Jeff Robertston, who runs the Delta Skymiles program, posted on Flyertalk that as part of integrating Northwest into Delta, Northwest Platinum elites will earn a 100% mileage bonus instead of a 125% bonus, and Silver elites will earn a 25% bonus instead of 50%. Losing benefits is unfortunate. This one doesn’t surprise me. First, because it’s an area where Northwest remained generous compered to competitors (Continental made a similar move, but then allowed their elites to earn at the earlier more generous levels if they held Continental’s premium co-branded credit card>) and that just doesn’t fly under the new leadership, and second because my working model has been that where the features of the Skymiles and Worldperks programs were different, the default would be to opt for the less generous benefits. So far that assumption…
The World’s Best Airports?
Via Taking Off Travel Blog, CNN has a piece on the world’s best airports They rank ’em as: Hong Kong International Airport Changi International Airport, Singapore Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia Munich Airport, Germany The problem, of course, is best for what? About Munich, they say, the architects wanted the airport “to be less an ‘anonymous transfer location,’ than a ‘foyer to the city’.” Except that what makes Munich a great airport is precisely how easy transfers are there! (I’d say the only other airport in Europe that is its rival in this regard is Vienna.) Seoul-Incheon is also outstanding for transfers, in addition to being a lovely structure. Singapore Changi, to me, is the ‘nicest’ airport. For the median passanger there’s certainly no better airport in the…
$359 for Paid First Class, DC – Ft. Lauderdale
As discussed on Flyertalk, US Airways and Delta appear to be matching Spirit’s “Big Seat Sale” and offering $359 roundtrip between Reagan National and Ft. Lauderdale in paid first class. On US Airways it’s a non-refudable seven-day advance purchase “A” fare (AA7UPN). The non-refundable Delta fare basis is QUPNL.
Hilton Wants to Help You Get Pregnant!
Boston-area Hilton properties are offering the “And Baby Makes Three” package which includes “fantastic overnight accomodations” and The Everything Getting Pregnant Book, Champagne and Chocolates and a romantic CD to get you in “the mood”. My favorite part is the disclaimer: ***Note: We do-not gurantee conception
Triple Miles on bmi Flights for new bmi Diamond Club Members
british midland is offering new members signing up by March 31 a choice of triple redeemable miles or triple status miles on bmi flights taken by April 30th. The offer also comes with instant Blue Plus status.
Avis Weekend Discounts
Through March 31, Avis is offering third weekend day free with a three or more day rental and also 50% off of weekend rentals of two days or more. Both deals were advertised to me while logged into my Yahoo! e-mail account. They’ve gotten very good at targeting ads based on web-surfing behavior, they have..
FTD 25 United Miles Per Dollar Plus 100 Miles
FTD is offering 25 United miles per dollar plus 100 miles for flower purchases. It’s a campaign tied to Valentine’s Day and the United Visa, but the offer doesn’t appear to require having or using a United Visa for the purchase. Unclear if or when the offer will expire, as most FTD offers stay around quite a long time. I used a temporary targeted 30 miles per dollar offer successfully for years, and as long as the offer details appear at the top of the landing page it should work. This one is incrementally better than the 25 United mile per dollar offer which has been around for years.
300,000 Miles in Credit Card Signup Bonuses in a Single App-o-Rama
Regular readers of this blog are certainly familiar with credit card signup bonuses (and in many cases, familiar with which credit cards will let you sign up over and over and receive the bonuses each time). I’ve earned many more miles than this from credit card bonuses over time, but Chris Guillebeau chronicles his stab at 300,000 miles from credit card signup bonuses in a single go. Pretty impressive in his own right, and worth reading for folks that haven’t gone down the credit card signup bonus route in the past. (I also highly recommend the credit card section on Gary Steiger’s website as well as archived posts here of course!) Hat tip to Cranky Flier.
Queens, New York Holiday Inn – Suites Available for Award Redemption
The brand new Long Island City (Queens) Holiday Inn “Manhattan View” appears to be making all of its room types available when booking an award. The “Kind Bed Manhattan View Suite” normally runs $650 a night but is available for 15,000 Priority Club points. I imagine this is a mistake in how they’d loaded the room types associated with award rate plans, this won’t last, but if I had to guess I’d say it will be honored. At least similar award bookings at other properties have generally been honored in the past.
Up to 2500 Miles for American Airlines E-Mail Signups
American Airlines has 5 separate e-newsletters, and they’re offering a new promotion where they’ll give you 500 miles for each e-mail you’re not currently receiving that you opt into. Sadly, I was already subscribed to all of them. I think I’ve gotten miles for this in the past. The lesson from the old days, when e-mail signup bonuses were commonplace, was to never accept an email subscription without getting miles for doing so. Offers are far fewer these days, so when something like this comes along jump on it. And a spam-collecting address from Yahoo, Hotelmail, etc. is always useful in this regard.
