The Milepoint Kiva lending team has together made over $4 million in microloans, the third most of any Kiva group. The couple hundred passengers on last month’s Star MegaDO raised over a hundred thousand dollars for charity. The raffle and other activities at last weekend’s Frequent Traveler University raised over $10,000 for charity. And Randy Petersen dressed up as Santa and — in partnership with KULA Causes — gave everyone in attendance a code good for donating $10 to any charity of their choice. In the past Hyatt’s Jeff Zidell has shared that the chain does much of its philanthropy through its hotels — the Hyatt Foundation gives to local charities recommended by its properties, helping their hotels to participate in their local communities. Which is great. But today @HyattPR shared a new initiative that…
The Economist is Fascinated by the Star MegaDO 787 Charter Flight
Michael R passes along that The Economist added coverage of the Star MegaDO (without even going on the charter!). For them, it was an opportunity to summarize Stephanie Rosenbloom’s New York Times coverage. THE New York Times’s review of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is in—and it’s mixed. The paper sent a reporter to join a group of frequent flyers on a MegaDo, a sort of air-travel hobbyist event organised for people who really love planes. Part of the event was an alcohol-soaked joyride on a Dreamliner flying from San Francisco to Houston and then Chicago. As Gulliver and our sister blogs have documented, the new, all-composite Dreamliner has had a troubled early history plagued by delays, frustrated airlines, and cancelled orders. So the first North American charter flight for the plane is a big deal. Upshot:…
Suites, Treats, and Eats, a Malaysian Mileage Thanksgiving: Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
Introduction: Constructing — and Re-constructing — the Award Trip American Eagle DC – New York and the New Nicest JFK Airport Hotel, the Hilton Cathay Pacific First Class, JFK – Hong Kong The Wing lounge in Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific Business Class Hong Kong – Kuala Lumpur Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Airlines Business Class, Kuala Lumpur – Langkawi The Andaman Langkawi Malaysia Airlines Business Class, Langkawi – Kuala Lumpur Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur Things to See and Do in Kuala Lumpur Korean Airlines First Class, Kuala Lumpur – Seoul and the Korean Airlines First Class Lounge Seoul Korean Airlines First Class, Seoul – Washington Dulles As we exited baggage claim a representative from the Grand Hyatt was one of the first ones spotted, with my name on a sign. I identified myself and he…
Strong Bonus for Le Meridien Stays in North America and French Polynesia
Starwood Preferred Guest is offering 1000 bonus points on your first Le Meridien Stay and 2000 bonus points on subsequent stays for through February 28. (Registration required by January 15.) At least one night of a stay has to fall during the December 3 through February 28 promotion period — a stay which began prior to December 3 or which ends after February 28 can qualify. Participating hotels are as follows: United States California Palm Springs Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs San Francisco Le Méridien San Francisco Massachusetts Cambridge Le Méridien Cambridge-MIT Minnesota Minneapolis Le Méridien Chambers Minneapolis New York New York Le Parker Méridien New York Pennsylvania Philadelphia Le Méridien Philadelphia Texas Dallas Le Méridien Dallas by the Galleria Virginia Arlington Le Méridien Arlington Canada Quebec Montreal Le Méridien Versailles French Polynesia Bora Bora…
Alaska Airlines Eliminates Interlining of Baggage, Introduces Linking of Reservations
Just like Delta and US Airways, Alaska Airlines will no longer interline baggage on separate tickets (HT: Lucky). That’s an exceptionally consumer-unfriendly policy change. If you use Alaska Airlines miles to book a Cathay Pacific award ticket from San Francisco to Hong Kong, but you’re actually starting in Seattle and there’s award space from Seattle to San Francisco so you have to buy that ticket from Alaska, then when you check in at Seattle they will no longer check your bags all the way through — you’ll have to collect the bags in San Francisco and re-check them. All because Alaska Airlines had no award space on the domestic flight and you had to pay them more money to start your international award. Shame, shame. But against the backdrop of that news yesterday it seems…
1000 Free United Miles
Via Just Another Points Traveler: You can receive up to 1,000 bonus MileagePlus bonus miles instantly when you register with bckstgr.com (400 miles) and sync your Twitter account (200 miles), Facebook account (200 miles), and Foursquare account (200 miles). Points post instantly.
50% Off Delta Club Passes (Purchase By End of the Year)
Delta normally charges $50 for a single visit pass, something that I’d almost never consider to be ‘worth it.’ Through the end of the year, though, they will sell you (4) passes for $99. That’s about $25 a pass, or half off the regular price. You can only purchase the passes in person at a club, and you have to mention that you want the special offer (I guess if you just ask for 4 passes they’ll instinctively want to charge you $200 — but if you know the secret handshake you get it for half that). There’s no way to make the purchases online. But you can do it at any Delta Skyclub, you don’t need to be using the club that day in order to buy the passes and you don’t need to…
SkyGuide Executive Privilege Club Imposes New Limits on Lounge Pass Reimbursement
Lots of folks have been successfully using the SkyGuide Executive Privilege Club for deeply discounted lounge access. A $20 membership buys 12 lounge day passes per year. And since the ‘per year’ limit has been per calendar year, and the membership is for 12 months, folks have even been able to get 24 (12 at the end of one year, 12 at the beginning of the next) lounge passes for their $20. Further, since a lounge day pass often costs $50, that’s as much as $1200 in (mileage-earning, credit card signup bonus-qualifying) spending that’s reimbursed. A great deal all around if you’re willing to fill out and mail in the reimbursement form. This continues to be a good deal, but of course it is too good a deal. So not at all surprising that they’re…
500 Free American Airlines Miles for Quick Survey
Via Lucky, American AAdvantage will give you 500 miles for “liking” both American Airlines and American AAdvantage on Facebook and then completing a brief survey. It’s one page, a handful of questions, basically what are your favorite loyalty programs and why? Miles should post in 6-8 or less. Easy and fast to take. The survey is on offer through December 17 or until 200,000 people complete it.
33% Bonus on Transfers of American Express Points to Hilton
American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 33% bonus on transfers to Hilton through January 31. You shouldn’t do this, though. This offer moves 1000 Amex points into 2000 Hilton points. Through December 29, American Express is offering a transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic. And Virgin Atlantic points transfer to Hilton at a ratio of 1:2. That offer yields 2700 Hilton points for each 1000 American Express points (by transferring American Express to Virgin Atlantic to Hilton). Even that I don’t consider to be an exceptional use of American Express points. It’s decent and can pay off when redeeming for some of Hilton’s top end properties. But at a minimum it’s more attractive than the straight-up transfer bonus to Hilton.
