Southwest Rapid Rewards is offering a 40% bonus on purchased miles through the end of the month. The price of to buy points with this offer is 1.96 cents apiece. At most Rapid Rewards points are worth 1.42 cents (plus some option value in that Southwest award tickets are cancellable without penalty). Don’t buy speculatively, even revenue-based programs can devalue. The only reason to take up this offer would be if you had a very specific award you needed a small number of points to redeem for. Even then recognize the more you buy, the less value you’re getting for your redemption since every mile purchased loses over half a cent. Points.com processes Southwest points purchases so they do not earn airline purchase bonuses that your credit card may offer. You can join the 40,000+…
Wide Open Award Availability: Japan Airlines First Class
Via Lucky, Japan Airlines is swapping out a Boeing 787 (angled business class, no first class) for a Boeing 777-300ER on their San Francisco – Tokyo Haneda route effective December 1. The Boeing 777-300ER has first class suites and true flat business class on this aircraft. And first class award availability is wide open from the time they make this switch through the end of the schedule.
American AAdvantage Revises Its Award Routing Rules with New Exceptions
Last month I wrote the Ultimate Guide to Constructing an International Award Ticket Using American AAdvantage Miles. It already needs to be revised!
Bet You Didn’t Know This Trick, and How It Could Cost You Your Miles
Via TravelingBetter I learned about an interesting consumer complaint to the Department of Transportation against American Airlines and an even more interesting response. It strikes me that there’s a ton of disingenuousness on the part of lawyers for a major air carrier but also some interesting insight into how their systems work at the same time. So I thought it was worthwhile unpacking. American accused the consumer of “creat[ing] fictitious reservations..to block premium seats for the sole purpose of obtaining AAdvantage upgrades.” American took 60,000 miles as a penalty.
Spirit Airlines Eliminates Live Social Media, Proud of Cost Savings
Not from the Onion. Spirit Airlines has moved away from humans performing customer service on Twitter (they weren’t really very responsive to begin with) to an auto-responder instaad. [A] big social media team costs money, so we put our feed on Autopilot to save you cents on every ticket. Other travel providers are concerned with defending their brand online, or want to create customer evangelists. Customer service, to Spirit, is a cost center. They believe having customers who think you’re bad is a good thing. So why employ a twitter team? Of course they don’t want to invest in a frequent flyer program that can do more than get you magazine subscriptions free anyway. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by…
Another Good Prepaid Reloadable that Earns Miles, EVA Awards Bookable Again, and $25 off at Staples
News and notes from around the interweb: An easy prepaid reloadable card you can buy online with a credit card (if you have an address in an eligible state). Then use it to pay a Citibank credit card. Use it to buy money orders. Or with Amazon payments, Kiva, or Evolve money. Award tickets on EVA Airways had been unbookable by Aeroplan (which is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner). Fortunately, that issue has been resolved and flights can again be booked. Without fuel surcharges. So get those tickets on their Hello Kitty planes now! $25 off $100 or more at Staples using Visa checkout. (HT: Jim L.) Southwest gate agent makes man delete a tweet as a condition of flying. She ‘felt threated’ by his statement (which didn’t give her last name) saying…
Award Seats to Australia May Dry Up Afterall As the Best Option Ends a Route
Historically Virgin Australia has had amazing business class award availability to Australia. That’s been probably the best overall use of Delta Skymiles — searchable online, and without fuel surcharges — since Australia awards and especially during high season are one of the holy grails of mileage redemption. Space has been cyclical — 4 seats every day, then nothing, then wide open again. But will the space come back? Virgin Australia is cancelling their Los Angeles – Melbourne flight effective right as United starts up theirs. The North America – Australia and New Zealand route is served without a stopover in Tahiti or Fiji and without transiting Asia by: United Qantas Delta Virgin Australia Air Canada Air New Zealand New Zealand awards are harder than Australia awards. Air New Zealand used to open up business class…
New Points Earning Options for Booking Hotels
PointsHound now lets you choose to earn points or rebates for the hotel bookings you make for yourself or others in 18 different currencies. You can do bitcoin if you wish, basically just earning in a foreign currency. Or you can earn miles with a bunch of different programs. The newest options are Cathay Pacific’s AsiaMiles and JetBlue’s TrueBlue. I find the best rates of return to be Alaska miles and American miles (I generally choose to accrue with Alaska). You can sign up without a bonus, or the standard offer for being referred by an existing PointsHound user is 250 points each with your first booking. My referral link, though, ups that bonus to 1000 miles. My favorite things about PointsHound have been: That you earn miles when booking for someone else That they…
WATCH OUT: Some Rental Car Companies Really Stick You for Gas!
I know, I know, it’s a good idea to refill the gas tank before returning the vehicle. But what if you have a 6am flight? You didn’t fill up the night before, aren’t sure whether gas stations will be open and you overslept anyway… And sometimes it isn’t worth refilling on your own anyway. Gas stations around the airport may be priced exorbitantly high, and rental companies may charge less than you realize to refill for you. I find that National Car Rental usually wants about $5.65 a gallon or so from me to top off a tank if I don’t do it myself. That’s not cheap, but when I’m cutting it close and I haven’t driven a lot I can justify that. But it’s a mistake to assume all rental car companies are the…
North Korea Plans to Build an Underwater Hotel. And Have Food.
North Korea plans to build an underwater hotel. (HT: Thomask on Milepoint) North Korean authorities have announced an expansive development project for the east coast city of Wonsan that will include the construction of an underwater hotel, a Pyongyang Times article said last Tuesday. The ambitious plan, which focuses on the construction and development of infrastructure and buildings primarily related to the leisure sector, will see Wonsan become a “tourist city,” the Pyongyang Times said. “Underwater hotel, flower park, international meeting hall, exhibition and exposition hall, stadium and development areas will be built on the Kalma Peninsula,” the article said, adding that “towers and other modern-style buildings” would be constructed in “large numbers” in downtown area. …“We have confirmed with our local partners in Pyongyang that there are indeed plans to build an underwater hotel…
