From Gogo Inflight, 50% off in-flight internet valid through July 19 using promo code 156FLYDA. The 757 fleet is still hit or miss at best, but the MD-80s are good to go.
Mark Sanford’s MILEAGE AWARD TICKET to Buenos Aires
Politico reports that Mark Sanford’s trip to Argentina was booked using Delta Skymiles. And indeed, award availability on the Atlanta – Buenos Aires flight, historically difficult to secure, has been much much easy of late. However, this revelation raises more questions for me than it answers. What class of service was the award booked in? Did he secure a traditional Skysaver award, or did he have to spend extra miles for the seat? Is Sanford a Delta elite? Does he carry a Delta American Express credit card? Put another way, when did he book the trip and was he subject to a close-in ticketing fee? Grover Norquist apparently quipped yesterday that the Sanford affair demonstrates that men who want to cut spending at the local level are irresistable to women. But what kind of fiscal…
20% Off Expert Flyer
ExpertFlyer is offering a 20% discount to new subscribers through July 15, discount taken off of the first monthly or yearly bill (so the savings are much greater on an annual subscription) with coupon code PKYGEZFT. The discount also works for gift certificates. There are basically two pay services that advanced flyers use. Expert Flyer is one, and is of especially good use for American Airlines flyers looking to upgrade internationally, and for Delta upgrades, for instance and because the site will keep searching for inventory to open up on routes you designate and ping you when it does. Personally I use the KVS Tool. It lacks award availability for Swiss (which is a drawback for me, but I workaround the problem via the Lufthansa JetFriends program) and it lacks the ExpertFlyer feature of automatically…
Hawaii Airfare Deals, $256 roundtrip from Newark to Honolulu
Beat of Hawaii points to United Airlines deals to Hawaii from Delta and Continental hubs. For instance, Fare Compare is showing Newark – Honolulu from $256 all-in.
$5/night Suites at Hilton New Orleans
The Hilton New Orleans/St. Charles Avenue is available for $5/night prepaid, non-cancellable from July 12 through July 17 or dates inside that period. (It may be available other dates as well, but I haven’t found other periods where the rate is offered, and no other dates have been mentioned in this Flyertalk thread as yet.) All room types including suites appear available at this price. If you book at Hotels.com you can earn a $75 prepaid Mastercard for the booking under this current promo for 4 night or longer stays. As always, you might consider waiting to book airfare to see whether the deal is honored (although sometimes booking airfare can help if you’re negotiating with the hotel to get them to honor the rate). My preference is not to book until they’ve had time…
Delta to Honor Miles Promised By Clear
The demise of Clear security lanes at airports has been much discussed, which is precisely why I’ve remained quiet about it. Of course, it really shouldn’t surprise anyone. The original promise was that Clear would mean basically skipping security (‘trusted traveler’) but the TSA didn’t go forward with that, and it just meant skipping lines (‘reigstered traveler’). But Clear was only in about 20 airports, most of which had elite security lines as well. The market for paying to skip lines was frequent business travelers who essentially got the same thing free from the airlines. In spite of several free trial offers for Clear I never had a desire to go through their process and sign up, it offered virtually no incremental benefit to me. The one piece of the story that does strike me…
Intercontinental Prepaid Summer Offers
TravelZoo has a good compilation of their Intercontinental hotels offers, book by June 29 and rates are prepaid, non-refundable. The full list is on the Intercontinental hotels site. It’s a good time to be a Royal Ambassador member! TravelZoo’s favorites are: U.S. and Canada Tampa: InterContinental Tampa $69 valid Thursday-Sunday, July 1 – Sept. 8 New Orleans: InterContinental New Orleans $79 valid July 1, 10-11, 16-19, 26-31; Aug. 1, 8-31; Sept. 1-7 Toronto: InterContinental Toronto Centre $87(CA$99) valid July 1-31; Sept. 1-3 Atlanta: InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta $99 valid July 1-2, 6-7, 12-14, 17-31; Aug. 1-31; Sept. 1-3, 6-8 New York: InterContinental The Barclay New York $159 valid July 1-31; Aug. 1-23 Caribbean & Mexico Puerto Vallarta: Presidente InterContinental Puerto Vallarta Resort $90 valid July 1-14; Aug. 16 – Sept. 8 (Oceanfront Room) Cancun: Presidente InterContinental Cancun…
500 Virgin Atlantic Bonus Miles for Online Shopping
Virgin Atlantic is promoting its online shopping portal with 500 bonus miles for your first purchase over US$50 or £25. (Hat tip to FFBonuses on Twitter.)
On How to Parse Review Websites and Pick Hotels
On Twitter, USA Today columnist Laura Bly passes along this tweet: laurablyMore choices: control, or confusion? RT@MindlessMuse: Why can’t finding a hotel be easy…so many sites, reviews, opinions. I guess I don’t really have this problem, I know what sources match my travel preferences the best. Once upon a time people would work with a travel agent on these questions. There were good travel agents and bad travel agents, travel agents familiar with the destination or not, travel agents who would push particular providers because of higher kickbacks, and travel agents who happen to understand your travel style and those more suited to other styles (luxury vs. backpacker, and huge gradations in between, different sorts of details matter to different people). True full service agents offering actual travel strategy and advice are now few and…
Lufthansa Discounts Coach Redemptions from Canada to Germany
For bookings through July 16 and travel through July 20, Lufthansa Miles & More is offering award seats from Calgary, Montreal, or Toronto to Germany roundtrip for 35,000 miles in coach. That’s a 42% discount from the usual 60,000 miles. Travel only permitted on Lufthansa, not their partners, and one transfer in Germany only is permitted. (Hat tip to FFBonuses on Twitter.)
