I have just tendered my resignation from Flyertalk’s member-elected TalkBoard, on which I’ve served since 2003 (and as its President since 2005). I’ve also resigned as a moderator, I’ve moderated in the MilesBuzz forum since early 2003 and as a senior moderator since the beginning of that program. I have nothing negative to say about Flyertalk. Sure, there are things that I’d do differently there, but given the role I’ve held on Flyertalk for the past several years anything that I think is wrong — whether I could have changed it or not — I have to take a certain responsibility for. After Randy Petersen its founder, and after the current Community Director, if anyone is responsible for things I have to raise my hand. (I wouldn’t take credit for any of the positives, that…
The First Award Redemption I’ve Ever Been Jealous Of — All Nippon’s New First Class “Inspiration of Japan”
I’ve never been jealous of an award that I had booked for someone else, until now. I’ve flown many of the great airline products, tasted what the best carriers have to offer. And I’ll admit it, I do crave trying new and different seats and service and food and experiencing what innovative carriers are doing. Call it blog research if you’d like, but I admit to being a terrible geek for sucj things. We all have our quirks and foibles. It’s highly likely that I redeem more miles than anyone else, I’ve reserved over 80 million miles worth of awards during the past year for folks, and I’ve put together some very nice itineraries on the very best airlines among the more pedestrian ‘family of 4 to Italy this summer’ bookings. And I rarely stop…
40% Bonus on Transfers from American Express to British Airways
I logged into my Membership Rewards account and saw the following offer this morning, when selecting British Airways I get Limited Time Offer 40% Bonus BA Miles! and mousing over reveals: You can get 40% more BA Miles from British Airways just by transferring Membership Rewards® points to your British Airways Executive Club account now through March 31, 2011. It’s restricted to ‘one bonus per cardmember’ so only your first transfer during the promotion period will earn the 40%. Choose your transfer amount wisely! Transferring 72,000 Amex points to British Airways would yield enough miles for roundtrip business class on Cathay Pacific from North America to Asia, grab a free stopover in Hong Kong and travel as far as Bali. That’s a pretty excellent deal. Things to keep in mind about British Airways, though: You…
American AAdvantage Access to British Airways Award Space Across the Atlantic Really is a Game Changer
British Airways began offering full mileage-earning to their Executive Club members, even on discounted fares. That’s huge. No more 25% mileage-earning and never quite reaching an award. A monster step forward for a European program, and one that has Flying Blue scrambling and shaking their heads. Every European discount fare traveler with a choice, not wedded to a non-stop (or not able to access one from their home airport) and not striving for elite status in a competing program really should consider British Airways Executive Club. With bmi’s Diamond Club slated to go away, BA Executive Club became in one fell swoop arguably the best frequent flyer program in Europe. Sure, there are arguments to be made for Miles & More. But their award chart is expensive and has gotten more so. This really was…
Expedia Launches New Points Program (By Invitation Only, How to Join Enclosed..)
Expedia has just launched a new rewards program that offers points for bookings made via the site. They used to partner with Citibank’s Thank You Points but ended that relationship. Now their new offering is out, it lets you earn points for bookings made on their site and of course doesn’t interfere with the points you’ll earn from the travel provider as well (provided that the travel provider offers points for bookings made via Expedia, e.g. Starwood won’t give you points for room rates booked there). Unlike the previous Thank You Points offering, you can earn points not just for ‘special rate’ hotels and hotel/air booking combos. Standalone flight bookings earn points as well, so do vacation packages except that car rentals don’t earn points unless tied to a hotel booking and cruises don’t earn…
Lotus of Siam New York Begins to Implode
The New York Times reports that the family associated with the Lotus of Siam name, which built their reputation at their Las Vegas outpost, have split from the new New York outpost. I’m only sharing this news because of my recent posts about both their Las Vegas and New York locations. The New York Lotus of Siam is a major disappointment and this piece offers some clues, perhaps, as to why. had disagreements with their partner, Roy Welland, who had owned the upscale restaurant Cru in the space where Lotus of Siam is located. She said her parents wanted the restaurant to be more homey and affordable than Mr. Welland did. But, she added, Lotus of Siam would remain open and that “nothing will change there.” …”Our reputation is at stake; as a result, we…
The Two Most Difficult Frequent Flyer Award Redemptions Out There — And How to Book Them
I find the single most difficult award to get from North America is flying to Australia and New Zealand. It used to be easy, fortunately for me, because I have family there. For the past couple of years it’s been truly the needle in a haystack exercise. Not that many years ago United offered a brief period where every flight had the full first class cabin available on points, but that was a glitch. More often than not there’ll be seats opening on United when the schedule loads, perhaps a single first class award and a couple of business seats, and those go quickly. Randomly across the schedule as time progresses more seats will open, but any given flight may be very tough to get. Expertflyer automatic searches and email alerts are very useful here.…
50,000 Miles (or More!) for a Continental Airlines Mastercard, No Fee the First Year
There’s a new all-time best offer for the Continental Airlines Mastercard, 50,000 miles after first purchase and no fee the first year. (HT: Rick.) Continental and United have merged. Next year the frequent flyer programs will be combined. So there’s no reason to wait for a better offer for the Continental card. You can usually only get the signup bonus for each Chase credit card only once, if you haven’t had a Continental Mastercard before now is certainly the time to get one because the product will cease to exist in less than a year. And of course your Continental and United mileage balances are going to be merged, so even if you’re just a United person you should consider grabbing these 50,000 miles because they’ll be added to your Mileage Plus balance down the…
80% Bonus on First-time Transfers from American Express to Delta
I recently wrote about the 30% bonus on transfers from American Express Membership Rewards to Delta Skymiles and the 50% transfer bonus that folks are eligible for if they’ve never made a transfer before. Both offers require registration. MilesQuest reports that the bonuses are stackable. If you register for both of them, and you’ve never transferred from American Express Membership Rewards to your Delta account before, you’ll earn an 80% bonus (through March 31). Plus if you transfer 50,000 points or more from American Express, you’ll earn 25,000 elite qualifying miles. Now, if it’s me I’m probably not making the transfer for an 80% bonus (which I wouldn’t be eligible for anyway, because I have made some small transfers in the past). But it’s a lot more tempting than the usual offers, for sure.
250 Free American Airlines Miles Just for Joining Best Western Rewards
Best Western is offering 250 American Airlines miles just for signing up for their frequent guest program. You need to set your “earnings preference” to American miles by April 11 to earn the free miles. (Hat tip: MilesQuest.)
