Book by tomorrow with promo code JetOct08 and received $30 off travel through December 15 (with Thanksgiving travel blacked out for the promotion). (Hat tip to Channel 9.)
Star Alliance Status Match Options for Alitalia Elites
Status match programs are exceedingly common in the U.S. but extend to very few programs elsewhere. British Midland is known to regularly offer complimentary status based on elite levels in other programs. British Airways will offer status matches as part of corporate contracts. And at least a few years ago Mexicana offered status matches as well. But beyond that, they’re almost unheard of. Although occasionally there will be a Star Alliance-wide offering, sometimes tied to distress of a competitor carrier or losing a member airline (e.g. Varig). Through December 15 there’s an offer for Alitalia elites to comp on over to the Star Alliance member of their choice. Only this time not every Star carrier is participating, notably absent are Lufthansa and Singapore. But Alitalia elites can receive status on Asiana, Thai, Air New Zealand,…
The Krona’s Collapse, for Fun and Profit
Tyler Cowen wonders if he should travel to Iceland to benefit from the collapse of their currency. Icelandair is running some amazing airfare deals. There’s a whole group of folks trying to figure out how to take advantage of Round-the-World airline tickets departing from Iceland (and thus priced in local currency, which means about a 55% discount on flights relative to bookings out of Stockholm). But best anyone has been able to figure, airline tickets are all being issued in hard currency with the ‘old’ exchange rate. Ciredt card companies are using old rates on purchases. While banks will only buy – to the extent they’ll buy – Kroner at the ‘new’ rates, they’ll only sell at the old. Some great deals should be able to be had provided you get yourself to Iceland, bring…
Travelocity Hotel Discount Codes
This Flyertalk thread highlights current Travelocity promotion codes for two, three, and four night hotel stays (you can of course make separate bookings to capitalize on extra savings, e.g. a six night stay could be a 4- and 2- night stay to use both the $100 and $50 coupons): AMAZING50 Save $50 when you book a two-night hotel booking or flight + hotel Package (minmum spend $250) and travel between October 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008. AMAZING75 Save $75 when you book a three-night hotel booking or flight + hotel Package (minmum spend $400) and travel betweenOctober 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008. AMAZING100 Save $100 when you book a four-night hotel booking or flight + hotel Package (minimum spend $500) and travel between October 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008.
Three New Morning Deals
Frugal Travel Guy has three new deals worth nothing this morning — the first I saw on Flyertalk yesterday and the other two were in my email box this morning, but Rick beat me to the punch! AirMilesMart has added Starbucks as a merchant, go through their site to reload your Starbucks card and you’ll earn three points per dollar spent which can be transferred 1:1 into Starwood points. New American Airlines Rewards Network Dining Members can earn 1500 points for a qualified dine of $25 or more by November 30th. If you’re already a dining member with another program, you can still sign up for an American dining account using a new credit card. American is one of the programs frequently offering the best bonuses as well. Restaurant.com $25 certificates are 80% off through…
The New Qantas A380 First Class Seat Reviewed
The Global Traveller takes a promotional flight of Qantas’ new Airbus A380 and comes away impressed by their first class seat. It’s not the incredible over-the-top offering of Sinagpore’s new enclosed suites. And no showers a la Emirates. But he comes away impressed, arguing that it puts Qantas into the top tier of first class seats. As for me, I’m jealous, I haven’t yet set foot onboard an A380 — even in business.
He Leveraged His Lounge Membership a Whole Lot Better Than I Ever Did
(or maybe he was just a British Midland gold member?) The New York Times covers a federal govenrment procurement scandal and centers the narrative around the perpetrators activities in the US Airways lounge at National airport. They huddled in a quiet corner at the US Airways lounge at Ronald Reagan National Airport, sipping bottomless cups of coffee as they plotted to turn America’s missile defense program into a personal cash machine…. He set up a makeshift office in the US Airways lounge at Reagan National Airport, where he followed up on pitches for money to lawmakers and hid out from his Defense Department bosses. He identified lobbyists who could prove useful and contractors — many of them campaign donors — with projects that needed nurturing…. From the US Airways club, Mr. Cantrell could see the…
American Airlines to Start Charging for Status Challenges
As lucky notes, JonNYC — who is usually right about these things — posts over at TravelingBetter.com that American Airlines is going to start charging for their status challenges (accelerated periods in which it takes fewer miles to qualify for elite status). The price is expected to be $80 to sign up for a Gold challenge and $150 for a Platinum challenge. American Airlines challenges are explained on this old site by Flyertalk member FewMiles. In a nutshell, it’s the “back door to elite status”. Basically, you sign up for the Gold or Platinum Challenge under the premise that you can demonstrate a quantity of qualifying flight activity within a limited time period that justifies your request for fast-tracked elite status. Further details on the above-mentioned site. Me, I’m not an American Airlines flyer, really…
ANA Unique Value Partner Awards
One Mile at a Time points to some interesting redemption offers from ANA, which are especially useful as ANA is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner. In addition to special awards discussed in the past on this blog and on lucky’s, like Virgin Atlantic Upper Class New York – London for 63,000 miles, this entry points out: New York-JFK or Washington-Dulles to Doha on Qatar in business class for 90,000 miles. New York-JFK or Newark to Brussels on Jet Airways in business class for 68,000 miles (or onward to Dehli for 105,000 miles). ANA does impose taxes and fees greater than US-based carriers, to be sure. And their phone agents aren’t always the best to work with. But they do have some unique partnerships and their distance-based award chart can be a blessing on…
Virgin America Launches Co-Branded Visa
Last week I outlined Virgin America’s award redemption offerings and noted that a co-branded credit card was on the way. Now details of that credit card are here. The card is a Visa Signature co-branded with Barclays bank, the same issuer as the US Airways Mastercard and comes with: 3,500 bonus points with first purchase. Apparently the ‘usual’ offer is intended as 2,500 bonus points, as the 3,500 offer includes 1,000 for ‘pre-registering’ on the credit card’s website. The card comes with a free one-way flight after first purchase, with details described as: [A]pply by November 30, 2008, and use the card to make a purchase by January 31, 2009. Travel must be completed by May 20, 2009. No annual fee. According to a PRNewswire release, additional details include: The card launches October 23rd. One…
