I’m Giving Away $400 to My Blog Readers. Click Here to Enter. All You Have to Do Is Be Positive!

by Gary Leff

It’s been a tough 18 months in the frequent flyer world. It’s easier than ever to earn points, but the cost of awards has gone up, up, up.

Miles and points have been very good to me, and I do my best to give back where I can. I don’t make a public show of my charity, but I do my best to give the best advice I can and to offer giveaways when things are offered to me. And when I have gift cards, I can either turn them into money orders or do various frequent flyer experiments, or I can give them away.

So here, I thought I would give away $400. And what better way to give them away than to my readers who comment on this post?

Goodness knows it’s been a tough 15 months or so for frequent flyers.

And that’s just a small sampling.

So I would like to focus on something positive for a change, and I’m looking to you for help to do so!

Here are the prizes:

    (4) $100 gift cards

So here’s how you enter.

  1. Leave a comment on this blog post. Say something positive above miles and points, blogs, forums, or your fellow travelers.
  2. Enter by Noon Eastern, Friday May 30. That’s 4 days from this writing, and there are four prizes.
  3. Enter no more than 4 times. Four prizes, four days to enter, you can enter by commenting up to four times. (It doesn’t have to be one per day, the only limitation is that you cannot enter twice in a row you have to at least wait for someone else to enter before you enter again each time.)
  4. Four prize winners will be drawn at random. As in past, I will use random.org for the drawing.
  5. Fine print. Void where prohibited by law. All of my decisions are final and unappealable, I want to make giveaways as easy as possible and with the fewest headaches possible.

So, what do you like about miles and points, blogs, forums, or your fellow travelers?

About Gary Leff

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 »

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Comments

  2. The big banks are still competing for customers, so I expect good developments on the credit card bonus front as well as improvements to proprietary points programs (e.g. Barclay’s improvements to the Arrival card and Chase adding Singapore to Ultimate Rewards).

  4. It was fun having the option to choose whether to redeem a free night stay either at a Westin, Intercontinental or LaQuinta after seeing a Paul McCartney concert in Tampa.

  6. Miles show me places that I would never in a million years see without this wonderful hobby

  7. I was able to book a RT ticket from US-Lon with American Miles and it didn’t cost $2500!

  8. Being able to fly a family of 5 from SAN to Maui on Alaska just for signing up for the British Airways Visa card was amazing. Thanks to View from the Wing!

  12. There are still plenty of positives left. We’re seeing bigger signup offers than we’ve ever seen before. And more people are getting access to travel and see the world without it costing as much

  13. The challenge to get award seats may be greater, but some of the Business and First experiences seem to have gotten better.

  15. My wife and I have redeemed over $100,000 worth of travel for free over the past few years thanks to awards!

  16. While award prices have gone up for some awards, there have been some very generous bonuses over the past few months which make it easier to keep up.

  17. Miles allow us to go many different places to give us the break we need at a great price.

  19. All said and done – in most cases when I travel, relative to the out-of-pocket associated with paying for premium cabin fares, I have always found using miles – especially through American to be exceptionally favorable.

    Understanding that the business is competitive and airlines need to constantly balance loyalty with P&L/Investor Confidence, I think devaluations is something to be expected. Still – using what I spend everyday – towards travel remains the best value as far as I am concerned.

  22. Been able to stay at a hotel I would never pay for out of pocket. Grand hyatt Kauai for eight nights.

  23. Six months ago, I did a RTW first class extravaganza on BA, SQ Suites and CX – all on miles – all from knowledge learned from you and Lucky. Already planning another one. Thank you both

  24. We can still fly for free! I’ve been able to see India, South America, Southeast Asia and this summer, Europe, all for taxes only. I never would be able to travel like this without the miles game.

  25. Despite the devaluations, the classic strategies still work, you just have to be more careful about which cards/airlines/hotels you pick! I’m a newbie going on my first miles trip to Europe this summer. 🙂

  26. I’m so happy I’ve found the Boarding Area blogs…
    learned a ton and have taken wonderful trips on the
    cheap.

  27. I believe that this miles & points game is a hobby, something that we should considered to be a blessing in today’s world. All we have to do is try to be ahead of the game, and I believe we still are.

  29. Miles allows me to bring my family on business trips that I may not of without them.

  31. I learn a lot from the Flyertalk forums just by reading comments. Many members are friendly and offer great advice. Thanks.

  32. How’s this for positive? I am writing this comment from Paris… and I’m here staying with my girlfriend in hotels that I paid for with points after flying business class International for the first time on miles. All after a year or so of being in this hobby I enjoy!

  33. This blog (and others like it) allow my wife and me to visit family more in Asia.

  35. I don’t know what I’d do without my daily blog check. Very grateful you and other sites are around!

  36. Let me book last minute travel to attend a funeral without breaking the bank

  37. Since I have to travel so much for work, one of the biggest perks is earning all those hotel points I use for personal travel!

  38. Book flights for my parents using points that would’ve cost an arm and a leg If i used cash

  39. Lastly, by reading all the blogs I become a smarter traveler for when things go wrong.

  40. Several airlines serve Dom Perignon in business and/or first class. What’s not to like about that?

  43. I love that my points can help ALL my family from all over the US to take an annual family vacation to the US Virgin Isles each year! 🙂

  44. I’m new to this hobby and I JUST booked my first trip using points! My husband and I will use our free Hyatt nights and Southwest points to go to Montego Bay and stay in Hyatt’s new all-inclusive resort.

  45. your blog has let me travel in business class for vacation, which is amazing. thank you!

  46. Miles and points allow me to enhance my vacations so that I’m allowed to travel in comfort and a tad bit of luxury.

  47. Thanks for the site. Used it to build miles to get to Mauritius and back. Keep up the awesome work.

  50. Gary, Positively have leaned a lot from your comments and email conversations. Enjoyed Singapore suites in Feb. Sin-Fra-JFK. Fantastic

Comments are closed.