Hyatt is offering 2500 bonus Gold Passport points per stay through September 15, 2009. Payment with a Mastercard is required, and registration is as well.
General
Category Archives for General.
United Delays Mileage Upgrade Co-Pay
Via One Mile at a Time, United is delaying its implementation of mileage upgrade co-pays until January 12, 2010. That’s a six month reprieve, which is great, but really doesn’t speak well of United’s IT implementation folks (which is hardly new).
New Upgrd Podcast
I appear in another edition of the weekly Upgrd Podcast. This time it’s listener questions: Is the standby option (via a different routing) some sort of 1K only perk? Which hotel program is best for someone residing in Canada that might not be eligible for US based credit card pomotions? What to do with United SWUs? Where to post miles after crossing 100,000 elite qualifying miles?
United Starnet Blocking Reaches New Levels of Absurdity
I realize it’s getting towards the end of a quarter. United is probably afraid of overspending its award redemption budget. So they’re massively blocking awards being offered by their Star Alliance partner airlines. When searching for awards later in June and early July: Lufthansa to Frankfurt, via Dulles, Chicago, Newark, and JFK? They’re publishing award inventory all over the place, every other Star Alliance airline besides United can book them. But United? Blocked. All Nippon Airways intra-Asia flights, from Tokyo to Bangkok and to Taipei? Blocked. Thai Airways intra-Asia flights, from Bangkok to Hong Kong and to Tokyo? Blocked. On several days both ANA and Thai are offering business class award seats on each and every one of their flights between Bangkok and Narita. United won’t book a single one of them. They see only…
A Great Morning to Book Transatlantic Flights
It’s all over Flyertalk (in the Mileage Run Deals forum) — Delta appears to be pricing out transatlantic itineraries without fuel surcharges. New York to Zurich comes out at less than $250 roundtrip, DC to Paris at under $400 — and this in some cases during hte summer travel season. Fares are available, it seems, through the end of the schedule. Just a heads up, this won’t last.
5000 Delta miles for 2-day Avis Rental
Avis is offering 5000 Delta miles on car rentals of two days or more through July 31. You need to use coupon code MUAA088 and select earning Delta miles and provide your Delta frequent flyer number. The bonus can be earned up to five times.
30% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Delta
Delta is offering a 30% bonus on transfers from American Express Membership Rewards through July 31. Registration (prior to making the transfer) is required. While transfers from American Express to Delta are, in my experience, instantaneous the bonus won’t post instantly. These offers used to take several weeks before the bonus would show up, but the terms and conditions of this offer say the bonus will post in a week.
Priority Club Introduces Cash & Points Awards
Just noticed this today, Priority Club appears to be offering “Cash and Points” redemption options. When searching for an award, there’s a choice of buttons — Points Only, Points + $30, and Points +$60. Each $30 cash increment reduces the required points by 5000. Put another way, when redeeming for an award you can buy points in blocks of 5000 for 6/10ths of a cent. That’s roughly what I value points at to begin with, but it’s a nice option to leverage your points. There does appear to be the start of a Flyertalk thread on the subject, but so far it’s not done much more than notice the option is out there.
A Redemption Option I’d Like to See More Of
Chase, which issues the United Visa, is sponsoring a redemption option. 5000 miles per person buys you a 5-course dinner with wine and conversation with the chef. A Night at Aureole Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas Thursday, July 30, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Your unique dining event includes: * Wine reception with passed hors d’oeuvre * Five-course dinner prepared by Chef Charlie Palmer, one of the most highly regarded chefs in America today * Wine pairings from the prestigious Sonoma County winery – Papapietro Perry * Tableside discussion of the menu and pairings from Chef Palmer and Winemaker Ben Papapietro This special evening is available to select Mileage Plus Visa cardmembers for just 5,000 miles per person. As of this writing there are 37 seats left. I have no problem flying for a meal.…
Securing Travel Credits Instead of Free Tickets on United
Lucky offers advice on how to get United to give you travel credits instead of free tickets when you take a ‘bump’ or voluntary denied boarding. Travel credits are much more flexible and tickets purchased when them earn miles, so in general far more desirable. Bottom-line is to be nice, be discrete, and not make the gate agent’s life more difficult so it’s easy for them to give you what you want.
