View from the Wing‘s bottom line: “only sometimes-insufferable.” Working hard to become only occasionally insufferable. Let me know how I’m doing, progressing towards that goal…!
Hyatt Place Giveaway Winners
And the winners are… Chosen at random by Random.org from amongst the comments left during the contest period… “Dick Simard” “Sully” I’ll be in touch with you both to arrange receipt of the 2 free Hyatt Place nights and 2 months of personal assistant services. Congratulations! Meanwhile, stay tuned because I’m going to give away another prize package exclusively on Twitter. Be sure to follow @garyleff. Update: Hyatt Place is also giving away two months of personal assistant services from TaskUs.com here (hat tip: Hotel Checkin).
Giveaway: Trip for 2 to Australia’s Gold Coast including airfare, 7 nights hotel, meals…!
You’re going to be reading about this one on many of the BoardingArea blogs. BoardingArea and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card are sponsoring a giveaway — a trip for two to Australia’s Gold Coast including air and seven nights hotel (all mileage-earning), meals even, and cash and gift cards as a kick-in to cover taxes on a trip that’s otherwise valued at over $10,000. Each of 20 participating BoardingArea blogs will be able to select one reader for the final drawing. By reading several of the blogs you have more chances to win and by being selected on one of the blogs you have about a 1 in 20 chance of winning the grand prize. The contest is only open to those 18 years of age and older and to US residents only,…
Only 1 Day Left to Enter: Free Hyatt Place Hotel Night Giveaway
Surprisingly as of this writing there are only about half the entries as when I gave away a free Hilton hotel night. And this giveaway is for a 2 night stay at any Hyatt Place hotel and as a throw-in Hyatt is also providing two months of personal assistant services. This should be huge. But I guess fewer entries just mean a better chance of winning for everyone who does enter. As of now there’s about 500 entries. And there will be 2 winners. You can enter by leaving a comment in the official entry thread.
I Flew Roundtrip in Paid Business Class and Didn’t Bother Collecting Miles
This is a public confession, of course. It runs contrary to all the advice I’ve ever given. I flew paid business class and didn’t credit the flights to any frequent flyer program. But hear me out. Now, with promotions I always tell people to sign up/register. Even if you don’t think you’re going to take part in the qualifying activity. Perhaps you’ll get re-routed on another airline during irregular operations, or connect in a city you hadn’t planned. Perhaps you’ll be forced to overnight somewhere, and while airline-provided hotel nights don’t generally earn points I’ve seen points credit anyway. It can’t hurt to be registered, I’ve seen too many people lose out on miles they would have received just because they didn’t register, thinking they wouldn’t have earned the bonus. Granted, registration takes a few…
United’s Unlimited Complimentary Domestic Elite Upgrades Began Today
United’s Unlimited Domestic Upgrade program has launched, and went into effect today. The most common question being asked is, “What happened to my 500-mile upgrade certificates?” For elites, those all went poof. General members and Premier Associates (“3P”‘s) keep theirs and can still use them as before, through the end of their validity date. No more electronic 500-mile upgrade certificates are being sold. Elites who back in 2007 registered to continue having their 500 mile upgrade certificates converted to miles upon expiration should still see that happen — in a week or so. Certs have gone poof, miles not yet in account, indication is that they will be, but of course only for those who (a) registered to continue to receive the miles on expirattion of the upgrade certains and (b) who have remained elite…
100 Free Priority Club Points
Quick survey – all of the above, redeem online any time, all of the above. Boom.
The Gold Coast Giveaway is Coming!
This is sure giveaway season! If you haven’t already entered to win one of two 2-night Hyatt Place stays and personal assistant services for two months, just leave a comment here. I recently teased an upcoming high-end laptop bag giveaway and another Hyatt Place free-night giveaway via Twitter (you’ll want to follow @garyleff). But here’s a really great one, first mentioned a week ago: a trip for two to Australia’s Gold Coast including air and seven nights hotel (all mileage-earning), meals even, and cash and gift cards as a kick-in to cover taxes on a trip that’s otherwise valued at over $10,000. Entries in this contest are only about three days away. Beginning on March 22 there will be several BoardingArea bloggers participating in this giveaway. Each blog will be able to select one reader…
Aeroplan 1500 Bonus Miles for Transferring In Hotel Points
Via One Mile at a Time, Air Canada’s Aeroplan is offering a 1500 mile bonus for transferring hotel points into at least 10,000 Aeroplan miles. Registration for the offer is required and the offer is valid through April 30. I wouldn’t make a transfer just to take advantage of this bonus, in general I find maintaining the flexibility of points to be hugely valuable. But if you’re considering or even potentially might transfer miles into Aeroplan, you should certainly register. And Aeroplan is in general a great place to accumulate points (though you need activity in your account at least once a year to keep it active, and all points expire if unused after seven years). Their award chart pricing is good, they don’t block partner award availability as Star Alliance member United does, and…
Award Booking Advice Starts with Choosing Your Frequent Flyer Program Carefully
The April issue of Conde Nast Traveler has a good bit on frequent flyer miles. I haven’t seen the physical issue yet, it’s not particularly available in my current secure undisclosed location, but 10 articles are currently up on their website (my guess it that’s about half the issue that normally winds up online). So far the two pieces of interest are How to Maximize Your Miles and a related sidebar on the pluses and minuses of various North American airline mileage programs plus American Express Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest for their ability to transfer points to a wide variety of airlines. In the mileage advice piece, Randy Petersen and I are interviewed extensively for advice. Pick your program wisely so that it meets your destination needs at a good mileage price, with…
