Am I the last man standing that still has a Diners Club card? I keep it because: Primary collision damage waiver on rental cars (United Explorer has that, too). It’s chip and PIN, not that I’ve ever actually needed that. It doesn’t waive foreign currency transaction fees, so I don’t want to use it outside the U.S. You can’t apply for one. I guess that makes me not want to cancel, somehow. Obscure transfer partners – like EVA Airways, SAS, South African, and Thai. You never know when you might need that! (Though, to date, I haven’t except for South African many years ago.) This used to be a great card, with two full billing cycles to pay and a restaurant savings program that morphed into iDine Prime (how crazy is it that Diners Club…
Virgin Atlantic Reduces Fuel Surcharges on Coach Awards
Two days ago NotiFlyer flagged a Virgin Atlantic sale on economy reward tickets. Through June 17, 2013, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members can redeem 25 percent fewer miles for coach award flights. For example, you can fly between the U.K. and New York for 26,000 miles roundtrip (normally 35,000 miles) or San Francisco for 35,000 miles (normally 47,500 miles). The 25 percent discount only applies to coach tickets booked by June 17, 2013. Other discounted routes include flights between the U.K. and Cancun, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Tokyo and the Caribbean. I didn’t pay it much mind, because Virgin’s fuel surcharges have historically made economy redemptions utterly irrational — you spend miles but still come out of pocket the bulk of a paid fare. But as Head for Points notes, Virgin has actually reduced their fuel…
US Airways 50% Bonus on Transferred Miles in June
Just as May’s 100% bonus on purchased miles ends, US Airways has a new deal for June: a 50% bonus on shared (transferred) miles. The offer is just like the one US Airways had back in April but with a slight kicker: in addition to the bonus miles, they’re also waiving the $30 per-transaction fee. Limited time offer: Give a 50% bonus and skip the processing fee when you Share Miles! Now through June 30, 2013, when you share miles, you won’t pay the processing fee. Plus, you’ll give 50% more – up to 25,000 bonus miles. Transferring miles costs a penny per mile. And they give you a 50% bonus. Which means if all you’re looking at is the cost to generate new miles, the price is 2.15 cents per mile (since there’s a…
Up to 30% Bonus When You Buy Hyatt Points in June
Just like in June of 2012 and for one week earlier this year, Hyatt is offering a bonus of 10% – 30% on points purchases through the end of June. The more points you purchase the higher the bonus. 1000 – 9000 points gets a 10% bonus. Buying 9000 points means you receive 9900 points at a cost of 2.18 cents apiece. 10,000 – 29,000 points gets a 20% bonus. Buying 29,000 points means you receive 34,800 points at a cost of 2 cents apiece. 30,000 – 40,000 points gets you a 30% bonus. Buying 40,000 points means you receive 52,000 points at a cost of 1.846 cents apiece. Hyatt Gold Passport allows a maximum purchase of 40,000 points per year. I value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents apiece. I would not do this on a…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 1, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: $35 Free Credit for new Uber (on-demand car service) users is available through June 5. Enter a comment in my blog giveaway by Noon eastern on Sunday for a chance to win a 2-night HYATT house stay with ‘very important resident’ status. United appears to have eliminated the option to redeem points earned via their co-branded credit card for elite qualifying miles. Air France first class awards are now available for redemption, and not just for elite members spending double miles. The prices are silly, though, especially for a product that’s below world standard. And they’re outrageously priced even as 50% off promo awards. Rapid Travel Chai had a much more difficult time getting a transit visa to visit Saudi Arabia than Matthew Klint did.
Hilton New York – Manhattan’s Biggest Hotel – Ends Room Service
This strikes me as a big deal in the hotel industry. The New York Hilton Midtown is the largest hotel in the city, with nearly 2,000 rooms. In August, it will earn another distinction: It will discontinue room service, becoming the largest property in the Big Apple that does not offer the amenity. The move will eliminate 55 jobs. It could also ignite an industrywide trend. Other hotels, such as the Hudson in New York and the Public in Chicago, are already nibbling at the concept, offering meals delivered in brown paper bags rather than dome-covered dishes. The Hilton New York will open a ‘grab ‘n go’ that guests can use, and lay off 55 staff as a result of the change. Room service is costly to service (high staffing costs, not to mention the…
Citibank Shutting Down Credit Card Accounts and Banning Customers
… and I say “meh.” I’ve gotten several e-mails from readers in the past few days who have had their Citibank credit card accounts shut down. Mostly this involves people who had signed up for Citibank credit cards that would earn 5 Thank You points per dollar on specific categories of spending, who then did large dollar volume purchases of gift cards and other financial instruments that could be turned back into cash. Certainly I get that this wasn’t what Citi intended in offering the card with this benefit. And I wouldn’t have a problem with them ending the promotion early, or even ending it early for specific cardholders they feel are abusing the benefit. They’re going too far, in my view, in that they seem to be (1) confiscating previously-earned points, and (2) even…
TSA Illegally Blocking Airports from Opting for Private Screeners
When the FAA was re-authorized in 2012, legislation demanded that the TSA quit bottlenecking the process for airports to opt for private screeners, the way that some like San Francisco International have already done. But according to the June Airport Policy News, the TSA is playing new games with the certification process to avoid any airports opting out of TSA screeners. Not a single new contract has been approved, and procurements that were underway have been halted with the intention of ‘starting the process over later.’ Orlando Sanford airport has an approved application allowing it to bring on private screeners, it just hasn’t been allowed to contract for them. The TSA has added a new “cost efficiency target” for which if contracts don’t hit, they won’t be awarded. Basically the TSA says they won’t let…
Club Carlson Rules for Points Transfers Between Accounts Changing TOMORROW
Club Carlson has had the most generous rules for transferring points between member accounts — no restrictions. That changes June 1. In contrast to Club Carlson’s past generosity (but still quite generous), Starwood lets members at the same residential mailing address move Starpoints between accounts. That’s useful if you want to put miles into a family member’s airline miles account (you transfer from your Starwood account to theirs, and from their Starwood account to their airline account, since the names on the Starwood account the points are coming from and the mileage account points are going to must match). Starwood has cracked down in recent times, trying to ensure that members aren’t just changing addresses to facilitate transfers. Club Carlson took no such precautions. There were no restrictions whatsoever on points transfers. You could move…
Air Canada Double Elite Qualifying Miles on Various Routes Through July 31
Air Canada is offering double elite qualifying miles with Flex, Latitude or Executive Class fares through July 31 on a variety of routes between Toronto and Montreal and Ottawa, and between Canada and 13 East Coast airports: Registration is required. Qualifying booking classes are: Flex (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T); Latitude (Y,B); Executive Class Lowest (D,Z); and Executive Class Flexible (J,C). And, no, I don’t expect US carriers to match. 🙂
