-rated, paying interest, but you can’t redeem them because no one is bidding at auction. This hasn’t ever happened before, and the securities have been around over twenty years. The Fed can’t do anything about it with monetary policy. The Fed lowers rates, they’re pumping money into banks but banks won’t lend. The spread between the cost of funds to the US government…
About Gary Leff
$50 off $250 on Northwest
Via NotiFlyer, and subsequent to my post on taking $50 off a $250 Southwest ticket using Paypal, it seems that Northwest is making a very similar offer. $50 off $250 with Northwest when you pay with paypal, like the Southwest offer tickets must be purchased by March 27, 2008. This offer limits you to travel between April 1 and June 14, 2008, and Northwest’s change policies include fees so you can’t circumvent the travel period in a worthwhile way. This one is more flexible with Southwest as I previously noted, but if you’re buying Northwest tickets anyway (and I wish I held had off on some myself, d’oh!) this is useful.
Will a New Delta Skymiles Third Redemption Tier Bring Back Last Seat Availability?
Mar
15
2008
One Mile at a Time points to a Wall Street Journal piece on the coming three-tiered structure of the Delta Skymiles redemption program. Earlier in the month I wrote that the coming three-tiered structure would be bringing back ‘last seat availability’ to the Skymiles program; that the highest third tier would mean more miles but at least true redemption for any seat, as offered by most other frequent flyer programs. Delta’s earlier removal of this option was a real affront, but the hope was that this was temporary. The Wall Street Journal piece, though, either misrepresents the coming change or suggests that Delta won’t be bringing back last seat availability. Delta also plans to increase the number of “tiers” in its SkyMiles plan this spring. Instead of offering domestic tickets for either 25,000 or 50,000…
Obligatory British Airways Terminal 5 Post (as nearly required by law for a travel blogger)
Cranky Flier and TravelTech Talk have been all over the coming launch on March 27 of London Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. Scott at TravelTech Talk writes It’s so impressive it makes me want to cry. Now, call me a little bit skeptical. It will be a vast improvement for sure. It will make connecting with BA at Heathrow better than connecting at Charles De Gaulle. It will be better than connecting in Frankfurt for those passengers (without Lufthansa HON Circle status) arriving out on the apron as so many flights there seem to. But it won’t match the experience offered to first class customers available to Lufthansa and Swiss passengers in Frankfurt or for that matter Munich or Zurich. Incidentally, Lufthansa has introduced personal assistant services at Heathrow for First Class and HON Circle members,…
$50 off $250 with Southwest
Southwest and Paypal have an offer for a $50 rebate when paying for a $250 or more ticket via the online payments service. It’s only valid through March 27 and only for the first 10,000 uses (there’s not actually a way to tell whether you’re one of the first 10,000). As pointed out in this Flyertalk thread, even if you don’t currently have plans to fly Southwest, you could buy a ticket and cancel the reservation and then use the full credit towards a new ticket for travel within the next year. (Hat tip to nsx.)
40,000 Citi Thank You Points for Checking and Savings Account
Through March 31, Citibank is offering 40,000 Thank You Points for: Opening a checking account with a minimum of $1000 and then making one direct deposit ot two bill pays each month for three months, and Depositing $25,000 into a savings account. The 40,000 Thank You Points will be deposited within 4 months of meeting the offer requirements. Normally I’d be reluctant to recommend tying up $25,000 in a savings account currently paying ~3%. But that’s a far sight better return than I’ve gotten in equities so far this year… And leveraged with the fixed point redemption chart, the 40,000 Thank You Points represent an additional $800 – $1200 retun in about seven months on top of that 3%.
Best Credit Card for Gas and Groceries
This comment on my recent post about the Hiltom American Express points to a Fatwallet post about the Citi Drivers Edge Mastercard. And… ding, ding, ding, ding. This was exactly the card I was referring to when I said certain Citibank Thank You Network-linked cards have specific advantages on certain kinds of spend that win me over The person who first turned me on to this option asked me not to post about it, and I’ve honored that. But since a commenter brought up the card and even linked to a relevant FatWallet discussion here on my blog I think it’s a bit more fair game. During the first year of cardmembership the Citi Drivers Edge Mastercard offers a 6% rebate on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations. (And it’s churnable, so after the first year or…
The Philosopher’s Hotel
Via Tyler Cowen, the Philosopher’s Hotel features a series of rooms that are perhaps less overtly amazing but equally compelling for the right clientele: each room revolves around the life, work and philosophy of a particular philosopher. The above rooms, for example, respectively play off Georges Bataille’s concepts of sexuality and eroticism, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophies of language, ethics and mysticism and Henry David Thoreau’s obsession with time, age and nature. Other rooms revolve around famous thinkers such as Nihilist Friedrich Nietzsche… One of Tyler’s commenters writes I imagine the Bentham room would have the means to see what was going on in all of the other rooms? I suppose one couldn’t reconcile postmodernism with the concern of upgrade, however.
Up to 5000 Delta Miles with Avis
Avis is offering 2500 bonus Delta miles on a 3-day rental and 5000 bonus Delta miles on a 4-day rental. You must use the relevant coupon codes mentioned in the link in order to get the bonus. It’s offered on “a qualifying rental at participating Avis airport locations in the contiguous United States and Canada.” Qualifying presumably means paid, i.e. no free day coupons in conjunction with the bonus mile offer. And airport Avis locations only. The terms and conditions do not specify any maximum number of times that this bonus can be earned, and important point in light of the recent imposition of a limit on the number of times you could earn the Delta bonus from Budget (which is owned by the same company as Avis). Although even there reports are that folks…
Coming Frequent Flyer Tie-in Between Lufthansa and JetBlue?
The Financial Times says that a frequent flyer partnership is in the offing between Lufthansa and JetBlue. No details yet, and I haven’t seen anything else written on the matter with actual confirmation. But there’s a glimmer of hope, finally, that one could choose to fly JetBlue while still participating in a real frequent flyer program (of which TrueBlue does not count). While Lufthansa’s award pricing levels are on the whole rather high, to my mind crediting JetBlue flights – should it become possible – to a Miles & More account will make wonderful sense. At least until all the detais are revealed. There are plenty more partnerships in the Miles & More program, so you can combine far more activities towards the awards you’re seeking. And the redemption side is much richer. After all,…
