I didn’t get an email, but apparently I was targeted. They say it’s because I booked a flight with them in 2012. If you did as well, perhaps you were targeted as well. When you go to the ‘buy miles’ link you are asked to enter your name and account number. Then if you are targeted you will see the details on the bonus. (If you haven’t been targeted, the offer just appears ‘as usual’ at 3.5 cents per mile plus tax and transaction fee.) As usual, accounts must be 12 days old or older in order to buy miles and the maximum number of miles eligible for the bonus is 50,000 (meaning you can buy 50,000 miles and receive 50,000 bonus miles – for a total of 100,000). Oddly, the offer is listed as…
Saving Money on Foreign Currency Transactions
On Friday, NotiFlyer highlighted an offer from EZForex of free shipping on foreign currency orders of $500 or more with promo code AAfxKickoff (a savings of $14.50). Ordering foreign currency online is never the cheapest way to get it. You’ll always do better using your ATM card on arrival in the country you’re traveling to. That way you will get a bank’s foreign currency conversion rate. Ideally you would even have an ATM card from a bank that doesn’t charge you to use ‘out-of-network’ ATMs. I use BankDirect, the checking account that awards you American Airlines miles for your average balance each month. (I get 100 miles for every $1000 average balance, and there’s a $12 per month fee for the account that isn’t waived). They not only don’t charge a fee to use ATMs…
Giveaway Contest: (2) $250 Fairfield Inn Gift Cards
Marriott’s Fairfield Inn & Suites offered up (2) $250 gift cards to give away to my readers in celebration of their Silver September national vacation giveaway. Fairfield Inn & Suites is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with its national Silver September giveaway, awarding 25 lucky guests with an all-expense paid weekend getaway to one of four premium Fairfield Inn & Suites destinations across the United States. From September 1-25, Fairfield Inn & Suites guests in the United States and Canada* will receive Silver September envelopes upon check-in – 25 of which will contain winning silver tickets. So if you win the blog contest, and you use your gift cards on a stay by September 25, you could leverage that into another free stay. (And if you use the gift cards by October 31 you…
Using US Airways Mileage Multiplier to Buy Miles at 1.2 Cents Apiece
On Thursday Brian Kelly wrote about using the US Airways mileage multiplier to buy US Airways miles at a deep, deep discount. When you buy a ticket at USAirways.com you are offered the opportunity to buy additional miles — double or triple what you would earn for the flight you are buying. The price of the miles is not calculated per-mile but based on ranges of miles. The sweet spot is staying just under 25,000 miles earned from a flight. (The mileage is calculated to include class of service bonuses and also elite status bonuses.) Brian recommends as an example San Francisco – Philadelphia – Tel Aviv in business class as a non-elite in the US Airways program for 24,836 miles including 50% class of service bonus. A US Airways Gold elite would earn the…
Saving Money When Cancelling an Award Ticket and Redepositing Miles
Points, Miles, and Martinis says that instead of paying $150 to cancel and redeposit miles on an award ticket you don’t plan to take, you can change an award ticket to the least expensive mileage redemption you can find and then be out miles instead of money. Since I have no United elite status, I’ll incur a fee to get the 280,000 United miles redeposited back into my account. Instead, my plan is to change my ticket to an award that requires fewer miles, like a 5,000 mile Hawaii intra-island award. Apparently United will refund the difference in both miles and taxes paid. So if all goes as planned, I’ll receive about 270,000 United miles and about $200 back in taxes and fees. But I haven’t tried this approach yet so I can’t say for…
American in Talks with US Airways, British Airways, and Hedge Funds About its Post-Bankruptcy Future
There have been lots of developments in the American Airlines bankruptcy. American wrapped up labor contracts with all of its groups except the pilots, their original request to the bankruptcy court to impose new terms on its pilots was rejected but only due to two defects and the court invited American to re-submit. American will soon have its planned labor cost savings in place, and the airline posted a $135 million profit in July. The expectations have been flying for a long time that US Airways would acquire American, largely because US Airways CEO Doug Parker wants to own a bigger airline so badly and makes no secret of it. His merger with United was reportedly scuttled the first time when he wasn’t going to get to run the combined carrier. His second attempt was…
Amazing Alaska Airlines First Class to Hawaii for Under $350 Deal Ends 8pm This Evening
Online Travel Review has played point on the amazing deal of purchasing Icelandair miles and redeeming those miles for first class awards on Alaska Airlines anywhere in the US and Canada including Hawaii and Alaska — for under $350 per ticket. Now Jared reports that Icelandair is finally pulling the deal — that at 8pm Eastern this evening they will be pulling Alaska Airlines redemptions. Their Alaska partnership continues, so presumably redemptions will return, but one imagines that those redemptions will be at a much higher mileage rate. The deal was a combination of the weak Icelandic Krona, a 20% mileage purchase bonus (which runs into September, but which isn’t necessary to have made this a good deal), and inexpensive redemption pricing on Alaska Airlines flights. From the beginning I had recommended finding Alaska Airlines…
Final Weekend for Starwood American Express 30,000 Point Bonus
The Starwood American Express 30,000 point signup offer is scheduled to be pulled on September 4th. 10,000 bonus points after first purchase 20,000 more points after $5000 in spend within 6 months No fee the first year ($65 thereafter, which is lower than most airline co-branded cards I’ve been using this card as a consistent go-to for over a decade, it was the one I recommended most back in 2002 when I started this blog and Starwood points remain the most valuable currency to this day — whether for redeeming on hotel stays (and their cash and points awards really stretch points to get the most out of them) or transferring to airline miles with the largest array of frequent flyer program partners. It’s a great offer, when I got the card I did not…
3000/5000 American Miles for an Avis Rental Extended
Last month I wrote about one of the stronger rental car bonuses I’ve seen: Through August 31, you can earn 3000 American miles on a 1-day rental or 5000 miles on a 3-day rental with Avis. Use coupon code MUAA035 and provide your American Airlines frequent flyer number with the reservation. A 1-day rental with Budget earns 1000 miles and a 3-day Budget rental yields 3000 miles. Use coupon code MUAZ025 along with your American AAdvantage account when making the reservation. Based on my experience with past offers of this sort, you do not need to use thediscount codes that go along with this offer, which may or may not provide a decent rental rate, in order to earn the miles. Rentals must be from participating airport locations in the U.S. or Canada, andbegin by August 31 in order to be eligible.…
Keeping Up With Work While on Vacation
Conde Nast has a piece on how to work productively while still making the most of your vacation. Chaney Kwak interviewed folks like Wendy Perrin, Joe Brancatelli, and IT executives with involvement in the travel industry. I was also interviewed, and here was my take: Some hotel rooms lack power outlets. I always bring a compact power strip so I can recharge all of my devices at once. An air card or MiFi device is indispensable so I can even work in cabs. I actually love staying caught up with work while I’m away because if I don’t, all of the relaxation I’ve accomplished is immediately wiped away by the deluge I receive when I come back. I especially love traveling to Asia. Thanks to a 12-hour time difference, very little is happening the entire…
