Category Archives for Discounts & Deals.
I’m just back from flying ANA roundtrip first class Houston – Tokyo which I booked for 120,000 Virgin Atlantic miles per person.
Since I’m writing now about my ANA first class experience and overall trip to Tokyo and Shanghai it seemed to make sense to write about just how easy it is to book the seats currently.
There have been many great deals over time, and they never last. The lesson is to take advantage of what’s offered, make use of the benefits, and expect to have to move onto the next offer that comes along.
For all of the many great opportunities that there have been over the past couple of years, probably the greatest ones are even better. The funny thing is that in my frequent flyer youth, I never even knew how great I had it.
Right now there’s the lowest fare available that I’ve seen between the West Coast and Europe in awhile. You can fly San Francisco to London for as little as $263 roundtrip. And it’s not even a basic economy fare, it’s on Icelandair which gives you an advance seat assignment, a carry on bag at no extra charge.
But that’s not all, fares between the US and Europe are available from a variety of cities and on several airlines, each with a Google Flights link that’ll pull up a sample itinerary at the current lowest fare:
You’ll pay a bit more over the course of the 2 nights for your stay, and get a free night that should be worth several hundred dollars. It doesn’t make sense to go out and book 2 Kimpton nights you don’t need for this promo, but it does make sense to book Kimpton over another chain if you can take advantage of the promo.
Hopper unveiled new ‘secret fares’ today that are provided by airlines and lower than what carriers offer customers on their own websites.
They’re touting fares up to 35% off and savings of up to $500 per ticket, with deals available “on over 60,000 routes to international destinations like Tokyo, Melbourne, Paris, Barcelona, Rio De Janeiro, and Costa Rica.”
Whether it’s Dan Eleff spending a million Starpoints to throw out the first pitch in game 7 of the World Series where his hometown Indians are playing or Pizza in Motion using points so his wife could have tennis lessons from Andre Agassi there are things you can do – worthwhile things – with points that may be better for you than just travel.
And Ed Pizzarello shares a video of Cliff Yow announcing an NFL draft pick.
Briggs & Riley is one of the better luggage brands, I have two of their bags. They have a lifetime warranty, and stand behind it the way that Tumi used to years ago.
The Briggs & Riley Torq Hardside 29″ 4 Wheel Spinner is 40% off right now at Amazon, so $569 $339. It’s available in three colors at this price.
That’s literally a 114% increase for business class and 167% increase for first class.
Search Air China award space on the United, Aeroplan, or LifeMiles sites and then ring up Virgin to book. Have them set up the award over the phone and then transfer points online while you wait with the agent to issue tickets. I’ve only ever booked roundtrip but reportedly one ways are now possible.
Back in the fall Chase added Iberia and Aer Lingus as transfer partners for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.
Chase also introduced an Iberia card last month and we learned that there would be an Aer Lingus card coming, too.
It’s been an annual tradition for American to offer a bonus moving Starwood points to AAdvantage miles. And Starwood has occasionally offered a 35% discount buying points. But the two offers don’t usually happen at the same time.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
