As an alternative to earning a 100% bonus on purchased miles, US Airways also has an offer of 1000 elite qualifying miles for every 10,000 redeemable miles purchased, up to 5000 elite qualifying miles. The 100% bonus on redeemable miles is the more lucrative option, unless you know you will be a specific number of qualifying miles short of the next elite status level. (HT: Lucky.) Airtran is offering $12 discounts. Book by September 30 for travel through December 16. (HT: Frugal Travel Guy) Starwood’s fourth quarter promotion will be double points if you stay 9 nights during the promo period and triple points if you stay 10 or more nights, the bonus you earn will apply to all of your nights between September 8 and December 15. Registration will begin for the promo on…
US Airways Brings Back Up to 100% Bonus on Purchased Miles
US Airways has brought back a bonus on purchased or gifted miles, after only a little more than two weeks. And as last time the bonus is only on purchases for yourself or purchases to gift to others — not on transfers of miles between accounts. The bonus runs through September 15, and this time though it’s not a straight 100% bonus. Rather, it’s a tiered bonus from 25% to 100% depending on the number of miles you buy. 1,000 – 9,000 miles – 25% Bonus 10,000 – 24,000 miles – 50% Bonus 25,000 – 39,000 miles – 75% Bonus 40,000 – 50,000 miles – 100% Bonus And 50,000 bonus miles is the most that can be earned from the promotion, except that the gift miles offer is stackable with the 25% bonus running all…
100 Free Priority Club Points
This three question quiz will award 100 Priority Club points instantly. (Well, ok, it’s five questions including your Priority Club account number and last name…) The answers are 15, All of the Above, and Silver. (HT: The Gate)
200 Free Marriott Rewards Points
Hat tip to bhatnasx on Flyertalk, you’ll receive 200 free Marriott Rewards points if you become a fan of the Fairfield Inn Las Vegas Airport on their Facebook page by August 31st and send an email to fairfieldinnrewards@hotmail.com with your Facebook Name and Marriott Rewards number. They promise points to be credited in 4-6 weeks.
Hooters Opens in Frankfurt Airport
Via Online Travel Review, Hooters has opened at Frankfurt airport. They’re promoting it as “international, multicultural gastronomy” and you can find it “located in Terminal 1 on Level 0 (Area C) above the Regional Train Station.” Offerings are the typical Hooters American fare of burgers and wings, plus beer and Apfelwein. The restaurant features a “Biergarten for up to 70 guests.” I wonder, though, can this possibly be true? Hooters Frankfurt Airport will cater to passengers, the general public as well as the more than 70,000 staff working at Frankfurt Airport. (Emphasis mine.) Their Facebook page hasn’t been updated, it still says “coming soon.” And @HootersFRAir hasn’t even tweeted the opening. Nonetheless, the press release claims the restaurant opened on August 11. I won’t be verifying this personally, my next trip through Frankfurt I’ll be…
The Most Important Post on Flyertalk I Read This Week: Using Delta Miles for Business Class to Australia
I can’t seem to recall whether I’ve posted about this before on the blog or on Flyertalk, but award availability between the US and Australia in business class on V Australia is really quite good. In my experience the toughest two awards in all of frequent flyer-dom are North America-Australia and North America-Tahiti. In the latter case, the constraint is simply not a lot of flights and seats. Air Tahiti Nui, a Delta and American partner, offers decent availability but often only just a single business and first class seat per flight. They used to offer two first class seats on each flight, which is how I flew them as part of my honeymoon. But beyond Air Tahiti Nui you’re looking at non-daily Air France service from Los Angeles, and in the summer months it…
Southwest Double Credits To and From the Boston Area
Southwest has jumped on the destination-specific double elite qualifying promotion bandwagon, with double credits for flights to and from Boston, Manchester, or Providence. Book by September 15 for travel through October 31. Registration required. (Via @upgradetravel.)
The Best Piece of Advice in Travel: Hang Up, Call Back
Many of y’all know this, but it’s helpful to be reminded occasionally. Never argue with an agent. Never tell them how much more you know about ticketing than they do. Always thank them for being so helpful. Even when they’re not. Instead, when you discover you’re working with an agent who doesn’t know what they’re doing, just hang up politely and call back. And I do mean hang up politely, or at least as politely as you can. Perhaps you have another call, or someone is in your doorway, thnak them for their time but emphasize that you have to go and will need to call back. It’s always better to try again with the next agent than it is to try to educate an agent. Now, occasionally there are genuinely helpful agents who don’t…
Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic Offer Reciprocal Mileage Earning
Via Wandering Aramean, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America have announced a frequent flyer tie-in. You can now earn miles in Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club when flying Virgin America, or in Virgin America’s Elevate when flying Virgin Atlantic. But the earn rates are really bad. Virgin’s Flying Club earning is as follows: Main Cabin* – 50% of miles flown Main Cabin Refundable* – 100% of miles flown Main Cabin Select Instant Upgrade* – 100% of miles flown Main Cabin Select* – 100% of miles flown First Class* – 150% of miles flown Only main cabin refundable and main cabin select offer 100% mileage earning. Lower fares earn 50% of mileage flown. Not that you’d want to, but crediting Virgin Atlantic flights to Virgin America’s Elevate program offers pathetic earn rates. The cheapest fares only earn at…
Free Night Every 3 Stays at Aloft and Element
Registration is required. Every three stays through September 30 earns a free night valid December 19. On the one hand, Starwood’s limiting the offer to two brands annoys somewhat, but presumably there will be a separate offer coming chain-wide shortly. And the earning period for these is fairly short. But it’s nice to see Starwood giving away free nights, and not just free weekend nights. Maybe they’ll learn from Hyatt yet! (Hat tip TM Travel World.)
