If you’re a Virgin America Elevate member (and had the account open by December 5) then when you join Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan by January 31 they’ll give you your choice of 10,000 miles or $100 towards a ticket.
And if you had active Alaska Airlines and Virgin America accounts already you’ll be getting 10,000 bonus Alaska Airlines miles automatically within the next few days.
With the closing of Alaska’s acquisition of Virgin America last month, it was announced that Virgin America miles would transfer to Alaska Airlines at a ratio of 1 to 1.3.
That functionality is live. You can now convert your Virgin America points to Alaska Airlines.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Three months ago Garuda Indonesia had snakes but the airline dismissed it claiming they were just ‘legless lizards’ (like that’s better?).
Two months ago there was an actual snake on an Aeromexico flight from Torreon to Mexico City. The flight made it to its destination but was given priority for landing and airline employees ‘secured the reptile’.
Qatar Airways is running a flash sale with some amazing pricing. Note he says you’ll save an additional 15% when paying by Visa and using promo code VISA.
Travel is allowed most any time that discount seats are available, and through end of schedule features economy fares to Southeast Asia for under $500 roundtrip as well.
Arguably Club Carlson has been the most rewarding program for in-hotel spend since they launched in 2011.
That’s even after they devalued points transfers to airline miles (and not for the first time), devalued the program across the board, and eliminated the second night free on award stays benefit for co-brand Visa cardholders.
The problem of course is: do Club Carlson’s hotels, like Radisson and Park Inn, work for you?
This week’s shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport was horrible. I’ve held off writing about it until now, because so much of the information immediately following an event like this turns out to be wrong. With wraparound coverage of the event online and on television, there simply wasn’t much that I could add.
This was a terrible thing that happened. It appears to have been carried out by someone who was mentally ill, rather than a coordinated terrorist attack. There’s an old saying that two anecdotes makes a regulation and three makes a law. Nonetheless these incidents are rare, flying remains safer than driving even factoring in what happened in Fort Lauderdale, and I’d rather mourn the people who actually lost their lives than use them as tools to make a pre-existing political point.
Star Alliance member Scandinavian Airlines has great business class award space through the beginning of April for 4 or more (and even 8!) passengers from several US gateways.
You can use miles with United, Aeroplan, ANA, LifeMiles, and many other programs to book awards to and through Copenhagen to most places you’d want to go in Europe. Aeroplan doesn’t add fuel surcharges to SAS awards.
According to Marriott Rewards customer service “Gold and Platinum members are guaranteed late check-out. The time-frame is up to the hotel. They can allow late check-out up to 4 PM, but it can also be earlier.”
This is 100% incorrect, and a disservice to members.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
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 »
