Offers and updates found elsewhere on the interweb: Frequent Miler reports several successes this morning going through a shopping portal to buy e-gift cards, earning a rebate, and then going through the shopping portal and using those e-gift cards a second time to earn a second rebate — double the cash back for purchasing a single item. Just Another Points Traveler notes a survey offering 1000 Priority Club points. Wandering Aramean flags that Amtrak is offering double points on all train travel September 5 through November 16. Registration required. Loyalty Traveler relays Tripadvisor’s win in court, when it dubs a hotel as “the dirtiest” it is expressing an opinion (based on the compilation of opinions of its users) rather than making a claim of objective fact (which if false could be actionable). If I were…
Redeeming American Express Membership Rewards on Star Alliance Airlines Without Fuel Surcharges
This little trick was shared with me some months ago in confidence (thanks S.S.!) so I never blogged it, but now it’s out in the frequent flyer forums and on blogs (e.g. today at The Points Guy). So now that it’s out, it’s no longer a secret, I can pass this along. American Express Membership Rewards is a great currency. I love flexible currencies because you can choose where to move points to when you know what award you want and further when you know who has award availability for that itinerary. It increases your ability to get the award redemption you want when you want it. But American Express has its drawbacks. Last year their partner Aeroplan started adding fuel surcharges onto most of their award tickets, you now often come out of pocket…
American’s Twitter Humor Amidst a Rough Day for Irregular Operations Due to Hurricane Isaac
Today’s been a rough day for United. Not only are flights being cancelled all over the place, but their computers went down. And took united.com down too. When United is hand writing boarding passes things have really hit a wall. Leave it, then, to Fake Jeff Smisek on Twitter to pile on. Under the circumstances, @AmericanAir which will reply to most anyone who tweets at them, was gracious in response. And the conversation — as well as United’s IT meltdown — was then more or less wrapped up. (@DeltaAssist and @SouthwestAir did not reply to FakeJeffSmisek’s tweets.)
Understanding Starwood Preferred Guest: Airline Mileage Transfers
Key Links:>Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card Starwood Preferred Guest Business American Express card Earlier in the month I outlined how to make the most of Starwood points for hotel stays. The Starwood program has more top-end properties that I’d want to stay at than any other chain, and while I don’t find the program all that rewarding for earning points from the money I spend at their hotels, there’s little question that it’s the most valuable hotel program for money spent on a credit card. And their cash and points awards really stretch the value of those points. In this post I intend to explain the value of Starwood points for airline mileage transfers which are in many ways the most lucrative option. The primary thing to know is that when you transfer points…
More Seats Added for Frequent Traveler University Los Angeles
Last week I mentioned coverage of Frequent Traveler University at CNNgo. CNN coverage is likely the reason that the few remaining spots for the upcoming Los Angeles (November 30 – December 2) event sold out. Tommy Danielsen announced that though the event had sold out of the original 250 spots available, more space was added and so another 100 tickets have been made available. We sold out late last week, but were successful in getting a larger ballroom at the Sheraton LAX adding 100 more seats. We’re not planning on adding even more seats as we really liked the interaction we had with the audience at the last FTU and I feel that a maximum of 350 participants is the perfect size for us. So if you’re planning on attending, please purchase your seat soon…
40% Transfer Bonus from American Express to British Airways Through September 27
American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 40% bonus on transfers to British Airways through September 27. Regular readers know that I’m not a fan of the changes made to the British Airways program back in November. In fact, in anticipation of those changes my Burn, Avios, Burn trip last Thanksgiving to Thailand was partially funded by taking advantage of British Airways transfer bonuses ‘before it was too late’. But of course British Airways does remain a useful and strategic partner of American Express Membership Rewards. Though there are fuel surcharges added to award tickets whenever a paid ticket would include those (you avoid fuel surcharges when flying to South America, US domestic, and a few other markets). And though the cost of awards are charged separately for each segment. There are some real values…
Cool History of the World (in Travel) Infographic
In the movie Airplane II the history of the world is summed up thusly: Steve McCroskey: Jacobs, I want to know absolutely everything that’s happened up till now. Jacobs: Well, let’s see. First the earth cooled. And then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil. And then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benzes. And Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di’s clothes. I couldn’t believe it. (I haven’t seen the movie in years but seem to recall it as ‘underwear’ rather than clothes.) Then of course there’s Mel Brooks’ History of the World. One of the Greatest. Films. Ever. Now Conde Nast Traveler offers us their short history of the world interactive infographic In 23 Astonishing Graphics, 126 Mind-Bending Facts,…
Bits ‘n Pieces for August 27, 2012
News, opinion, and minor notes from around the interweb: Via the Points Guy, American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 30% bonus on points transfers to Virgin America through September 2. Transferring to Virgin America is almost never a good idea, poor value per Amex point, and this bonus doesn’t change that calculation. This is really only useful is moving over a small number of points to top off towards a specific award level. According to this Milepoint discussion, Avis has removed blackout dates for redeeming AvisFirst two-day free rental day certificates. Via Merginal Revolution, another reason that Singapore fascinates me, garages in the sky that allow you to keep your car next to your living room in a high rise condo (subscription required). Hertz has made a deal to acquire Dollar and Thrifty car…
25% Bonus on American AAdvantage Purchased Miles through August 31
American is offering progressively greater discounts for larger points purchases, up to 25% off for a 40,000 mile purchase, expiring August 31. This is still 2.3 cents per mile all-in even with 25% off for 40,000 miles purchased, more than I would pay speculatively for miles but decent for topping off an account for a specific award level and especially with a particular award in mind. American allows award holds for 5 days, and points will post within a couple of days. So you can hold the award you want and then buy points you may need. The offer is in line with the recent trend towards short-term mileage purchase discounts and bonuses, but isn’t as rewarding as the beginning of April offer of a 30% bonus combined with a 15% discount that amounted to…
Hilton HHonors Launches New Online Shopping Portal
Just Another Points Traveler blogged this afternoon that Hilton HHonors had gotten out of the online shopping portal business (click through a program’s ‘online mall’ to the merchant you are going to buy from in order to earn points). She reported this based on an e-mail from the company which ran the old HHonors shopping portal, Hilton HHonors Earnings Mall has been discontinued, but your online shopping benefits don’t have to! To continue enjoying the savings and rewards of Earnings Mall, simply register for OO.com. It turns out, though, that there still is a shopping portal that lets you earn Hilton HHonors points for your online purchases. HHonors just isn’t working with that partner any longer. And the email simply came from the vendor that used to run the old shopping portal, trying to solicit…
