Since the Los Angeles Times covered Citibank’s practice of sending out 1099s to customers who earned points for opening bank accounts, there’s been a lot of interest in the issue. Taxation of frequent flyer miles has always been a hut button issue. Now the LA Times has done a followup story in which they get the IRS on the record saying that Citibank’s position is a reasonable interpretation of law, and much handwringing has ensued — quite a bit of it overwrought. Wandering Aramean, for instance, titles his post on the subject, “The IRS moves to hit frequent flier miles” and says “it is readily apparent that the IRS sees some miles as taxable and not at a particularly favorable rate.” Except that’s not what the IRS has said, and they certainly haven’t commented about…
Hyatt Winter Promo Registration Now Open
Hyatt’s Winter promo which awards progressively more bonus points for incremental nights through April 30th is now open for registration. For every 4 nights between February 1 and April 30, members earn additional points and Hyatt Visa also earn an extra 25% bonus on top. Registration required by March 31. 4 nights earns 4000 points (+1000 for Hyatt Visa cardholders) 8 nights earns an additional 8000 points (+2000 for Hyatt Visa cardholders) 12 nights earns an additional 12,000 points (+3000 for Hyatt Visa cardholders) 16 nights earns an additional 20,000 points (+5000 for Hyatt Visa cardholders) Members staying 16 nights during the three months of the promotion, who also have a Hyatt Visa, will earn 55,000 bonus points in addition to their regular earning. This is my favorite current promotion in the market. Even if…
A Whole Suite of Starwood Preferred Guest Benefit Improvements Rolling Out March 1
Starwood Elite Status Improvements: This morning Starwood is announcing a bunch of new benefits to go into effect March 1, and they’re pretty much across-the-board positive: Checkin amenity for Gold members Free breakfast option for Platinums Upgrade priority 10 nights a year for Platinums who stay 50 nights or more Additional benefits for staying 75 and 100 nights — check-in any time you wish, more bonus points for in hotel spend, and access to a dedicated Starwood team member to handle your hotel needs. For a long time I’ve been saying that Starwood was an innovator, that other chains have caught up, and that they needed to up their game. That I had confidence they would. And I kept waiting. And waiting. They’ve now rolled out a suite of new benefits. Starwood pioneered no capacity…
The Final Blogstorm: The Rest of the Oneworld MegaDO
Three Presidents of AAdvantage Connect with Their Customers Our 12 Hours at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue Weren’t Packed with Sleep If it Ain’t Boeing, We Ain’t Going (Hint: We Went) SEA-lAX: The Ultimate Charter Flight Raffle Time People Magazine! Roaming through a Qantas A380 and a Cathay Pacific 777 at the Flight Path Museum American Airlines LAX Flagship Checkin
American’s New 777-300 Revealed
As I posted on the MegaDO blog, we got a sneak preview today of the new cabins and services that American is rolling out, especially on their 777-300. Here’s the new aircraft entrance The first class seat The business class, especially, is a huge leap forward Right now I believe the biggest investment that American needs to make in its onboard product is in its business class, they need fully flat seats but here they go a step farther offering a flat bed product which offers plenty of personal space. Coach gets an update as well (though of course remains… coach) There’ll be a premium economy section, though I don’t have a slide of those. We were told they ‘wanted to’ (hah) but will not be installing this in the 773s. We also got a summary…
250 Free Starwood Points for Westin Charlotte e-Newsletter Signup
Via One Mile at a Time, the Westin Charlotte’s Facebook Page is giving away 250 Starwood points for signing up for their Insiders eClub newsletter by February 1. Of course the offer could get pulled earlier. And the signup page doesn’t ask for your Starwood Preferred Guest number, one has to guess they’ll email you for it later (I hope!). But it’s quick free points, if they post of course..
Oneworld MegaDO Blogstorm!
The Full Boeing Customer Experience Center Experience The President of AAdvantage Responds to a Frequent Flyer Emergency American’s New Premium Transcon and International Business Class Meal Service MegaDO Charter Takes off Dallas – Seattle Touring American, Flight Simulators, and a Water Evacuation Sneak Preview of American’s 777-300 Onboard Product Meeting American Execs at the C.R. Smith Museum Big Hyatt News at the MegaDO Dallas Opening Reception Some Serious Food and Drink in Dallas Checking in for the MegaDO at the Hyatt Regency DFW The MegaDO Flight Gets Cancelled. Best. Thing. Ever. American’s Premium Service JFK – London The Flight Over and Heathrow Arrival The First Flight of the oneworld MegaDO takes off for London The Chariot to London Awaits Getting to Know JFK Terminal 8 and Finnair Opening Reception at JFK A Five Star Checkin…
Hyatt’s Winter Promotion Revealed at oneworld MegaDO Opening Reception
Over on the oneworld MegaDO blog, I posted about last night’s opening reception at the Hyatt Regency DFW. Jeff Zidell, who runs the Gold Passport program, gave a great talk with trivia and prizes.. and dropped some advance news. Their winter promo details. He also broke the news about their first quarter promotion which offers up to 55,000 bonus points, more than enough points for 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris or Park Hyatt Maldives (with 11,000 points to spare). We started off guessing Charlie Sheen’s favorite promo… #Winning And then the new promo was revealed! For every 4 nights between February 1 and April 30, members will earn progressively more bonus points and Hyatt Visa cardholders will earn an extra 25% bonus on top. Registration for the promo is required by…
Do You Have to Pay Taxes on Your Frequent Flyer Miles?
Several readers have sent me a Los Angeles Times piece about Citibank’s reporting of mileage signup bonuses for bank (not credit card accounts) beings reported to the IRS on 1099 forms. I’ve written about this sisue several times in the past, and I have a new post up on Conde Nast‘s Daily Traveler. I make the point that just because something is reported to the IRS doesn’t mean you have to agree that it is taxable or agree with the valuation of the entity sending you that tax form. The IRS has said in the past that not paying taxes on miles wouldn’t generate an enforcement action, and I argue that the value of the miles is likely lower than that being reported by Citi. In the Daily Traveler post, I share how to dispute…
Best Deals Around the Blogs for January 24, 2012
One Mile at a Time tells you how to get a 20% off coupon code for Virgin America. Mommy Points has a roundtip of the best mileage offers for flower purchases, it’s almost Valentine’s Day fellas! And there’s 40 Delta miles per dollar from 1-800-Flowers and 30 United miles per dollar with FTD. At 40 miles per dollar you’re basically buying miles and getting flowers for free (though delivery charges don’t earn miles, so the deal isn’t ever quite as good on a straight mileage purchase as it initially seems, but it’s still a good deal since you do also get flowers…). Yesterday Frugal Travel Guy pointed out that JetSetter is offering some deep discounts on the Peninsula New York. I actually emailed Lucky from the One Mile at a Time blog on Sunday saying…
