The Akron Beacon-Journal carries a piece (Hat tip to Tripso Daily) on using your points to help Hurricane Katrina victims. The best advice, no surprise, is to visit Webflyer.com which has a rundown of how to use your points to make a difference. Most major programs have a way to either donate points (which in many cases will be converted to cash for charity by the loyalty program) or to earn points for your own donation of cash.
About Gary Leff
Gas Prices Rise, Rental Car Gas Becomes Cheap
Tyler Cowen points to gas prices higher than a rental car company’s price for refilling your tank. Gas at the pump in downtown Birmingham: $3.99/g. Gas from Hertz when you return it: $3.05/g. Still, be careful out there — there may be other costs besides per-gallon costs, such as flat service charges on gas refills. And this doesn’t mean you should “prepay” the gas which requires you to return the car empty in order to make out well since you’re prepaying an entire tank of gas (again, check the service fees).
Why can’t Avis update my payment information correctly?
Why did it take four tries to update my credit card number with Avis? The first two times I called and the agent took the new number, each time telling me that it was updated correctly but on followup calls I learned that nothing had changed. I had my Diners Club card as my default payment method in my profile, naturally I prefer their benefit of primary insurance coverage. On the third try I was successful in updating the card on file but despite assurances to the contrary it did not get updated on my reservation for tomorrow afternoon. Fourth call and I’m told all is correct, we shall see when I arrive at the airport whether my name and space number is on the board or if I have to go to the desk…
United’s Mystery Double Miles Promo Revealed
Sep
01
2005
It turns out that United’s mystery double miles promotion that Northwest was ostensibly countering with its own double miles promo was a targeted email offering to Mileage Plus members in the Upper Midwest. United was certainly targeting Northwest’s stronghold, just days after Northwest mechanics went on strike. Northwest countered with across-the-board double miles. While United was taking advantage of an opportunity to poach Northwest passengers, I suspect Northwest is trying to lure passengers who might otherwise book away due to negative publicity surrounding the strike in a month where traffic is likely to be slower than the peak summer season.
Am I the last to learn truly disturbing news?
Sony Pictures is apparently going forward with Road House 2… without Patrick Swayze. Christina Applegate’s husband may star instead. This just seems very, very wrong. Up next… Point Break 2 without Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, or Gary Busey?
Double Miles for Northwest Flights
Aug
31
2005
Northwest is offering double miles (which also count towards status) on Northwest and KLM through October 9th. Registration is required. They say the offer is intended to match a similar one from United, which leads me to ask what double miles offer from United? I haven’t seen one. I can’t find one on the United website. And as far as I can tell it hasn’t been mentioned on Flyertalk.com, which is as close as one can come to saying it doesn’t exist. Maybe their corporate espionage folks knew about one coming down the pike? Here’s hoping…
Going Airside When Not Traveling
If you need to accompany a passenger to their gate but aren’t traveling that day, airlines have differing rules in place for issuing passes to get past security checkpoints. If you run into trouble, though, just buy a fully refundable ticket then check in and go through security… and refund the ticket. You can do this to go airside any time you want. It’s never been clear to me how prohiting non-traveling passengers airside helps with security, terrorists can certainly buy tickets. I’ve always assumed it was to reduce TSA workload by reducing the number of people going through checkpoints. It’s an instance where customers are inconvenienced rather than addressing poor TSA procedures and staffing issues.
Best United Visa offer yet?
Aug
28
2005
I’ve seen 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase and annual fee waived for the first year. And I’ve seen 20,000 miles with first purchase but there’s an annual fee right away. This is the first time I’ve seen 20,000 bonus miles with first purchase and fee waived the first year. In general I haven’t seen too many problems getting the signup bonus credited or having the fee waived — but it’s still a good idea to print the offer page (which mentions the bonus miles) and print the terms and conditions page (which mentions no fee the first year) just in case there’s any confusion later.
Free Annual Credit Report live for the East Coast
Each of the three major credit reporting agencies are obligated to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once a year. This has been phased in, with the East Coast not scheduled to go live at annualcreditreport.com until September 1. It’s live a few days early. Unless you’re buying a house or doing major credit repair work — in other words, if you’re just monitoring — the best strategy is to request one report each every 4 months rather than requesting all 3 at once. Details are available from the Federal Trade Commission.
Free Leather Notepad
Aug
27
2005
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