American Express has its biggest-ever signup bonuses for its two Hilton HHonors credit cards and is running them through May 4.
The Surpass card which even comes with Hilton Gold status has a 100,000 point offer. The no annual fee card is up to 75,000 for the first time.
I walk through how to make the most of your points.
Rapper 50 Cent, more known these days for his body spray and condom endorsement deal than the music he pioneered with Eminem and Dr. Dre — as well as a pump and dump stock scheme and the excellent TV drama Power — videotaped himself mocking an airport employee that he assumed was high.
However the Cincinnati airport janitor is autistic and hearing impaired.
American dropped Zodiac as their seat supplier and went looking for a new business class seat.
The 777-200 retrofit project has been slow. Deliveries of the 787s had been delayed. And that’s long been thought to be the result of slow deliveries of seats from Zodiac. American cancelled their Zodiac contract, filed a lawsuit, and went looking for new seats.
A new study contends that resentment of first class leads to air rage in coach. I decided to spend the $10 for two days of access to the article so I could see what’s actually being claimed.
The authors here want to “posit that the modern airplane is a social microcosm of class-based society” and that “inequality can trigger antisocial behavior” and thus inequality is bad. Unfortunately they’re using travel for their own purposes, not really trying to understand travel.
Last week Matthew Vincett, CEO of LifeMiles, told me to expect a return of their 100% bonus on purchased miles May 3. And indeed it’s back. Go to the purchase miles page and log in. I’m actually offered up to a 125% bonus through May 31.
Vincett sees offering miles for sale inexpensively as win-win for the program and the consumer. Flexible consumers who can travel on award tickets gain access to travel less expensively than if they were buying tickets directly. And the program generates revenue that’s greater than its redemption cost.
I don’t believe IHG Rewards Club has announced this publicly yet, but they’ve updated their program terms and conditions to reference ‘member-exclusive rates’ at their hotels.
And these new rates are live.
Earlier today I wrote that American had eliminated its telephone booking fee for awards.
It turns out it was just a mistake with the wrong information loaded to American’s website.
Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 50% bonus when you purchase or gift miles through June 13. You give them your name and account number and it’s revealed what bonus you’re eligible for. The 50% offer seems broadly available although I’ve seen reports of getting offered just 40%.
At 50% purchases are really tempting, and Alaska’s are the only airline miles I’d personally do that with. Other airlines take at least a 100% bonus. That’s because the starting price of Alaska’s miles is lower than many other airlines.
American has eliminated telephone booking fees for award tickets.
These were already waived for Executive Platinum members and for customers booking awards that couldn’t be booked at AA.com. A year ago American started waiving telephone booking fees for awards you couldn’t book online, following US Airways practice. At the same time they increased their telephone booking fee from $25 to $30 for domestic itineraries and $35 to $40 for international ones.
Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world. In part the volume of passengers at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson is because, unlike other major metropolitan areas — New York, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston — the Atlanta area doesn’t have a second (or third) airport.
There’s been plans for a second airport since the 1970s when the city acquired about 10,000 acres in Paulding County (40 miles from the city) to build one. But Delta has been fighting tooth and nail against the facility — and finally drove a nail into its coffin.
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 »
