Giveaway: 5 Nights in a Suite in Sri Lanka Plus Dinner and Massages

by Gary Leff

Jun 20 2016

I love Sri Lanka. And since I’ve been to the Maldives each of the past 5 years, it’s been easy to visit, as the capital Colombo is less than 500 miles away. There is no such thing as bad Sri Lankan food and I even go out of my way to stop for Sri Lankan when flying out of New York JFK.

A reader is going to win a 5 night stay in a suite inclusive of a dinner, massages, and even cooking class. And all you need to do to enter is comment in this post, see inside for details.

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New 30% Discount on Buying Starwood Points Through July 1

by Gary Leff

Jun 20 2016

Starwood is offering a 30% discount on purchase of Starpoints through July 1.

This is tied for the second biggest discount I’ve ever seen on Starwood Starpoints, which I believe is the most valuable currency (one point is worth more than one of any other point). The ‘regular’ discount that Starwood runs occasionally is 25%. Last month for the first time they ran 35% off for co-brand credit card holders.

Here’s what you can do with this offer.

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Review: Emirates First Class A380, Houston – Dubai

by Gary Leff

Jun 19 2016

I’ve been remiss in writing the details of my trip to the Mideast and Asia redeeming miles for first class on the Airbus A380s of all 3 of the big Gulf carriers: Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.

It’s was a great quick trip to eat in Bangkok and see the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, and I’m determined to return to sharing it with you.

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Two More Airlines Joining TSA PreCheck – Which Ones May Surprise You

by Gary Leff

Jun 19 2016

Airport security lines became insufferably long over the past few months. It cost both passengers (who can wait for hours at peak times) and airlines (when passengers miss flights and their seats aren’t used efficiently, plus they have unhappy customers).

TSA is hiring more screeners, though really should start with redeploying 2800 behavior detection officers to the checkpoint.

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Step-By-Step Booking Awards and Hotels for a Family of 6 to Australia

by Gary Leff

Jun 18 2016

Longtime reader Greekquent Flyer shared his notes with me from his recent family trip to Australia. He took on the challenge of planning premium cabin travel and hotels using his points to Australia (which is one of the toughest airline awards out there) for a family of 6.

So I asked him if I could share his experience with readers as a way of helping folks think about how to pull it all together.

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After Tomorrow Costco Will No Longer Take American Express. What Happens to Amex Next?

by Gary Leff

costco
Jun 18 2016

Tomorrow is the last day that American Express cards will be accepted at Costco stores. Amex lost the co-brand relationship to Citibank and Visa in a deal that has Citi overpaying and not even gaining exclusivity over Costco payments (starting tomorrow you can use any Visa at Costco, regardless of the issuing bank).

American Express couldn’t match the money-losing deal that Citi was offering — some have argued that it’s tax losses that subsidize the deal — but the change meant losing 10% of cardmembers.

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