We asked about late checkout from the W when we checked in – by which I mean 1pm (!) – and was told they would ‘have to see’ because they were quite full. I didn’t push, and didn’t ask again, I just took late checkout and certainly they knew I was doing so as we had reserved a hotel car for 1pm. I suppose it’s possible that the hotel had become a designated conference property listed in advance with SPG for the dates in question, and I didn’t specifically rule out that possibility, but it was sufficiently unlikely that I wasn’t worried about it. We had the same driver for our return to the airport as for our pickup. He never spoke to us on the drive to the hotel, and didn’t speak to us…
5000 Delta miles for 2-day Avis Rental
Avis is offering 5000 Delta miles on car rentals of two days or more through July 31. You need to use coupon code MUAA088 and select earning Delta miles and provide your Delta frequent flyer number. The bonus can be earned up to five times.
30% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Delta
Delta is offering a 30% bonus on transfers from American Express Membership Rewards through July 31. Registration (prior to making the transfer) is required. While transfers from American Express to Delta are, in my experience, instantaneous the bonus won’t post instantly. These offers used to take several weeks before the bonus would show up, but the terms and conditions of this offer say the bonus will post in a week.
Priority Club Introduces Cash & Points Awards
Just noticed this today, Priority Club appears to be offering “Cash and Points” redemption options. When searching for an award, there’s a choice of buttons — Points Only, Points + $30, and Points +$60. Each $30 cash increment reduces the required points by 5000. Put another way, when redeeming for an award you can buy points in blocks of 5000 for 6/10ths of a cent. That’s roughly what I value points at to begin with, but it’s a nice option to leverage your points. There does appear to be the start of a Flyertalk thread on the subject, but so far it’s not done much more than notice the option is out there.
A Redemption Option I’d Like to See More Of
Chase, which issues the United Visa, is sponsoring a redemption option. 5000 miles per person buys you a 5-course dinner with wine and conversation with the chef. A Night at Aureole Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas Thursday, July 30, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Your unique dining event includes: * Wine reception with passed hors d’oeuvre * Five-course dinner prepared by Chef Charlie Palmer, one of the most highly regarded chefs in America today * Wine pairings from the prestigious Sonoma County winery – Papapietro Perry * Tableside discussion of the menu and pairings from Chef Palmer and Winemaker Ben Papapietro This special evening is available to select Mileage Plus Visa cardmembers for just 5,000 miles per person. As of this writing there are 37 seats left. I have no problem flying for a meal.…
W Seoul Walker Hill
Hotel: W Seoul – Walkerhill 21 Gwangjang Dong, Gwangjin Gu Seoul 143 708 Korea Phone: (82)(2) 465 2222 Fax: (82)(2) 450 4989 Cash & Points Rate There wasn’t much traffic out of Incheon and I was hopeful, but I was leaving the airport around 6pm on a Friday and that couldn’t possibly yield a quick trip. On the other hand, I was heading into Seoul and not out, I thought perhaps that would help. And indeed it did, the traffic in the other direction was worse, but while the freeway was pretty clear for the first part of the trip once we crossed the river we were pretty much in a standstill. In all, the drive took about 100 minutes. Someone was immediately available to assist with our bags, and I walked up to the…
Securing Travel Credits Instead of Free Tickets on United
Lucky offers advice on how to get United to give you travel credits instead of free tickets when you take a ‘bump’ or voluntary denied boarding. Travel credits are much more flexible and tickets purchased when them earn miles, so in general far more desirable. Bottom-line is to be nice, be discrete, and not make the gate agent’s life more difficult so it’s easy for them to give you what you want.
United Twitter Bonus Revealed
Those of you who registered for the United Twitter Bonus — which was up until now a mystery — will receive 1500 miles.
25% Off Hilton with Visa Signature
First they ask you to authenticate with the first 8 digits of a Visa signature or Visa infinite card, and then they take you to a booking page. The 25% discount is off of the Best Available Rate rate plan, which of course may not be the best available rate. Still, on a few random tests it appeared to be the lowest price room – lower than advance purchase rates and this rate is cancellable per the reservation’s cancellation deadline and not prepaid. The rules do require payment at the hotel to be made with a qualifying Visa card, though that’s like a “your mileage may vary” requirement. Offer is valid on bookings made by September 30.
Intercontinental Hotels Group / Priority Club Friends & Family Rate Offer Extended to September 30
The Priority Club Friends & Family Rate offer, which can be utilized by anyone, has been extended for bookings made by September 30. Excellent news, as these rates have been really great, this has been one of the most useful tools in my arsenal the past few months. Note that technically stays booked on these prepaid rates do not earn points, though in practice they frequently do.
