United ‘blocks’ award seats that their partners offer when it doesn’t want to pay for those seats. They’re the only Star Alliance airline that does this. A Lufthansa seat to Europe might be available with Continental, US Airways, or Air Canada miles but United might claim the seat is unavailable. I’ve been beating this drum for quite some time, not just here on this blog but in other media like Inside Flyer and Conde Nast Traveler, and I’ve helped to drive coverage elsewhere such as in the Wall Street Journal. Now, blocking wasn’t much of an issue from early May through early August. It would creep up occasionally, but nothing like in the past. Take the end of April, for instance, virtually no Lufthansa space that the airline was offering was bookable with United miles.…
3000 American Miles for a 3-Day Avis Rental
Via TM Travel World, American is offering 3000 bonus miles for a 3-day Avis rental by using coupon code MUAA022 through December 31. The page trumpets a discount as well but you do not need to use their discount code in order to get the miles. And the offer also provides 1000 miles on a one or two day rental. This matches the US Airways offer of 3000 miles for a 3-day rental valid through March 31. (Personally US Airways will get my next 3 day rental to leverage as a credit in their Grand Slam partner promotion.) Of course some will prefer to just rent from National, as they’re still making their Executive status level available to anyone who signs up…
250 Free Continental Miles
Through October 31 Continental is offering 250 free miles for entering your Onepass account number on a page that tells you about onboard discounts (for beverages or DirecTV). In my experience the miles only seem to post automatically for folks with a Continental credit card, though the terms and conditions don’t say anything about requiring such a card to receive the miles. (Via Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)
Delta Elite Qualifying Miles for Hilton Stays
Via the MilesLink newsletter, you can earn Delta elite qualifying miles for Hilton stays of 2 nights or more (registration required) between September 1 and December 10. Naturally, you have to select Delta Skymiles as your ‘double dip’ earning partner. If your Hilton HHonors earning selection is ‘Variable Miles’ you will earn 1 bonus mile and 1 Medallion Qualifying Miles per dollar spent. If your Hilton HHonors earning selection is ‘Fixed Miles’ you were earn 500 bonus miles and 500 Medallion Qualifying Miles per stay. You can earn up to 10,000 qualifying miles through this promotion.
Up to 40,000 Delta Miles for Suntrust Debit Cards
Outsourced to Lucky: Through the end of the year, Sun Trust is offering 25,000 SkyMiles for a business debit card and 15,000 miles for a personal debit card. Each comes with a $55 annual fee. As far as I can tell, this deal is even easier than the one with Chase, as only a single qualifying purchase is required, and you just need to keep your card open until the bonus posts. And from the comments on Lucky’s blog: you can leverage your Biz account and make a ton more miles. I did this promo last year (it was VISA and 15,000 miles), if you get additional users (up to 4) on your account, you don’t need to give SS# for them (so no inquiries), you should collect 25,000 per card, so for $275 ($55…
1000 Free Points for Joining Goldpoints Program
Via Loyalty Traveler, GoldpointsPlus is offer 1000 points just for signing up by September 6. The enrollment form will pre-populate with promo code GPX2010 for the offer. I’m not a huge fan of Radisson, and I haven’t paid too much attention to Goldpoints since late 2001/early 2002 when their then-active shopping portal offered huge bonuses and the points could be transferred to miles at wonderful ratios. But they’ve gotten more aggressive with their promos the past couple of years, and I do like one of their most innovative (in my humble opinion) benefits.. I believe they’re stil offering this free status upgrade offer, and that includes their “Our World, Your Lounge” benefits in Europe, Middle East, and Africa — elite members are welcome any time in any hotel (when not staying!) for a free coffee,…
More on the New Hyatt Credit Card, Free Award Nights, and Other Promotions
This afternoon I spoke with Hyatt’s Chris Walker about their new co-branded Visa card from Chase, which I posted about earlier this morning. I can only imagine that when their PR reps set up media calls for execs, they probably don’t know quite what they’re in for talking to me! Because I tend to at least try to push them off their talking points and into the nuts and bolts of their strategy and offerings, and hopefully learn a little something along the way. Chris was surprisingly forthcoming, and offered that they were trying to develop a unique value proposition for each level of member with this new card. For new and base members, the card comes with Platinum status in the program. Hey, that gets you free internet at their properties. For the diamond…
The Best of Airline Meals in Premium Cabins
CNN.com ran a piece today on premium cabin meals, the emphasis on first class dining options from Asian carriers. The opening picture is of one of my favorite features — dining opposite your travel companion as though in a restaurant. The example in the piece is Cathay Pacific, and I have much enjoyed moving over to the buddy seat to dine with my wife. Of course I don’t really like Cathay Pacific’s first class for traveling as a couple, the suites are too private and there’s no option to sit ‘next to’ each other in a meaningful sense. But dining together makes up for it. Cathay adds a table extender, the buddy seat has a seat belt, and it’s a lovely way to pass some time. Now, Cathay’s meal service isn’t my favorite (I much…
Hyatt’s New Co-Branded Credit Card Revealed
In the long Flyertalk thread speculating on the upcoming launch of the Hyatt Visa from Chase, a Flyertalk member decided to just type in the URL www.mychasecreditcards.com/hyatt and it came up. So it appears the offer is now live. And no doubt it’ll be widely promoting starting today (or at latest tomorrow). Sadly the offer is a bit less exciting than some had expected. First, some surveys of potential benefits in advance of the launch led folks to think that the benefits would be myriad and generous. My own hope was for the ability to use Diamond confirmed suite upgrades on award of promotional free night stays. Expectations were set quite high, though not directly by Hyatt or Chase — really just by swirling speculatins that was mostly set by.. Second, Hyatt has been so…
United Extends Discounted Coach Short-Haul Awards
At the end of July, United re-introduced discounted short-haul awards, but only offered the option through August 31. Instead of the usual 12,500 miles one-way or 25,000 miles roundtrip, they’re charging 8,750 one-way or 17,500 roundtrip. This applies to awards booked at least 7 days in advance of travel (no discount on last-minute award bookings), and is for flights that are 700 miles or less each way and only within the Continental U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada. Now that it’s August 31, they’ve extended the offering — but only for tickets booked by September 30, 2010 for travel through January 7, 2011. Like last time I’d fully expect American to match. But it’d sure be nice if they made moves like these a permanent part of the program rather than a ‘temporary’ promotion.
