American to Miami in First, then Business Class to Sao Paulo Gol Smiles VIP Lounge and Domestic Service to Foz de Iguassu Sheraton Iguazú Falls Resort & Spa The Wonder of the Falls Gol Domestic Back to Sao Paulo and the Admiral’s Club Sao Paulo American’s Business Class to Miami and on to DC After about 5 hours in the lounge it was finally time to leave Brazil. We headed downstairs and on to our gate at the end of Wing D, and it simply reinforced the notion that there’s not much to do, see, or eat in the terminal. One of the interesting things about the walk is that the international and domestic gates are separated by a glass wall most of the walk to the end of the pier. We arrived at the…
Will US Airways Be Next to Offer a Revenue-Based Frequent Flyer Program?
Delta has been rumored to be on the verge of converting to a revenue-based frequent flyer program. I heard quite a bit after the story broke that Delta folks were apoplectic at the leak, that there was a lockdown, but like many such things the hordes subsided and the rumor mill has been mostly quiet. My hunch has been that after the leak their executives took better care of their documents and were more careful holding their tongues, rather than that the airline had abandoned its plans. While any move towards a revenue-based program might cause some to immediately think of United’s CFO commenting that some of their members are over-entitled, this airline after all seriously considered minimum revenue thresholds for its elite tiers, my thoughts went elsewhere: the summer 2002 move by US Airways…
May 31 is Last Day for 50% Transfer Bonus from American Express to British Airways
The 50% bonus on transfers from American Express Membership Rewards that I detailed in March expires May 31. If there’s a specific award you’re considering, and you’re wondering how many points it will cost you, Wandering Aramean has a useful tool to estimate the cost. (It’s sad that such a tool is needed to help decipher the new Avios scheme.) In general the Avios program is great for short-haul non-stop redemptions, and extortionate for long-haul connecting awards. Though of course a 50% bonus on transfers helps dull the pain. British Airways Avios fuel surcharges can be painful, they charge the same costs that would be billed on a paid ticket, and that can often be close to the price of an economy ticket. Though there are some routes (like US domestic, US-South America) that don’t…
Best Western and Marriott Free Night Summer Promotions
LoyaltyLobby says that Best Western is bringing a free night offer for their summer promotion — stay 3 times between June 17th and August 19th and earn a free night certificate valid through January 31st, 2013. You’ll have to register for the promotion prior to the stays, and registration isn’t live yet. The offer is limited to one free night per member, and while ‘use by January 31’ is a reasonably long period compared to some similar offers, it’s still less than six months from the end of the promotion period. But at least it’s valid for any Best Western, worldwide which is valuable. Marriott’s summer bonus is a version of their usual ‘MegaBonus’ this time offering a free night every two stays, up to 3 free nights (though some members have slightly different offers).…
Could Free Hilton HHonors Gold STILL Be Working??
Here’s the offer, targeted at Visa Infinite cardholders, and it’s been around in one form or another since December. They keep tweaking the website, from no longer accepting the first four digits of Russian Visa Infinite cards to later requiring a full sixteen digits of the card number in order to unlock the form (and validating that the numbers entered could be an actual card, though not verifying the account entered itself). Each time they’ve tweaked the form, enterprising commenters have shared their experiences here. Matt in the comments of my March post writes: Hello all. Just wanted to confirm that as of 9:52PM ET on 05/28/12 this is still working. Here’s what I did. First logged into my Hilton Honors account and changed my country to Australia and my Province/State to AP. I then…
300 Free La Quinta Returns Points
Just Another Points Traveler says that the La Quinta Returns free 300 points offer from March (filling out a form as a thank you for reading their newsletter) is back and you can earn it again even if you got the 300 points a couple months ago. And if you actually want to stay at La Quinta, Visa offers 10% off through June 30.
TSA Pre-Employment Screening
A former Catholic priest removed over child sex abuse charges is now… a TSA supervisor in Philadelphia. As they say, a few bad apples who in no way undermine the hard work that thousands of men and women at the TSA do to keep us safe, day in and day out.
Weekend at the Falls: American Business Class, Gol Domestic, and the Sheraton Iguazú Resort: Gol Domestic Back to Sao Paulo and the Admiral’s Club Sao Paulo
American to Miami in First, then Business Class to Sao Paulo Gol Smiles VIP Lounge and Domestic Service to Foz de Iguassu Sheraton Iguazú Falls Resort & Spa The Wonder of the Falls Gol Domestic Back to Sao Paulo and the Admiral’s Club Sao Paulo American’s Business Class to Miami and on to DC Checkout from the hotel was smooth, I did need to stop by the desk though to have them remove internet charges from the bill that was slipped under my door (as they told me I would need to do when I checked in). I had inquired earlier about getting a cab from the hotel back to the airport on the Brazilian side, and was told it wouldn’t be a problem and that no advance reservation was needed, there’s a waiting queue…
Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles Added as American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partner
Lucky writes this morning about Cathay Pacific’s AsiaMiles being added as a transfer partner in the U.S. American Express Membership Rewards program. He does a big ‘meh’ arguing that since you can claim the same flights through Amex transfer partner British Airways Avios as you can through AsiaMiles, there’s not much to get excited about. As it stands you can redeem British Airways Avios points for travel on Cathay Pacific (or any other OneWorld partner), and while their award chart isn’t especially lucrative for longhaul flights, Membership Rewards is offering a 50% transfer bonus for British Airways through May 31. Still, even without the bonus their award chart is still more lucrative than Asia Miles’ in most instances. I think he’s missing the boat here, AsiaMiles is a great addition to the Membership Rewards program.…
Weekend at the Falls: American Business Class, Gol Domestic, and the Sheraton Iguazú Resort: The Wonder of the Falls
Iguazu Falls: American to Miami in First, then Business Class to Sao Paulo Gol Smiles VIP Lounge and Domestic Service to Foz de Iguassu Sheraton Iguazú Falls Resort & Spa The Wonder of the Falls Gol Domestic Back to Sao Paulo and the Admiral’s Club Sao Paulo American’s Business Class to Miami and on to DC The really stunning thing about the Sheraton isn’t the views per se, it’s that you’re already inside the park. You can arrive in the afternoon, drop off your stuff in your room, and pop over to the Falls. You’re literally 15 – 20 minutes’ walking from your hotel room door to some of the most impressive sights you’re likely to come upon, anywhere. From the hotel there’s easy access to an upper trail that will take less than an…
