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Free stuff, courtesy of the Flyertalk S.P.A.M. forum
128mb memory card, free after rebate. Anticavity fluoride mouthwash, free sample. Biz laundry boost, free sample.
Where I was at…
After posting about my hiatus on the 26th of May, I received several emails asking what the beautiful beach photo was. The answer: the Intercontinental Beachcomber Resort on Tahiti, which frankly was just an airport hotel. I was on an award trip during which I spent a whopping 670,000 miles and points, including: 290,000 American Airlines miles (2 first class tickets to Tahiti, Australia, and back on Air Tahiti Nui and Qantas); 176,000 Starwood points for a 5th night free award at Bora Bora Nui; 60,000 Priority Club points for 2 nights at the Intercontinental Tahiti; 24,000 Priority Club points for a night at the Intercontinental Sydney (during a 20% off award sale); and several other redemptions. After a flight to Seattle in Alaska first class, a stay at the W Seattle, then down to…
USAirways to Honor Error Rate
On Saturday, a pricing error caused several USAirways routes to go on sale for about $40 all-in. I was out of town on Saturday and couldn’t take advantage of the fares. One thing worth noting was the stand-up response from USAirways: “Obviously, if we sold any tickets at that rate, we’ll honor them,” said airline spokesman Chuck Allen. Three cheers for USAirways! In my experience, error rates where money has already changed hands are usually honored. United’s $29 Paris fares, British Airways’ $20 World Traveler Plus fares to Europe, Mexicana’s $55 business class fares to Puerta Vallarta were all honored. Thai Airways’ first class fare from London to Bangkok was not — the fare could be reserved online but had to be ticketed in person (and Thai’s London offices were closed for the weekend, by…
The Basics of First Class Travel
Christina Valhouli offers a basic course in international first class travel — what it gives you, why people pay so much for it. On the whole it’s basic but good, though I can’t imagine how she ranks Lufthansa and Air France’s first class cabins as superior to Cathay Pacific and ANA’s. As for me, I’ll take ANA’s new first class (available only on certain routes like JFK-Narita) over anything else in the world. And I’m looking forward to trying Qantas and Air Tahiti Nui up front for the first time next year.
Priority Club Blog
Priority Club, the loyalty program for Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Intercontinental Hotels, has a blog which lists bonus point and redemption offers.Strictly speaking, I don’t know that this is an official blog of the program, but the offers read as though they originate directly with Priority Club and without any additional commentary.
It’s amazing how much bad advice is out there…
One of the more common questions about miles and points is, “are my miles safe when files for bankruptcy?” And it’s amazing how many bad answers there are. This story in today’s Daytona Beach News-Journal may take the award for the worst advice yet. Responding to a question about Delta miles, Bob Desiderio writes:You have cause for concern, because while survivor airlines have in the past honored the mileage programs of bankrupt airlines (As Delta did for TWA customers), the major airlines now are hanging on the ropes and no one is stepping forward to help them. If an airline goes bankrupt and sells off its assets, mileage programs disappear because they are viewed as a liability; the eventual cost is transporting a passenger for free. So, in addition to using them or losing them,…
New Travel Search Tools Online
Frommer’s has a new article on travel metasearch tools like Mobissimo, Kayak, and FareChase. These are sites which regular readers of this column should all be familiar with. The piece lumps these companies together with tools like ITA Software (perhaps the most powerful search tool, but rather complicated in some of its functionality) and deal advertising site Travel Zoo. The major item left off of Frommer’s list is downloadable hotel search tool TravelAxe.There are good descriptions of each of the sites in the Frommer’s piece, though you’re still better off using my own FAQs as a reference: How to find the best airfare dealsHow to find the best hotel deals
Cheap Vegas
TripReservations.com often has some of the best rates on Vegas hotels. For instance, they’re showing the Statosphere hotel for $19 per night with several dates available. Not where I’d stay otherwise, but $19 is a pretty good rate.
FreePhotoIpods and Infone
I just checked in at the website for the Free 40GB Photo iPod. As you may recall, Gratis Networks will give you a free photo iPod if you complete one of their marketing offers and refer 10 other people who do the same. When I first went to the website, all the marketing offers were unattractive — either they contained some cost (such as shipping) or they said they’d take a couple of weeks to credit as completed. So I went back this morning and they had an offer for Infone. It credits instantly. It costs nothing — it’s an information service that charges you but only after five uses. So if you don’t ever use the service, there’s never a charge — you don’t even have to cancel the service. A credit card number…
