Via Loyalty Traveler, GoldpointsPlus is offer 1000 points just for signing up by September 6. The enrollment form will pre-populate with promo code GPX2010 for the offer. I’m not a huge fan of Radisson, and I haven’t paid too much attention to Goldpoints since late 2001/early 2002 when their then-active shopping portal offered huge bonuses and the points could be transferred to miles at wonderful ratios. But they’ve gotten more aggressive with their promos the past couple of years, and I do like one of their most innovative (in my humble opinion) benefits.. I believe they’re stil offering this free status upgrade offer, and that includes their “Our World, Your Lounge” benefits in Europe, Middle East, and Africa — elite members are welcome any time in any hotel (when not staying!) for a free coffee,…
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Category Archives for General.
More on the New Hyatt Credit Card, Free Award Nights, and Other Promotions
This afternoon I spoke with Hyatt’s Chris Walker about their new co-branded Visa card from Chase, which I posted about earlier this morning. I can only imagine that when their PR reps set up media calls for execs, they probably don’t know quite what they’re in for talking to me! Because I tend to at least try to push them off their talking points and into the nuts and bolts of their strategy and offerings, and hopefully learn a little something along the way. Chris was surprisingly forthcoming, and offered that they were trying to develop a unique value proposition for each level of member with this new card. For new and base members, the card comes with Platinum status in the program. Hey, that gets you free internet at their properties. For the diamond…
The Best of Airline Meals in Premium Cabins
CNN.com ran a piece today on premium cabin meals, the emphasis on first class dining options from Asian carriers. The opening picture is of one of my favorite features — dining opposite your travel companion as though in a restaurant. The example in the piece is Cathay Pacific, and I have much enjoyed moving over to the buddy seat to dine with my wife. Of course I don’t really like Cathay Pacific’s first class for traveling as a couple, the suites are too private and there’s no option to sit ‘next to’ each other in a meaningful sense. But dining together makes up for it. Cathay adds a table extender, the buddy seat has a seat belt, and it’s a lovely way to pass some time. Now, Cathay’s meal service isn’t my favorite (I much…
Hyatt’s New Co-Branded Credit Card Revealed
In the long Flyertalk thread speculating on the upcoming launch of the Hyatt Visa from Chase, a Flyertalk member decided to just type in the URL www.mychasecreditcards.com/hyatt and it came up. So it appears the offer is now live. And no doubt it’ll be widely promoting starting today (or at latest tomorrow). Sadly the offer is a bit less exciting than some had expected. First, some surveys of potential benefits in advance of the launch led folks to think that the benefits would be myriad and generous. My own hope was for the ability to use Diamond confirmed suite upgrades on award of promotional free night stays. Expectations were set quite high, though not directly by Hyatt or Chase — really just by swirling speculatins that was mostly set by.. Second, Hyatt has been so…
United Extends Discounted Coach Short-Haul Awards
At the end of July, United re-introduced discounted short-haul awards, but only offered the option through August 31. Instead of the usual 12,500 miles one-way or 25,000 miles roundtrip, they’re charging 8,750 one-way or 17,500 roundtrip. This applies to awards booked at least 7 days in advance of travel (no discount on last-minute award bookings), and is for flights that are 700 miles or less each way and only within the Continental U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada. Now that it’s August 31, they’ve extended the offering — but only for tickets booked by September 30, 2010 for travel through January 7, 2011. Like last time I’d fully expect American to match. But it’d sure be nice if they made moves like these a permanent part of the program rather than a ‘temporary’ promotion.
Why I Love US Airways Reservations Agents
Award from US to Kuala Lumpur and back, business class. Set up the reservation, agent gets ready to price. And contra Continental where the computers do everything, US Airways agents do a whole lot more fill in the blanks. Very helpful agent asks me about Kuala Lumpur, “that’s in North Asia, right?” Of course, business class to North Asia is 90,000 miles and to South Asia is 120,000 miles. Sadly, I am an honest man. Or at least I’m willing to own up to my geography. Still, I have to wonder (and I often wonder) whether US Airways made a really big mistake when they tried to save money by switching off of Sabre to SHARES. I flew them the weekend of the systems cutover, certainly I knew better but I had a great desire…
25,000 Delta Miles for $500 in Skymall Purchases Today Only
The offer is at skymall.com/25000 and runs through 11:59pm tonight (Mountain time) only. They’ll award 25,000 Delta miles for making $500 in net purchases (excluding tax and shipping) today only. It’s not valid on gift cards, and some items and vendors are ineligible and per the terms and conditions of the offer that’ll be “noted on the product page.” Discussion on Flyertalk is here. Now, I don’t have time to find anything on the Skymall site that I want, and I don’t want to do this just for the miles (as I won’t spend 2 cents a mile for Skypesos). But if you have any interest in the actual stuff you’d purchase, then this is a pretty rockin’ offer. (HT: Carol.)
25% Bonus on Diners Club Transfers to American AAdvantage
From September 1 through October 31, folks like me who still have a Diners Club card earn a 25% bonus on transfers of Club Rewards points to AAdvantage. Meanwhile through end of September transfers of 40,000 – 59,000 Diners Club points into Delta Skymiles earns a 20% bonus and 60,000 or more points earns a 50% bonus but that offer holds little interest to me. In both cases my inclination is to save points in Club Rewards for their flexibility rather than being tempted into a transfer just for the bonus. Though Diners Club has lost several partners in recent years, predominantly because they’ve become a Mastercard and compete in the US against airlines’ own co-branded card offerings now (not to mention the card issuer earning a lower interchange fee as a result of the…
Expedia and Citi Thank You Network Severing Ties
Expedia and Citi Thank You Network are severing ties on December 1. Currently Expedia’s prepaid hotel bookings and air and hotel packages earn Thank You Points, and Expedia offers a co-branded credit card issued by Citi which earns bonus points for Expedia purchases. That earning goes away for purchases December 1 and thereafter. Expedia promises a new rewards program in early 2011. We’ll see what they have in store. To date they haven’t been especially aggressive. Hotels.com doesn’t have an especially rewarding program, but will give you a free night for every 10 booked — the idea being you can book through them and not be tied to specific chains (or specific chain booking sites) and still earn rewards. Sure, those Hotels.com nights can only be redeemed based on your least expensive nightaverage hotel rate,…
Tewwowism Paranoia, Then Again Maybe We SHOULD Consider Government Officials to Be Threats…
I know you’re not supposed to joke about aviation security, but seriously was this really a threat? A former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Sir Geoffrey Henry, has been removed from an Air New Zealand flight for remarking that he was a terrorist when boarding the plane. According to Air New Zealand, Safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance so the passenger was escorted off the aircraft. Bet the flight became that much safer! Sure, the former Prime Minister is an idiot. You didn’t joke about bombs in an airport long before 9-11. Hard to imagine what was going through the guy’s head, this wasn’t funny. But hard to imagine as well that anyone believed he was a threat to have on board the aircraft.
