In the neverending saga of US Airways award zone adjustments, after just last week definitively moving Thailand to their North Asia region (thus reducing the cost of US-Thailand awards in business class by 30,000 miles and in first class by 40,000 miles!), they’ve once again updated their partner award chart (.pdf) and it’s now back in South Asia. In the first iteration they moved Russia from North Asia to Europe. Ok, no more Moscow – Frankfurt – Seoul first class roundtrips for 40,000 miles. Fair enough. And they listed Thailand and the Philippines under both North Asia and South Asia, instead of just South Asia where they had previously resided. Then US Airways corrected the double listing mistake, moving Thailand and the Philippines to North Asia only. And now they’ve moved both countries back to…
Mastercard Gift Card For AA.com Travel Booking
American Airlines is offering a gift card for travel purchases made via Mastercard at AA.com by December 15 for travel through March 31. Registration required. Purchase air-only and receive a $10 Mastercard gift card Purchase air + another travel item (car, hotel, or activity) and receive a $25 Mastercard gift card Purchase air + 2 other travel items (car, hotel, or activity) and receive a $50 Mastercard gift card For folks who’d be booking American flights anyway it’s free money. Sadly they’ll only award one gift card per person.
$10 Costco Cash Card for Paying Your Wireless Bill By American Express
Via MileQuest, you can Register any American Express card by December 31 and use that card to set up automatic bill pay with your wireless provider and you’ll receive a $10 Costco Cash Card. The offer does not appear to be targeted, or exclude folks that are already using automatic bill pay to charge their American Express card with their monthly wireless bill.
Great Use of Amex (or Starwood) Points: Booking Awards on Virgin Atlantic Through Their Partner All Nippon
Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program adds some extortionate taxes and fees, not unlike the British Airways program. Expect to pay about $550 from the US to London and back in a premium cabin. Fortunately, All Nippon’s program is often less expensive in terms of miles and for some reason they don’t add fuel surcharges onto awards using their partner Virgin Atlantic. So taxes are a more reasonable ~ $275. I don’t really understand why this is the case. ANA hits redemption bookings on their own metal and on Star Alliance partners with fuel surcharges. Why not Virgin bookings? I really don’t know, but I’ll take it. The ANA website doesn’t show Virgin award availability. It lists Virgin flights as ‘on request.’ You put the request in on the website, then a couple of minutes later…
US Airways’ Great Value Business Class Awards to South Africa
Early this morning I spent a good bit of time on the phone with US Airways.. four passengers in business class between the US and South Africa. Part of the reason it was a long phone call is that the miles were separately coming out of four different accounts, miles for each passenger from their own accounts. That means separate reservations for each. And the taxes on the award wouldn’t price automatically, which with US Airways means getting the rate desk involved. And the agent has to hold for the rate desk. I love US Airways for international awards. I love their award chart. I love their flexibility. And I don’t think I’ve spoken to an agent outside the US since January. On the whole they’re very helpful. But the calls often take awhile. Calls…
2000 Free Priority Club Points for Identifying a Photograph
I’ve written before about the Priority Club Challenge, each week they present a picture and some clues and guessing the location of the photograph earns points. Each day during the week they release additional clues, you can guess once per day, and you earn 2000 points if you guess correctly on the first day (Tuesday), 1500 on Wednesday, 1000 Thursday. Members of Flyertalk have collaboratively done a great job guessing the answers each week. For this week’s challenge, the consensus developed quickly and sure looks correct to me: Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru Don’t forget to enter for each account you manage (family, friends, etc)…
Only Two Weeks Left for Some of the Best Credit Card Signup Bonuses Ever
Just a friendly reminder that the 75,000 mile and 100,000 mile signup bonus offers for Citibank American Airlines credit cards are set to go away October 31. So you’ve only got a couple of weeks left to sign up. Especially if you haven’t yet had these cards, this is the change of a lifetime. I’ve had many, many myself and am not likely in a position for more. But if you have never had a personal Citibank American Airlines credit card, this one is a no brainer. And even for some folks that have had them in the past and do not currently, there are approvals out there it’s just not guaranteed. And don’t forget that there are small business versions of the card that folks are getting, most with little pushback. Occasionally Citi will…
$25 Off a Frontier Flight
Frontier is running a facebook trivia game and they’ll send you an e-coupon for $25 off a flight for correct answers. According to this Flyertalk thread, the answers to the trivia question are: Richard 7 minutes Red Green Raccoon, Wolf
Hyatt’s New Hypo-Allergenic Rooms
Hyatt is introducing hypo-allergenic rooms at full service properties in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. Now, I don’t expect them to be 100% allergen free. No doubt they’ll still be connected to the same ventilation systems as the rest of the hotels. But I like the move. And the description sounds more intensive than I would have expected: Pure’s technicians first take apart the air-handling system in the room, disinfect the parts, treat them with an agent to ward off moisture and add a tea tree oil cartridge that releases a natural anti-microbial agent. After disinfecting every surface in the room, Pure “shocks” the room for two to three hours with highly concentrated ozone to kill mold, bacteria and other unwanted organisms. They then spray carpets, curtains and surfaces with a bacteriostatic shield, Brault…
Up to 40% Rebate on Alitalia Award Redemptions
Alitalia Millemiglia is offering a 20% – 40% rebate on redemptions (most appear to be 30%, with 40% for premium economy). Tickets must be issued by November 10 for flights on Alitalia or Air One. The bonus will be credited by the end of January. So this isn’t a reduction in the miles needed for an award — they’ll rebate back a portion of your miles redeemed later. I’m not a huge fan of the Millemiglia program, mostly because the program itself expires every few years, and if you don’t have activity within a defined set of time your miles go poof with the program (strictly speaking, they offer to let you earn your old balance credited to the new program). But if you’ve got the miles already, or if you have a need for…
