Category Archives for Discounts & Deals.
Gary Steiger has returned from vacation and updated his comprehensive and indispensable Free Frequent Flyer Miles website. It contains links to a plethora of credit card, telephone, internet service, mortgage, and other bonus offers. I often use it as a reference myself — Gary Steiger catalogues the offers, so I don’t need to save them all when I want to refer someone to the best possible bonus.
Test drive a Buick through February 22 and get $100 towards a two-night Marriott stay.
Starwood is offering 25% off the points cost of award nights at several hotels in Southeast Asia for stays through the end of May. While Starwood seems to offer such discounts across the board for about a week during the summer, they don’t seem to often offer promotions like this: discounts at properties during their slow seasons. Of course, Starwood offers cash and points awards and properties that participate are usually facing their slow seasons. But it’s rare that they offer similar discounts on all-points awards. Good move, Starwood!
The two best offers I’m currently aware of are 30 Northwest miles per dollar spent at FTD and 30 United miles per dollar spent at FTD. The Northwest offer is new. The United one has been around a long time. Though the latter says it is for United’s top-tier elites, it works for anyone.
Tomorrow is their fifth anniversary and they’re giving away 500 roundtrip tickets to the first one hundred people who show up at each of their five New York City borough locations dressed as one of the destinations they fly to (along with a canned food item for City Harvest).
Refer up to four friends to Mileage Plus. Each one that flies a roundtrip (as long as it isn’t booked as an S, T, or L fare) before June 30 will earn 3000 bonus miles plus 2000 miles for you. Update: This appears to be targeted, though a majority of reports to me so far are from folks who were targeted. Your mileage may vary.
In a move that matches United, American is offering double miles on all flights booked by February 18 for travel through May 25. Registration required.
Through February 11, USAirways is offering 10,000 Dividend Miles for signing up for a lounge membership with promo code CLB10. That’s a pretty good bonus offer, but while USAirways has some breathing room to operate I’m not sure I’d be investing in anything that last’s a full year with them. They may well be around, but I’d rather fly to Vegas and put the money on black. Better return that way. Besides, it still offends me that USAirways charges extra for accessing partner lounges. If I just wanted access to the club on the carrier that I was flying on the day that I was flying with them, I’d probably buy an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge membership.
eBay has a new member-get-member promotion. Existing members can refer new members. If a new member buys something for $10 or more or lists something for sale within 30 days, both the referring member and the new member receive 500 eBay Anything Points. Those points, of course, can be used for eBay purchases (500 points = $5 credit) or converted to airline or hotel points at Points.com. I can of course refer anyone who wishes to join eBay, just drop me an email. But most people have joined at one point or another I imagine?
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 »
