I previously wrote about the Capital One 100,000 point matching bonus signup offer and then followed up with more information on eligibility for getting two cards. Capital One was willing to match points that you had in US airline frequent flyer accounts — up to 100,000 — as a signup bonus for getting a new Venture card (or small business Venture card), in addition to their usual 10,000 point signup offer. The catch was that they were ‘capping’ the offer at 1 billion miles. That sounds like a big number, but if each of the first ten thousand card applicants grabbed 100,000 miles apiece that would be it. And they were heavily promoting the card and offer with a television commercial featuring Alec Baldwin. They promised the offer would run through mid-May or when the…
Possible United/Continental Second Quarter Promotion? Each Roundtrip Earns Bonuses, up to 20,000 Bonus Miles for Three Roundtrips
Update: This does turn out to be targeted, I haven’t heard of any 1Ks that were able to register, perhaps some less-engaged Premier Executives have gotten an alternate offer as noted in the comments. I do like, at least, that folks are getting an error when they aren’t eligible — in the past United promotions would make it appear as though you had registered, you just don’t get the credit. And once you do register, of course, you can now check your pomotions page to see what you’re actually successfully registered for. A reader just forwarded me and email, which doesn’t mention this offer as targeted. The terms and conditions of the offer do say that it’s valid only for recipients of the mailing. But it’s a fairly detailed termss and conditions page, not just…
5000 Free Spirit Air Miles
Via Deals We Like, Spirit is giving away 5000 free miles to promote their bus tour (at which participants who show up will all get an additional 5000 miles). Though they want a zip code and a city which corresponds to one of their tour stops, the terms and conditions (.pdf) of the offer say it’s open to residents of the 50 U.S. states and Canada (oddly enough, who are 21 years of age or older.. presumably some legal requirements since there’s also a sweepstakes for more miles attached). The terms and conditions also say that you have to provide a valid home address, but they don’t ask for a home address, only a zip code. Most likely just an oversight in the terms and conditions but since this is Spirit I suppose I could…
Silent Award Devaluation at Priority Club?
Marty reports that several Priority Club hotels have gone up in redemption price over the past few weeks. I booked an award room at HI Rochester Airport, NY a few weeks ago and it was 10K points. Now it is 15K points. Also, I noticed that IC Monterey, CA is now 40K – use to be 30K Other changes that I’ve noticed: Huntsville, Ontario HIX 15K -> 25K Calgary (YYC) Airport HIX (45 HOPEWELL WAY ) 15K -> 25K Grove City, PA HIX 15K -> 25K Salt Lake City Airport East HIX 15K-25K I haven’t seen any communication from Priority Club about increasing the points cost of (some) hotels at all, and don’t have any sort of comprehensive list of changes. I’ve asked Priority Club for clarification, we’ll see if any is forthcoming.
Free Personalized Luggage Tags
Accor Hotels is giving away free personalized luggage tags on their Facebook page. As of this writing site says there are 678 left. (HT: RoninTech)
Ordinary Citizen vs. Criminal, a Role Reversal at the Las Vegas Airport
A man that had been convicted of manslaughter was working at the Las Vegas airport installing and maintaining security cameras. He may have sabotaged a camera, making it easier for him and two others to steal from the baggage claim area. He was charged with theft and released so quickly that police barely executed a search warrant before the man returned to his home. And you and I are treated like criminals at the airport.
BankDirect’s 22,000 American Airlines Mile Signup Bonus
Back on March 5 I wrote about changes to American Airlines mileage earning checking and money market accounts with BankDirect, they were upping their signup bonus offers and reducing mileage earning for accounts with balances over $200,000. The big bonuses are great, and my checking account has less than $200,000 in it, so from my perspective this was pretty good news. Here are the basics of the account: I’m a big fan of BankDirect, I’ve written about it in the past such as here, they’ve hosted my primary checking account since July 2003. I’ve found the customer service excellent and the value proposition compelling. I get 100 American Airlines miles for every thousand dollars of average balance each month, which in a low interest rate environment is a pretty good rate of return (and unlike…
Huge Frequent Flyer Opportunities in New York the Last Weekend in April with Only a Few Seats Left
For anyone who is going to be in New York on April 29 and 30, or who can get there, two events are an absolute must. On Friday afternoon April 29, the Randy Petersen Executive Travel Summit is an opportunity to meet and hear from Randy, Maya Leibman (President of American AAdvantage), Jeff Foland (President of United Mileage Plus), and Jeff Zidell (Vice President of Hyatt Gold Passport). I’m working on my own list of questions for this group, but you’ll have a chance to ask your own. At the Sheraton La Guardia from 11:30am – 2:30pm, and $49 includes lunch. Registration is available and I’m told there’s not a lot of seats left. Then also at the Sheraton, beginning Friday evening with a cocktail reception and then with programs all day on Saturday, is…
Manhattan Custom Tailor, Phuket
In my post about staying at the Westin Siray Bay in Phuket, I mentioned visiting a tailor that I was quite happy with. I used a car to take me to Manhattan Tailors in town, my wife and I bought a good bit of clothing and I was thoroughly pleased with the service and quality. Their pricing is higher than what I’ve paid elsewhere in Thailand, even after bargaining (I probably could have pushed harder). But everything was well-done. Initially I ordered two suits, with extra paints each, and a jacket along with four shirts. And my wife ordered a suit and a jacket. We returned to the tailor shop for our second fitting, and they came to our hotel for third and fourth fittings. I was happy enough with the quality I was seeing…
Huge Improvements to the Hilton HHonors Program May Be On Their Way!
Deals We Like says that Hilton HHonors is going to be introducing three new features to their program that look like they could be huge improvements, addressing areas that are sorely lacking. I haven’t verified any of this with Hilton directly, and I’ll be trying to get more information in the coming days, but in the meantime I thought I’d pass this along. First is a cash and points awards option. Starwood and Priority Club already let you redeem awards for fewer points with a cash co-pay. With Priority Club, any award night can be had with a cash co-pay instead of full points, usually a pretty good deal. Starwood offers a better value still, but it’s capacity controlled. Hotels get the same reimbursement more or less for cash and points stays as on award…
