Allstate will give you 500 United miles each for getting an auto insurance quote and getting a home insurance quote. The offer is valid through December 31, and miles for a home policy quote will not apply to condo or renter policies. Walking through the vehicle quote process it didn’t ask me for a social security number, which is good, and it pulled vehicle information from existing databases which made things easier. But the site hung up on the adding drivers page. 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 RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
United Sued for Pirating Music for its Inflight Entertainment System
Sony has filed suit: According to a complaint filed in New York federal court, the defendants are duplicating sound recordings and music videos, installing the allegedly infringed copies to servers located on board aircraft and then transmitting performances to passengers. All without paying any baggage fees. While a bit sensational, and a fluid area of law, it appears that is outsourcing relevant parts of the management of its inflight entertainment technology — such as obtaining content for its systems. The article claims a rights management company acknowledged to Sony that unlicensed content was being used, and was attempting to negotiate to make good on this. The lawsuit then may be a negotiating tactic. United is the bigger pocket here than the entertainment company they’re outsourcing to, though I’d guess there’s some sort of indemnification in…
5000 Mile Signup Bonus for New Alitalia Frequent Flyer Accounts
Skyteam airline Alitalia, a partner of Delta and of airlines such as Air France, KLM, and Korean, is offering 5000 miles as a signup bonus for new members who credit some mileage activity to their account within three months of joining. The offer runs through October 31. I presume but do not know that the requirement to earn the bonus of “Fly with Alitalia or use one of our Program Partners’ services within three months of joining” would even include transferring points into an account from a program partner such as American Express Membership Rewards or Starwood Preferred Guest (in other words, that the bonus is triggered via any account activity at all). “Using program partner services” is not defined in the promotion. You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis…
How to Foresee Travel Problems in Advance, and Fix Them Before They Mess Up Your Trip
When readers shared their own travel tips and several really stood out as worth highlighting. Here’s one that offers important advice. MrChu said, Always double check your reservations a few days before your scheduled travel to make sure everything is fine. It will prevent you last minute headaches and even being stranded without an airline or hotel reservation! Many things can go wrong after you make a reservation. You may never really have a confirmed reservation in the first place. A third party hotel booking site may not have properly communicated with the hotel you’re staying at, or a problem especially common to United an award ticket may never have been issued in the first place. Schedules change. Sometimes it’s a modest change but even 15 minutes could change when you’d want to leave for…
Lufthansa MasterCard 50,000 Point Signup Bonus Still Works
While my link is no longer functional for it, Lufthansa’s Miles&More 50,000 point credit card signup offer is still available. I wrote about the strategic uses of the card one week ago — United domestic first class and access to better first class award space on Lufthansa than is offered to their partners. 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 RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Bits ‘n Pieces for October 24, 2013: Duffle Bags of Gold and First Class Awards
News and Notes from around the interweb: Air Canada’s Aeroplan doesn’t appear to be seeing some Lufthansa transatlantic first class award seats that are available to other Star Alliance programs like ANA and United. I’ve noticed the same thing, and it means that I have to shift away from the Aeroplan website for searching transatlantic award space (which I’m booking using miles in other programs). Using Frequent Flyer Miles? You Need a Plan summary of WTOP radio interview I did a week and a half ago. Frequent Traveler University in the media. >Mommy Points, Pizza in Motion, and Million Mile Secrets are quotes. Here’s the conclusion: There’s so much to learn about the miles and points game that it’s just not possible to set it all out in a single online article. But in addition…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Is the CIP Lounge in Lahore, Pakistan the Worst in the World?
Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah Saudia Lounge, Jeddah and Jeddah-Lahore And now P.C. continues with the CIP lounge in Lahore: Lahore airport was very chaotic, crowded and possibly a place in hell. The ticketing agent was not helpful, and did not help me pick my seats (which I couldn’t reserve online either). I was also charged an extra airport fee which had “just gone in effect” but was not informed of this charge by Delta or Saudia. Luckily, I had some local currency because the payment was cash only and no official receipt was provided. Apparently, these new aviation taxes are only for Pakistani airports and…
How Classified TSA Documents Admitting Miniscule Threat of Terrorism Became Public
Over the weekend I noted a story about how the TSA has admitted in court documents that it does not believe there are any active terrorism threats against US airlines or airports. Courthouse News has more on how the leaked truth happened. Classified TSA documents revealed by clerical error show that the agency does not think terrorists are plotting to attack airplanes, suggesting that nude body scans are unnecessary to protect passengers. …In the course of discovery, the TSA gave Corbett classified documents, which he incorporated into the brief that he filed under seal. A clerk at the 11th Circuit somehow neglected to place the document under seal, however, allowing the public to see the redacted information. This mistake revealed the TSA’s apparent admission that terrorists are unlikely to target airports in a subsequent attack.…
The New Orbitz Rewards Program Creates Another Quintuple Dipping Opportunity When You Book Travel
One of the reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best all-around rewards credit card is how useful it is for booking travel, including double and triple dipping (and even more). The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card already earns double points on all travel. This is in addition to the miles you would earn from flying (or the points from a hotel stay, or from renting a car). Add onto that going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall, where you earn 1 point per dollar for purchases made at Expedia or Orbitz (2 points per dollar for Travelocity). And add onto that the programs of the online travel agencies themselves which offer you an additional level of points and rebate. Expedia Rewards points are credit towards hotels or airfare. Orbitz has a brand new…
Another Double Points Offer, This Time from JetBlue and Today Only
JetBlue is offering double TrueBlue points for tickets purchased by 11:59pm tonight in your departure city. The offer is valid for travel November 5 through December 18, 2013, but excludes travel on Fridays and Sundays and travel between November 22 and December 2 are blacked out from this offer. This may truly be the single most restricted double points offer that I have ever seen which is not route-specific. No registration is required, but fares booked on Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, CheapTickets, Travelocity, Priceline or LowestFare are not eligible, and there may be different day of week restrictions and blackout dates for certain routes. United is offering double miles. So is Southwest. Delta has a bunch of route-specific offers, as does Alaska (and also route-specific elite qualifying offers). US Airways has their own 50% – 100%…
