On Thursday I wrote that IHG Rewards (formerly Priority Club) would be bringing back their ‘Big Win’ promotion for the first quarter and that the website to register would be up by some time over the weekend. And indeed the registration website is now available. I logged in to find out the offer I was targeted for. To remind, members receive customized offers based on their stay histories. With the last round of the Big Win I was offered just over 70,000 points which could be earned in a minimum of 7 nights. Some people were offered more than double that amount with varying requirements. And of course these points are stackable with other bonuses that the program may be running. Stay more and earn. 5 nights for 8400 points. Explore our brands. Stay at…
Delta No Longer Awarding Bonus Miles to Status Matched Elites
Reader Rick D. had elite status with another airline and got Delta to match his status as a result (airlines will often give the best customers of another airline complimentary status to try to woo their business). Delta extended their program for doing this over the summer. But Rick stopped earning bonus miles for his flying that are normally received by elite frequent flyers. Delta offers its elites the following bonuses: Diamond, 125% Platinum and Gold, 100% Silver, 25% 500 mile minimum per flight segment, and bonuses based on this minimum no matter how short the flight. Delta pointed out, however, that these bonuses are no longer offered to members who received their status via a match or challenge. Delta has the following exclusion: (1) In order to receive the Medallion mileage bonus, a member…
Final Day to Nab Lufthansa MasterCard 50,000 Point Signup Offer!
The Lufthansa Premier Miles & More World MasterCard® Earn 20,000 award miles after your first purchase Earn an additional 30,000 award miles when you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days $79 annual fee There is only one day left before the offer ends: The signup offer plus points from minimum spend are enough for (3) one-way domestic first class flights (since Lufthansa charges just 17,000 miles, and there are no fuel surcharges on US domestic awards). And Lufthansa’s Miles&More are the best way to access Lufthansa first class award space, long before it’s made available to Lufthansa’s Star Alliance partners. (Note that cards in this post offer credit to me if you’re approved using my links. The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are mine. The content is not provided or commissioned by…
MGM Top Tier Elites Being Given Complimentary Hyatt Diamond Status
Last month Hyatt mistakenly offered lifetime Diamond status to, it seems, Diamond members of the program who didn’t already have a Hyatt Visa (if they applied for, were approved, and for as long as they kept the card). That offer is being honored for those who were targeted and applied before being informed it was a mistake. (Those who applied using the offer, but who weren’t targeted for it, aren’t being given lifetime Diamond.) Now another group is being given Diamond: MGM M Life Noir members. Hyatt and MGM introduced reciprocal points-earning and status recognition over the summer. Hyatt’s top tier members were given MGM M Life Platinum status, which is second from the top tier — the exclusive Noir status which, as I understand it, is generally given to gamblers with a theoretical loss…
Free Upgrades on United, Free Money from Southwest, and Free Stopovers on Alaska (Bits ‘n Pieces for December 13, 2013)
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: If you even think you might have purchased a ticket from Southwest Airlines at a ticket counter from October 2007 through October 2012, you may be eligible for a cash payout due to a class action settlement over the airline printing full credit card numbers on receipts. A bunch of United expiring upgrades being given away Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has really generous stopover rules… not just on one-way tickets on their international partners, but also on domestic awards when flying on Alaska itself. United is proactively taking away the ability to search for and book Singapore Airlines award tickets from its website. United is apparently “taking functionality away from your customers-friendly” — and they insist that booking Singapore awards over the phone will incur a telephone booking…
Comment Here for a Chance to Win the Million Reader Giveaway!
At the beginning of the week I shared some web stats and plans for a Million Reader Giveaway. I only wish I had realized the traffic milestones earlier for this blog, I could have reached out to my favorite travel providers and asked them to help me celebrate… with promises of riches beyond readers’ wildest dreams elite status and points. Instead, I’ve had to get creative with the sorts of things I’m able to offer on my own. So here’s part one of the Million Reader Giveaway! Prizes will include: (5) Milepoint premium packages (1000 United miles, Hilton Gold status, National Car Rental Executive status, and more) $200 Gift Cards Amazon Gift Cards Miles in your choice of several programs I might even throw in elite status and a club membership with an airline. There…
Etihad Introducing a Dallas Flight — Great Option for American Airlines Frequent Flyers
Etihad will launch Dallas service December 2, 2014. The flight will be operated three times weekly by a Boeing 777-200LR with 8 first class, 40 business class, and 189 economy seats. It’s too early to tell what award availability on this flight will be like but in general I find that Eithad’s availability is excellent, especially early on as they tend to load premium cabin award space when the schedules open. Especially interesting is that — with Qatar having joined oneworld and launching Dallas service — the move would seem to suggest that Etihad believes their relationship with American Airlines can continue. To make this flight work they’ll most certainly need feed from American. Etihad First Class Cabin – Suites Etihad Business Class American AAdvantage miles are great given the quality of Etihad’s product and…
Free La Quinta Points, Onboard Internet Goes High Speed, and Get Free Stuff For Mobile Ticket Purchase (Bits ‘n Pieces for December 12, 2013)
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: 20,000 Miles & More miles for 305 euros and a 6 month international New York Times subscription thrown in! The La Quinta Returns Play & Stay Facebook game awards free points and nights, and you can try your hand at it every day through January 31. (HT: tellivais on Milepoint) You can get a free external battery from KLM if you book a ticket via their mobile site or mobile app by December 23rd. JetBlue now offers wifi on a limited number of planes. Basic service is free through June, and high-speed service costs $9 per hour. You can join the 30,000+ 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…
5000 Bonus Miles for a 3 Night Rocketmiles Hotel Booking
PointsHound and Rocketmiles are the two major websites that award you frequent flyer miles when booking hotel rooms. In general Rocketmiles has the biggest mileage offers, but they also have the fewest hotels and are in a limited – but growing – number of cities. (Some PointsHound bookings earn hotel loyalty points and status credits, while Rocketmiles does not offer this.) Rocketmiles is offering 5000 bonus miles on top of the regular mileage earning of 1000 to 5000 miles per night on a 3 or more night booking consumed by March 31. You can only earn the bonus one time and you start at this link when making your booking to qualify. The bonus is not stackable with other offers. You get to choose mileage earning with any of the following programs: Interestingly it appears…
IHG Rewards Introducing Round 2 of “The Big Win” as Their First Quarter Major Promotion
IHG Rewards (formerly Priority Club) ran a promotion called “The Big Win” which started in September. They’re bringing back The Big Win promotion for the first quarter of 2014. The website for the offer will go live over the weekend. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is kicking off 2014 in a big way by offering loyal IHG® Rewards Club members more opportunities to earn free travel through the next installment of its hotel rewards promotion, “The Big Win.” This is a first of its kind promotion, which provides each loyal guest with an individually tailored set of offers. “We have found that introducing tailored offers through “The Big Win” has been beneficial for both our guests and our hotels,” said Jim Sprigg, director, Database Marketing & CRM Solutions, IHG. “So, this January, we are launching a…
