American Express is offering triple points at US restaurants through the end of the year to select (targeted) customers. Registration required, and if you haven’t received anything from American Express it seems worth it to me to click the link and log into your account to see if you’re eligible. I don’t know the targeting criteria, and I wasn’t eligible, but I have to imagine that they’re testing member engagement to see how popular a benefit this is and what it does to spend so that they can game plan the effects to see if it is a benefit that could make sense for one of their products. You can receive 3X Membership Rewards points when you use your enrolled Card to make a purchase at qualifying U.S. Restaurants between 10/1/2014 and 12/31/2014. You can…
A New Account You Can Fund With a Credit Card, and New Marriott Room Cancel Policy
News and notes from around the interweb: Emirates CEO blasts investigation of MH370. (HT: Alan H.) Marriott adopting new baseline cancellation policy starting January 1 Amex-Target REDcard can be funded directly with a credit card! Different members get different United shopping portal bonuses Virgin America Chairman (and former American Airlines Chairman and CEO) Don Carty thinks good customer service can be profitable. He’s probably wrong. While the guy who first sparked the legroom and knee defender controversy would use it again, another passenger in a dispute over seat recline is going to face charges. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on…
Only Hours Left to Earn Miles Through Amazon Payments
A month ago I reported that the ability to send money to people via Amazon Payments would be ending effective October 13. That means if you want to make one last stab at it — and you haven’t already sent $1000 through the service in October — you have only a few hours left. The great thing about Amazon payments is that nobody had ever heard of them. Everyone knows Paypal. And Amazon wanted to break into that market. So they made themselves super user-friendly, allowing you to send people up to $1000 per month charged to a credit card with no fee. The idea was that could help them gain traction in the marketplace. Of course plenty of people sent $1000. Those people deposited the money into their checking accounts. And sent $1000 back…
Last Day.. Ever?.. to Buy US Airways Miles at Under 1.9 Cents Apiece
A few weeks ago I wrote that US Airways will be increasing the cost of miles purchased through its bonuses, that come November American and US Airways will get aligned in how they sell miles.. which means they’ll be more expensive. US Airways is running a 100% bonus on purchased miles, it was supposed to end September 30 but it was extended through October 12. That’s today. For the past several years US Airways has been the industry leader in selling miles cheap. Offering a 100% bonus just meant, more or less, meant that it was a day of the week that ended in “day”. With this offer they sell 20,000 or more miles at 1.88 cents apiece. I’m not a buyer at this price, especially with a large account balance with both American and…
I’m Giving My Readers $500 in Gift Cards, Just Leave a Comment to Enter!
Frequent Traveler University: December 5-7, Hyatt Regency Crystal City The next Frequent Traveler University, in partnership with USA Today, promises to be the biggest gathering of frequent flyers ever — topping even last April’s sold out event in Northern Virginia. The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City minutes from Washington’s National airport. It’s a fantastic venue to support us all, and Hyatt has made available (2) $250 Hyatt gift cards for me to give away here. Gift cards that could be used on your stay during Frequent Traveler University! All you need to do to be eligible to win is leave a comment on this post.
Avoid Danger on the Road By Not Doing Anything Stupid!
Two years ago I wrote a really popular post on common tourist scams and a year ago I gave consolidated simple advice on how to avoid them. Some people like chance encounters on the road, and are open to ‘strangers in a strange land’ but I tend to be skeptical. If someone approaches me, offering to help me or wanting to get to know me, I tend to be curt because I assume ill intentions at least until proven otherwise. No doubt I can be criticized for missing out on opportunities, but it’s a strategy that keeps me safe. I grew up in New York in the 1980s (and late 1970s), when it was a very different place than it is now. I never carried a wallet in my back pocket until the 1990s, having…
What’s the Most Efficient Way to Manage Foreign Currency for a Trip?
My preferred method of getting foreign currency is to take it out of an ATM on arrival in another country. That way — even with foreign currency transaction fees — you’re getting a bank’s rate on the transaction rather than a retail rate. And I have an ATM card that doesn’t charge me foreign transaction fees. The most popular one of those among travelers is probably Schwab. And the way I’ve always converted leftover cash at the end of a trip is to use it to pay any hotel folio balance on my last day. Another trick is in many countries to add it to a Starbucks card. (Those two strategies, combined with a credit card that doesn’t add foreign currency transaction fees, keeps the excess cost of purchases abroad low.) But I don’t really…
3000 Mile Offer Extended, a Sneak Peak at a New Seat, and Detailing the New American Miles for Test Drive Opportunity
News and notes from around the interweb: Sign up for Rocketmiles if you aren’t already a member. Their first-time booking bonus of 3000 miles in your choice of program has been extended through December 12. The site awards lots of miles for hotel bookings, but doesn’t generally earn hotel program credit when you book. I consider this perfect for making bookings for non-status friends, and for when there’s not a good option available with one of my preferred hotel programs. Doctor of Credit speculates on the terms and conditions for the upcoming promotion offering 7500 American AAdvantage miles for test driving a Cadillac. A look at Lufthansa’s new premium economy seat. Yesterday I asked how American’s new announced thrice-daily Los Angeles – Atlanta service could make sense? One common piece of speculation, expressed in this…
Travel is Hard, and the Rules are Complicated: Celebrity Edition
Founding member of the Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am a.k.a William Adams can’t seem to get a handle on the myriad rules imposed by his carrier of choice, United Airlines, with whom he has a clear love-hate relationship. Back in the spring he was kicked out of a Global First lounge, because he was flying domestically. He’s a member of the United Club, and internalized their not allowing him in and telling him he was ineligible as being a result of his membership card being fake. Now this past week he was denied boarding for an international flight (I’m assuming Los Angeles – Shanghai) because he arrived within 45 minutes of departure. United requires check-in 60 minutes in advantage for international travel. Contra Will.i.am’s close tracking of United’s schedules, UA198 to Shanghai is a 1:05pm departure.…
The Biometric Future of Travel: Will Everyone Be Fingerprinted to Fly, or Will No One?
Alaska Airlines wants to scan your fingerprints at check-in: The sixth largest airline in the U.S. is pushing for shorter lines at the airport by scanning your fingerprint. It wants to replace travel documents like passport and driver’s license to let flyers get through check-in quicker. The airline says it has been testing a pilot program since August and is in the process of convincing the TSA that biometrics is safe. At the same time, the TSA has been under immense pressure to move more and more passengers through a trusted traveler process. They claim they meet that with 50% of travelers eligible for precheck, a figure that includes crew and not just passengers. They seem themselves as having tapped out the retail signup market, or at least being limited through those channels to arithmetric…
