Earlier this month I shared the TSA Kids instructional cartoon. Reid F. passes along the honest TSA kids video. Realistic? You tell me. 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 Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Free $600 Cell Phone Protection and 25,000 Bonus Miles: Today’s News You Need to Know
News and notes from around the interweb: Up to 25,000 bonus Cathay Pacific miles (HT: Frequent Flyer Bonuses) Wells Fargo will insure your phone up to $600 against damage or theft if you pay your monthly bill with one of their credit cards. Austin MegaDO schedule released I once wrote time management tips for part-time bloggers but these simple tips seem indispensable. Citibank launches two new Expedia co-brand cards. Unfortunately Expedia Rewards has become awful. Which is sad, because it didn’t used to be. But with multiple revamps in just its first two years, I don’t have a high level of confidence in the program going forward either. 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)…
Get Up to 30,000 American Miles for a Citibank Checking Account
Citibank checking account bonus: Citibank is again offering American Airlines miles as an incentive for opening a checking account and taking various account actions. The offer is valid through September 30, and you then have 60 days from account opening to take required additional steps of debit transactions and a billpay in two calendar months. You can apply on-line, in branch, or over the phone at 866-810-9043 using promotion code DR5MG904XE. I tend to think 15,000 miles is the sweet spot with this offer since Citibank has sent out 1099 tax reporting forms on mileage offers for banking products where the value is greater than $600, as the 30,000 mile offer is likely deemed to be. I still like the 22,000 point BankDirect signup offer better. BankDirect also offers miles for average balances on an…
Saving Money With Throwaway Ticketing: Useful AND Ethical!
The New York Times’ Ethicist declared that throwaway ticketing is perfectly fine. A reader asks if it’s ok to book tickets where you don’t intend to fly all of the segments in order to save money. The reply: Absolutely. Purchasing something doesn’t mean you’re obligated to consume it in totality. You can use whatever portion of the purchase you choose. If you buy a loaf of bread, you don’t have to eat every slice. So far, so good.
Should You Jump on the US Airways MasterCard Signup Bonus Before It Goes Away?
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). I’ve had several readers write in the past couple of days about receiving targeted 50,000 mile signup bonus offers for the US Airways co-brand credit card. Typical is this email from Jon who writes: Long time reader. I have gotten a couple offers in the mail over the past few months for the Barclay’s US Airways card offering 50K points after first purchase (fee not waived). Do you…
Data Security is a Huge Gap in Frequent Flyer Programs. But Not One Members Actually Care About.
Deloitte Consulting released a new study today (.pdf) suggesting that travelers do not trust the data security policies and practices of loyalty programs. My take: Deloitte wants to convince loyalty programs to hire them to bolster their privacy and data security. They’d also love it if media picked this up and created pressure for companies to address an issue that Deloitte is ready to sell them a solution for. Deloitte finds that: 75% of people expect their frequent traveler accounts to offer financial institution-grade security. Only 1/3rd are satisfied with the security of their accounts. Except… Net net, loyalty program members don’t actually care about this or at least continue to behave as though they are comfortable. Loyalty programs continue to grow their membership. Here’s data on American, for instance. In fact, with the US…
American Embraces Transparency in Award and Upgrade Classes for US Airways!
Just a couple of weeks ago Delta reminded us that their best customers are poorly-informed customers. They forced Expert Flyer — a collection of really useful tools for frequent flyers (that charges a subscription fee — to remove all information about Delta. Even flight schedules. Now Expert Flyer emails their registered members to let them know of even more information that’s now available for US Airways. And includes a quote from American about this that underscores a totally different philosophy towards customers than Delta. (American doesn’t hate them.) “We are pleased that customers who choose to fly US Airways will now have the same service from ExpertFlyer that they have had for American Airlines flights,” said Cory Garner, American’s managing director – distribution. “This agreement provides another step toward a more seamless customer experience during…
United Extending Waiver of Revenue Requirement for Elite Status if You Spend on Their Credit Card
In June 2013 United announced that earning elite status would require minimum spending on tickets. This followed almost dead-on what Delta had announced. Status in 2015 would require not just miles flown in 2014, but a minimum amount of spending for each status level as well. Silver: $2500 minimum qualifying revenue Gold: $5000 minimum qualifying revenue Platinum: $7500 minimum qualifying revenue 1K: $10,000 minimum qualifying revenue
Get Tickets to Sold Out Frequent Traveler University Events
Frequent Traveler University in San Diego next March, which I posted about this morning, sold out in under 3 hours. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go. Here’s the Milepoint thread for FTU Advanced in San Diego. There are a handful of tickets held back, I’m told, and they’re right here. There are no doubt some folks that jumped on the opportunity to attend but where their schedules won’t work out. Follow the thread to see when someone wants to unload their ticket. In fact, the September 26 – 28 event in Chicago is fast approaching. There’s a couple of people with tickets for the event that can’t attend, so if you’re interested in taking their place visit the Milepoint discussion. Or just wait for the next event. My understanding is that there’s a large…
The Economist Endorses American Airlines! Plus TSA Screens Passenger AFTER Flight.
News and notes from around the interweb: The worst airline passengers in the history of travel. The TSA ‘forgot’ to do secondary screening of a passenger whose name is on the terrorism watch list. So they made up for it by screening him on arrival, after he had flown. (HT: Toqueville) Lucky asks if he is a ‘travel’ blogger. And I agree with him, the answer doesn’t matter, he’s built a niche that many find useful. Similarly, I don’t put labels on my own writing. From the very beginning, I’ve written about whatever I found interesting at that moment, for whatever reason and broadly conceived. And I’m fortunate and flattered that many find that worth reading. I’ve never targeted an audience, or a genre, per se — other than those great folks who share enough…
