According to this CNN.com article (disclosure: yes, I’m the lead for the piece) 300,000 people have earned at least 1 million miles in a frequent flyer account. I’m surprised the figure is that low, actually.
Win “Up in the Air” Tickets In Exchange for Your Questions about Frequent Flyer Miles
No, I don’t actually have tickets to give away. (Although I did post an offer last week for free tickets…). Rather, Wendy Perrin is running a contest. Not only are we giving away ten pairs of tickets to the movie screening but, in keeping with the spirit of the film, we’re also going to solve your most frustrating frequent-flyer-mile problems. It’s actually the Flyertalk Challenge: you pose your questions on Wendy’s blog and ten questions will be picked as winners. The people posing the questions get free sneak preview tickets to Up in the Air in New York City and Flyertalk founder Randy Petersen will answer the questions. Now, Wendy says that the questions will be answered by Randy “his team of mileage magicians over at Boarding Area.” So, umm, perhaps you’ll get my answer…
United’s 2010 Elite Choice Rewards
United elites can read the good news over at Lucky‘s blog about the 2010 Elite Choice rewards being offered to folks who fly more next year than their current status level required. As a 1K, for example, I could get 25,000 redeemable miles for passing 125,000 elite qualifying miles and another 25,000 redeemable miles for passing 175,000 elite qualifying miles. That’s quite an incentive! Other options include nominating someone to Premier or Premier Executive (yes, you heard me right) status. The benefits get even better for those at lower status levels. There’s even the opportunity for really high mileage flyers to nominate gift 1K status. Update: The Global Traveller lays out just how lucrative this promo could be for an “extreme mileage runner.”
United’s Flight Attendants Speak Out About Complimentary Domestic Elite Upgrades
This Flyertalk thread points to United’s flight attendants union’s statement on the airline’s plan to offer complimentary domestic upgrades to elite passengers: Unlimited Elite Customer Upgrades – Say Goodbye to First Class …United had previously announced their intention to implement this program last month to United’s elite customers, and is just another kick in the teeth to Flight Attendants and other loyal employees. My thoughts. 1. It’s true, without upgrade certificates there will be more passengers upgrading, and fewer seats up front for employees. 2. That hardly seems like a kick in flight attendants’ teeth. 3. If United’s flight attendants provided more consistently high levels of service they mght attract more passengers. Whoops, I guess those passengers might achieve elite status and steal flight attendants’ first class seats. Better not do that, then. 4. Or,…
Should You Redeem Your Miles for Breast Implants?
Once upon a time there were mileage offers for donating blood. Last summer I earned 20,000 miles for a hair loss consultation. Plenty of folks went for Lasik eye surgery consultations this year for Delta miles as well. So mileage earning certainly has become intertwined with all parts of life. Now, mileage burning has as well. Finnair has introduced a new redemption option: Breast augmentation. Bloomberg has more. Breast implants, hair replacement surgery or a face-lift performed by the Nordstroem Hospital in Helsinki are among the newest offerings in the carrier’s Finnair Plus loyalty service, according to the program’s Web site. “Finnair contacted the hospital,” Mikko Tuomainen, the airline’s director of loyalty programs, said in a telephone interview. “The idea was to incorporate partners and services from all walks of life.” About 1.3 million flyers…
1500 Point Amtrak Small Business Program Signup Bonus
According to Free Frequent Flyer Miles, if you sign up for Amtrak’s small business program by December 31, 2009 using promo code DEC09 your new account will receive 1,500 bonus points. You’ll also receive 25% of the points earned by individual travelers (such as yourself) that are linked to the account. So it’s like a 25% earnings bonus. You’ll need a taxpayer ID to identify yourself as a unique business, and of course most of us have one of those, we usually just call it a social security number…
United is Bringing Back Confirmed Regional Upgrades for 1Ks Next Year
Ok, technically they never went away. But when United announced their plan to go to unlimited complimentary domestic upgrades next year, they were going to drop confirmed regional upgrades for 1Ks from the mix. As I noted at the time, As speculated yesterday, confirmed regional upgrades go away. Currently 1K members get up to 8 of these a year (promotions aside) and they’re good for confirming a domestic (including Hawaii) upgrade at time of booking from any fare. While there are no more 500 mile upgrades to worry about, there are no more special domestic confirmed upgrades either, there will be far fewer upgrades at booking and more upgrades pushed to the complimentary upgrade window. Of course any Mileage Plus member can use miles to upgrade domestically, elite or not, but mileage upgrades will have…
Continental and United Will Offer Reciprocal Upgrades and Preferred Coach Seating Mid-2010
Continental and United will offer reciprocal upgrades starting “mid-2010.” Full details are on Flyertalk. United 1Ks and Global Services will get complimentary upgrades on Continental behind Continental’s Platinums but before Golds. (Premier Executives come after Golds and Premiers come after Silver — good luck with that unless United’s lower tiers are flying on major holidays.) Continental Platinums and Golds will get complimentary upgrades on United after United’s Premier Executives. (Continental Silvers will get complimentary upgrades on United after Premiers, but in theory before employees.) Continental elites will get economy plus on United. United elites get ‘preferred seating’ (the same awful coach seats at the front of the plane) and Premier Executives and above can pre-reserve exit rows. (Via Lucky.)
bmi Introduces Family Accounts and Confirmed Upgrades for Gold Members
Here’s the Flyertalk discussion. bmi is following British Airways’ lead, allowing you to pool miles from pre-registered accounts. This option begins December 1, you can link up to 8 accounts, and they don’t require that family accounts actually share an address. Moreover, even those under 18 can now join bmi Diamond Club is they’re a member of a family account. bmi is also changing their space available upgrades to electronic confirmed upgrades, valid on any fare and on bmi flights only, exercisable within 7 days of departure. Definitely positive changes!
FTD 30 Miles Per Dollar Offers
FTD now offers 30 Delta miles per dollar, which is new. Of course, I prefer the ongoing offering of 30 United miles per dollar, as much as United miles frustrate me due to Starnet blocking. Delta miles still worth less…
