We’re halfway through the contest period, you have until noon Eastern on December 25 to enter (by leaving a comment – easy!) in my giveaway of Gold Passport points, thanks to Hyatt. Full details here.
General
Category Archives for General.
Basic Tips for Getting Organized and Getting Rewards in the New Year
Regular readers of this blog know that many of the things I often write for for intermediate travels than for beginners. But I’ve been evangelizing the benefits of miles, points, and free travel more often to colleagues and friends of friends more frequently lately, and I thought that passing along some of the basics that I’ve found helpful for the not-already-converted might be useful to some of y’all having similar conversations with family over the holidays. And thus I offer some basic tips for getting your rewards house in order for the New Year, since most everyone can set a goal to have their dream trips inexpensively with a little bit of attention to rewards programs. Sign up for frequent flyer programs. If you’re flying cross country and back, why not sign up for a…
The Best Current Credit Card Signup Bonuses
Note of course that this is not a discussion of the best credit cards to put your spending on, rather it’s about what credit cards are offering the best bonuses for getting a new card and in some cases for putting some initial spend on that card. Frugal Travel Guy mentioned this morning one of the 100,000-mile signup bonus offers that’s still running for Citibank American Airlines co-branded credit cards. I mentioned this offer back on September 24: 50,000 miles after $2000 in purchases within 4 months, another 25,000 miles after $10,000 in purchases within the first year, and an additional 25,000 miles after $10,000 in purchases during the second year. The annual fee is waived the first year. On November 1 though I posted what’s in general a better offer, or at least an…
Cheap Transatlantic Airfares from $250 Roundtrip Including Tax
Via Flyertalk, there are some great fares to Europe on American Airlines (as Iberia codeshares), such as JFK – Paris for $288 roundtrip, all-in.. slightly less to Milan.. and DC to New York to Madrid for about $350. Dan’s Deals has written up the fare as well: Bookable on Travelocity. This is valid for many dates. Post the ones you find! And be sure to post if you find other valid cities! Sample valid dates: 03/24/11-03/29/11. JFK-Milan is $251 with tax for those dates. JFK-Brussels is $283 with tax for those dates. JFK-Paris is $291 with tax for those dates. The flight is sold as an Iberia codeshare, but it will on AA. Now, the codeshares are a bit annoying as I don’t expect them to earn full mileage. Iberia flights between the US and…
New Tool for Simplifying and Automating the Priceline Bidding Process
I haven’t played too extensively with the site yet, but The Bidding Traveler looks to be a very useful tool for novice and intermediate Priceline users. It both helps lay out a bidding strategy and automates that strategy in order to save on effort. It’s certainly simpler one-stop shopping than using a site like Biddingfortravel.com or Betterbidding.com, searching through recent bids to determine what folks are generally winning hotels for and identifying which ones are similar to your circumstances (e.g. weekday versus weekend). And it takes care of the work of identifying your ‘bidding strategy’, figuring out which zones to use as free re-bids in order to order to bids from lowest to eventual highest that you make. (Priceline bidding permutations are explained here.) Ultimately, the site just sets up your bidding for you. It…
10% Off Emirates When Paying With Amex
Via MileQuest: By using your American Express card, you can save 10% off any First, Business, or Economy Class airfare. You must travel by March 31, 2011. You have to book the tickets directly from the Emirates website and use promo code USAMX10.
Entry Thread for My Reader Giveaway: 44,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Points
Here’s what you need to do: Check out Hyatt’s Facebook page. They are posting itineraries from their hotel property General Managers. Have a look. Then leave a comment to this post with the hotel property whose itinerary interests you most, or the property you’d like to see an itinerary from. Any Hyatt property. Then you’ll be entered to win 44,000 Hyatt points — enough for two nights at any Hyatt in the world, or more nights at less expensive properties. So you might just get to experience one of those itineraries. But only enter once, by noon Eastern on December 25. And I will draw the winner at random after that. Full details can be found in the previous thread. That thread is also where you ask any questions, as this post is strictly for…
What I’m Giving My Readers for Christmas: 44,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Points!
First, before I open the separate official entry thread (not this post), let me describe what’s going on. Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a big fan of the Hyatt Gold Passport program, and really have been since spring of 2009 when they matched Starwood’s unique value proposition on award redmeption (if a standard room is available for purchase, you can redeem for it with points) and also introduced new elite benefits — They were first out of the gate with free internet, which chains generally have matched, though they offer it all elites Guaranteed club level or free breakfast, no catch as catch can. Hilton is known for breakfast to be sure, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the Hyatt breakfast benefit more, such as last weekend’s room service breakfast at the Andaz 5th…
We’re Getting (Sort Of, Almost) Famous
Well, alright, we’re not TMZ Famous. But living in the DC area there’s very much a concept known as “Famous for DC” — political types that wouldn’t be recognized anywhere else in the country but are a big deal here. The DC area is also known as “Hollywood for Ugly People.” And in some ways we’re beginning to be part of Hollywood for People Who Will Only Ever Be Featured Online. Without Photos. At least that means I don’t have to worry about being followed by Blog-errazi. But this blog is now being syndicated by Reuters. Boarding Area blogs Road Warriorette, The Gate, and Loyalty Traveler are as well. Congratulations to my fellow bloggers!
2000 Starwood Points for Test Driving an Acura
W Hotels have Acura Rewards certificates, pick one up and take it to an Acura dealer and you can choose between 2000 Starwood Starpoints or a $50 Bliss gift certificate for taking a test drive. The dealer will give you a validation code to enter on the Acura Rewards website to choose your redemption preference. Certificates must be picked up by December 26, and validation codes obtained and entered on the website by January 2. Now, dealers like to make their potential customers happy. You may be able to get the validation code without picking up a certificate. But personally I’d pick up the certificate, that’ll help explain what you’re looking for. Back when Jaguar was giving away 10,000 British Airways miles for a test drive I went down to the Jaguar dealer and was…
