Loyalty Traveler runs down the Marriott credit card offers that help achieve elite status. There are three credit cards which together credit 35 nights automatically. What’s more, you can now earn a qualifying night for every $3000 of spend on Marriott’s premium card. Gold status comes after 50 nights (achievable with 3 cards and $45,000 in spend) and Platinum after 75 nights (3 cards and $90,000 in spend). I’m not much of a Marriott guy, sure they’re ubiquitous and there are plenty of decent lounges. But even for Platinums — the most stringent tier to reach of any hotel loyalty program top level — there aren’t promises of suite upgrades the way one finds with Intercontinental Royal Ambassador, Hyatt Diamond, and Starwood Platinum. Still, these cards offer a real head start towards status. They underscore…
30% Bonus on Alaska Airlines Purchased or Gifted Miles
Through March 31, Alaska Airlines is offering a 30% bonus on purchased or gifted miles. That reduces the purchase price from 2.75 cents per mile (plus tax and processing fee) down to just over 2.1 cents (plus same fees). Not worth it ‘as an investment’ or general miles accumulation strategy, you’d need at least double miles for that, but helpful nonetheless if you wanted to top off towards a first class partner award (say) on British Airways or Cathay Pacific.
Flyer Sues Orbitz (and wins) Over Their Courtesy Cancellation Policy
BigFlyer posted his story on Flyertalk about why he sued Orbitz in small claims court — and won. My Orbitz adventure began with reading about Orbitz’s “courtesy cancellation policy” on its website. The site stated that one could cancel an airline reservation by 10:00 P.M. Central Time the following day and get a complete refund. The exceptions were paper tickets, tours, and “certain airlines.” I wrote to Orbitz customer service, and was told that “The two airlines that are an exception from the ‘Courtesy Cancellation’ option are Spirit Airlines and AirTran Airlines.” So, I felt safe booking Virgin America through Orbitz. The day after my booking, I needed to cancel. I went to the reservation, but there was no “courtesy cancel” button. I then called Orbitz customer service.. the first person I spoke with, and…
US Airways 100% Bonus on Purchase or Gifted Miles is Back
US Airways has raised the price of purchased miles from 2.5 cents apiece to 2.75 cents. But they’re again offering a 100% bonus on purchased or gifted miles, through March 31. The offer is limited to the first 50,000 miles purchased (which nets you 100,000 miles). And this time there’s no bonus for transferred miles. Still, $1478 including tax for 100,000 miles is pretty good — it’s enough for business class from the US to Europe even after US Airways increased the price of that award back on January 6. Presumably this offer should be stackable with the 25% bonus on gifting miles being offered all year to US Airways elites. (At least I haven’t seen anything to suggest the two offers aren’t combinable, please let me know if otherwise.)
Anotehr Free 100 Continental Miles
Continental is offering 100 miles “for learning about the benefits of the Star Alliance network” and all you have to do is register. If these miles post — and Continental is notorious for free 100 mile offers that never do — then it’s great, and could be helpful in averting mileage expiration for some. Personally, if I were using it to extend the validity of an account I’d take screen shots of the offer and of the page showing successful expiration, those should help dispute an account expiration if the miles don’t actually post. (Hat tip to Dan R..)
Award Wallet Expands Account Coverage
For the past several months I’ve been using Award Wallet to manage my frequent flyer accounts. The good folks at Award Wallet dropped me an email to update me on the programs they added support for in the past month: Airlines Czech Airlines (OK Plus), Fly Kingfisher, LAN (LANPASS), Malaysia Airlines (Enrich), Porter (VIPorter), Sun Country Airlines (Ufly Rewards) Hotels Coast Hotels (Coast Rewards), Fairmont President’s Club, Icelandair (Saga Club), Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life), Jumeirah (Sirius), Kimpton InTouch, Omni Hotels (Select Guest), Red Roof Inn (RediCard), Bus and Rail BoltBus (Bolt Rewards), Eurostar (Eurostar Frequent Traveler) Other e-Miles, Ebates, President’s Choice (PC Points), Sears Club Ok, ok, you don’t have an Icelandair Saga Club account? I don’t either. And I didn’t even know that BoltBus had its own program. (Don’t ask me why,…
Great Mileage Expiration Policy Reference
The Global Traveller offers a pretty extensive review of airline mileage expiration policies. Like Kiwi Flyer, I was perplexed reading the February Inside Flyer cover story on mileage expiration to read that Singapore miles expire after 36 months of account activity. : KrisFlyer accounts which have activity are valid for 36 months from the end of the month in which the last activity occurred, after which the membership accounts will expire. I had always thought Singapore miles expire 36 months after they’re earned, and that the clock doesn’t get reset through additional account activity. Sadly, Singapore miles do expire 36 months after they’re earned. I’m sitting on about 150,000 that I need to use sometime in the next 18 months…
When In Doubt, Hang Up and Call Back
I just got off the phone with US Airways. I called looking for Lufthansa award seats that I knew were available. The agent saw nothing. They saw nothing on the route for days. Finally they found a couple of coach seats a week after I wanted them. Weird. Sometimes US Airways’ IT systems will be out of synch with United after United loads new schedules. That’ll usually correct itself in a few hours. But I hadn’t experienced this before. My first thought — and I know better than to think this, rather than just hang up and call back — perhaps, wow, US Airways has finally figured out Starnet blocking. And just in time, as the millions of bonus miles from the holiday “Big Bonus” 250% promo for shopping should post March 1. Paranoia strikes…
Checked Baggage Fees: A Tax Avoidance Strategy for Airlines?
Back in October I explained why I was surprised to see airlines increasing checked baggage fees, that in fact I would have expected higher ticket prices and free checked bags to be a profit maximizing equilibrium — an equilibrium that more or less existed, so the current shift towards unbundled pricing was quite surprising: Moving checked bags is mostly fixed costs. Once the baggage carousel is built, the trucks are purchased, you’ve hired baggage handlers, and you’ve outfitted your planes to handle checked bags, you might as well get more passengers to check bags rather than fewer either at a price which is continually falling or bundled into the overall price of the ticket. (This seems true at least as long as the price of checking the bag or the increased price of the ticket…
New Alaska Mileage Plan Top Elite Tier
Alaska has announced its new elite tier above MVP Gold, this will be MVP Gold 75K. And it will be earned at the… wait for it… 75,000 qiualifying mile level. At least if you fly 75,000 qualifying miles on Alaska or Horizon. If you include partner miles in your total, it takes 90,000 qualifying miles or 90 segments. The additional benefits are 50,000 bonus miles (this isn’t actually new, it’s long been a benefit for flying 75,000 miles), nominate a friend for MVP status (c’mon, they could have offered to gift MVP Gold), higher upgrade priority and earlie clearance time, as well as a free DigE Player in coach (hah!), and 4 complimentary lounge passes. Giving higher priority for upgrades to more frequent flyers makes sense. And Alaska has needed a higher tier, as they’ve…
