It’s been the subject of speculation over on Milepoint, and I’ve just had two different people confirm it for me: expect an announcement on October 1 that award stays and nights (including cash and points awards) will count towards elite status in the Starwood Preferred Guest program. We’ll wait until October to see whether this actually goes into effect, but there’s strong indication that it will. Since January 1, 2003 this has been the case with Hilton HHonors but the other major chains didn’t follow suit. It looks likely that Starwood will be the second. Last October, Starwood began awarding both two stays and five nights to American Express cardholder accounts (no spend threshold required). Folks who have both the personal and small business card get four stays and ten nights. Now heavy spending American…
Hilton Free Night Every Four Stays in the Fourth Quarter
Hilton is bringing back “Fast Ways to Free Stays” for the fourth quarter. Between October 1 and December 31, every 4 stays or 10 nights earns a free night — or you can choose double base points after 4 stays or 10 nights. There’s no limit to the number of free nights you can earn, but free nights will need to be redeemed within 6 months from being earned. Registration is required and you have to choose at registration which offer you want, you cannot change later. There’s a long list of excluded rates which are mostly third party rates (like Orbitz, Expedia, Booking.com) though not exclusively so. And there’s a long list of excluded hotels which won’t earn credit in the promotion, from the Homewood Suites in Clovis, California to the Grand Hilton in…
Purchase Unlimited Delta Miles for 1.7 Cents Apiece (+tax) Through November 30
Via Online Travel Review anyone can sign up for the Delta incentives program where you buy miles to give out to customers or others as incentives for doing business with you. There’s a $75 setup fee, and then anyone can participate. The straight-up purchase price is 2.2 cents per mile with a 60,000 mile minimum purchase. That’s far less than the normal consumer price of 3.5 cents per mile. Through September 30 there’s a 100% bonus on purchased miles which brings that cost down in half (to 1.75 cents, but of course there’s also 7.5% tax on top). Turns out that the Delta incentives program has a bonus going on too, through November 30th. Purchase 60,000 – 149,999 miles, receive a 10% bonus Purchase 150,000 – 249,999 miles, receive a 20% bonus Purchase 250,000 or…
Live Online Chat with Southwest Rapid Rewards
Southwest is the next in the series of live chats on Milepoint. Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 20 at 9:00pm Eastern. We are pleased to announce another of our “A Conversation with …” live chat series event, featuring one of the most prominent leaders in the travel industry. Join us and our special guest Jonathan Clarkson, Director of the Rapid Rewards Loyalty Program (and soon integration of AirTran A+ Rewards), on October 20 at 7:00 p.m. MDT for the live milepoint chat event. You can ask questions online during the chat or pre-submit there here. And you can sign up for a reminder on the event page. Meanwhile, via Million Mile Secrets, you can get 500 Southwest Rapid Rewards points by signing up for their two e-mail newsletters and remaining subscribed for three months.
100 Free American Airlines Miles for Watching their New TV Commercial on Facebook
Via One Mile at a Time, American Airlines is giving away 100 free miles for ‘liking’ their Facebook page, watching their new commercial, and answering three questions about it: Name the size, color and type of animal mentioned in this commercial. What sounds seem out-of-place in the living room? How is the Mom actually communicating with her daughter? As Ben writes, You just have to answer three simple questions about the big, green frog, how the captain makes an announcement in the lady’s living room, and how they’re communicating via IM. You don’t enter your American Airlines number into the form, presumably you’ll get a followup message later for the miles.
How US Airport Security is Seen in Other Parts of the World
You don’t need to speak Japanese to ‘get’ what they think is really going on. (HT: Alan H.)
United’s 2012 Mileage Plus Changes Announced, Some Bad News But Not as Bad as Expected
Scott O’Leary announced details of the new United Mileage Plus program for 2012 this morning on Milepoint. Here are the key changes, which aren’t as bad as feared but which have a couple of real key negatives from my perspective. United will go to a 4-tier elite program as expected — 25,000 miles, 50,000 miles, 75,000 miles, and 100,000 miles (plus Global Services). They will begin requiring a minimum of 4 United, Continental, or COPA flights to earn status, so both people that are earning United status from Air Canada or bmi flights alone will no longer be able to do so. They are not introducing a minimum revenue component to elite status qualification, as had been speculated. Reduced elite bonuses. Elites flying 50,000 – 99,999 miles per year will receive less than their current…
New Priority Club Point Breaks List is Out
That’s the discounted redemptions of just 5000 points per night (which can be savvily purchased for $30). Sadly the only Intercontinental properties on the list are Dallas, Malta, Bahrain, and Santo Domingo. Get ’em while they’re hot if your plans coincide. (HT: Rene d.)
Hyatt Regency Baltimore, Perfectly Serviceable
I usually don’t blog my average domestic stays, or even my average international ones, but when I snap a few photos and since I write more for myself than my readers much of the time (sorry!) sometimes I feel like it’s worth posting only to remind myself. I admit, I frequently search my own blog for links and offers. That’s one of the reasons I started the blog way back in 2002, as a way of memorializing the things I had learned about travel so that I could refer back to them later. So here I am, writing about of all things the Hyatt Regency Baltimore. This was my first US Airways hit, as I mentioned yesterday. The one-night stay would have earned less than 1000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, so I wasn’t really giving…
Chicago Frequent Flyer Seminar Over 80% Full
The event begins the evening of Friday, October 28 with some optional events, is in full swing on Saturday the 29th, and wraps up Sunday afternoon. Last year sold out. Over 400 people have registered, there are fewer than 100 spots left. Speakers include Lucky a.k.a. Ben from One Mile at a Time, Brian a.k.a The Points Guy from.. The Points Guy, Rick a.k.a. ingy the Frugal Travel Guy, plus beaubo — the guy who once hired Thai rice farmers to mileage run in the Golden Triangle — and Randy Petersen, the famous Pudding Guy and also United’s Captain Denny Flanagan. My talk on booking frequent flyer awards is completely full. Discussion and full details on the event can be found here. And here’s the page to register. If you can make it to Chicago…
