Lucky discusses this morning the documents he prepares to take with him on his international travels. In sum: itineraries and receipts with seat assignments and operating carriers’ record locators (the ticketing carrier will give youa reservation number but each operating carrier will have their own, it’s useful because that’s the number that will let the airline pull up your reservation, you call each airline individually to get that number and usually call each airline indiivdually to get seat assignments or at least the best seats). hotel reservations and printed copies of any hotel correspondence. I’ve more than once arrived and a hotel couldn’t immediately find my resevation, back in April it was my fault as I had booked for the wrong date! But the printed confirmation let me through the relevant security door at the…
50,000 Continental Miles for 2 New Bank Accounts
Lucky writes about his experience opening a Chase checking account for 25,000 miles. It just takes a $100 deposit and 5 debit card transactions run as a credit card (i.e. without use of a PIN) to earn the 25,000 miles. Next he’ll go open a business account the same way, bam 50,000 miles. And this can be done each year, apparently. Believe it or not I still haven’t done this, I don’t have a nearby Chase branch although presumably I could go into one and open an account when I’m in a city where a physical branch is convenient. Sadly this is not a promotion for an online account.
Earning Almost Unlimited Free Miles Churning Citibank Checking/Savings Accounts
I’ve made some oblique references (and soe less oblique ones, it was my #2 way to earn miles here) to earning miles by funding Citibank online checking and savings accounts with a credit card. Many times in the past I’ve been asked not to post about the deal by folks who were benefiting from it, the theory was that extra exposure was likely to kill it because the deal was just so good and not sustainable. Citibank has been cracking down on many of the people taking uber advantage, and I suspect many of the folks who used to email me asking not to write about it are no longer able to use it themselves. Hence when I’ve written briefly about it on the blog here in the past few months I haven’t gotten such…
Business Class: Los Angeles – Bogota $148+tax on Mexicana
This must be a mistake, but take advantage of it while it lasts. The full fare business class roundtrip is $2581+tax, the discounted business is $148? Perhaps this was intended as $1480. (For comparison the discounted Mexicana business class fare departing San Francisco is $2865, from Chicago $2763, and from Newark $2731.) It’s a non-refundable fare, but without date or time restrictions, the only issue is that discounted business inventory needs for be available for the flights in question. This won’t last, jump on it if interested.
The Best Credit Cards, New Credit Card Offers, and Signing Up for Cards for Profit
Frugal Travel Guy‘s post for today was titled “Which Credit Cards for the US MInt Deal?” but it’s really a generalized comparison of credit cards. He likes the Starwood American Express and Citibank American Express Platinum which earns Thank You Points the best. Both are respectable choices. I recommend the Starwood American Express in my much larger discussion of how to choose the best credit card. I can’t really complain about the 5 points per dollar from the Citi Platinum Amex though I long for the days when those points were worth three cents apiece (or the days when they were worth even more…) rather than just one. Rick both recognizes and dismisses the Asiana American Express, an explanation of which I provided recently — 2 points per dollar on all spend, and a mileage-based…
JetBlue’s New Revenue-Based Frequent Flyer Program
Wandering Aramean has an outstanding post detailing the revamped JetBlue TrueBlue program. All the details and plenty of analysis. Bottom-line is JetBlue is going to a revenue-based program, rewarding points based on spending. But with plenty of spending threshold bonuses, and eliminating the expiration of credits as long as you fly every 12 months or use their co-branded American Express card. It isn’t a compelling program for me to use, but it may actually be a better program for many members than their segment-based credit model. Although folks flying plenty of deep discount short hops and redeeming for more expensive trips will see a deterioration in value, unsurprisingly.
Sen. Kent Conrad Uses Frequent Flyer Miles as an Excuse for Special Mortgage Perks
Senator Kent Conrad says he thought his special VIP mortgage from Countrywide was a frequent flyer deal. But no details on whether he actually got the miles, and if so in what program? How are we supposed to evaluate a Senator if we don’t know the decisions they make in mileage accumulation? Put another way, do you really want someone accruing primarily Delta Skymiles making decisions on major pieces of legislation? Or would you trust someone more who is doing their best to take advantage of promo opportunities, or banking flexible currencies like Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints or American Express Membership Rewards? More to the point: how much mileage does it take to get a Senator to sponsor legilslation? All the major carriers have lobby shops, perhaps they should consider donating miles rather than money…
Northwest Double Miles for Most Shopping
Northwest is offering double miles for shopping at most of their mall merchants through September 30. Registration required. Notable expcetions to the offer include flower merchants, movie and game delivery services, and Vinesse wine club.
25% Off and Free Shipping at W Hotel Store
Through August 15, promo code HEAT99 will give you 25% and free shipping at the W Hotel Store. They frequently offer 40% off beds and bedding, so if that’s what you’re shopping for you’ll want to hold out for a better offer. But I find the offer especially useful for restocking on Bliss products myself..
Join US Airways Dividend Miles Now and Earn Lots of Random Bonus Miles!
US Airways is offering a randomized bonus to new members who join by October 15. They’ll assign the account a bonus randomly, and that bonus will be earned on most account activity in the first 30 days of membership. Within seven days of signup new members get an email letting them know just how rewarding the bonus will be. 80% of signups get a 25% bonus, 15% of signups get a 50% bonus, 4% of signups get a 100% bonus, and 1% of signups get a 200% bonus. Credit card first use bonuses, hotel points transfers, and mileage purchases don’t count towards the bonus, sadly. But all other activity does. Including, for example, shopping transactions which are also currently earning a 100% bonus. (Hat tip Keri.)
