One Mile at a Time reports that while Continental reduced elite mileage bonuses (essentially aligning themselves with new partner-to-be United), they’ve offered a way back in that members who have their Presidential Plus co-branded credit card earn the old elite bonuses. The card has a $375 fee, but comes with lounge membership and Avis Presidents Club membership so will be worthwhile to some — especially heavy flyers earning higher mileage bonuses. An interesting demonstration (again…) of the power and importance of co-branded credit card partners. In many ways a high-volume credit card customer is as important or more so to a frequent flyer program than a high-volume flyer. Fortunately, to the benefit of both types of customers, the two are frequently one in the same person and so can benefit mightily by this new reality…
Tumi Sale Discount Grows
Through January 31, Tumi’s online clearance got even better, the top of the page now shows an ‘additional’ 30% off sale prices.
Cutting the Value of Rewards Network Dining for Miles in Half: the End of the VIP Rate Your Dining Bonus
iDine (aka Rewards Network) which partners with several loyalty programs to provide miles for dining has just become half as valuable. Used to be that all dining activity earned 10 miles per dollar via most airline co-branded relationships. A couple years ago they initially killed the 10 miles per dollar, implementing a new structure of 1 mile per dollar for those signed up for the program, 3 miles for those who create an online profile, and 5 miles per dollar for those who use the program enough to be called ‘VIPs’. After much outcry they added a bonus 5 milers per dollar for VIPs who ‘rate their dine’ after the meal, effectively returning the program to 10 miles per dollar for those who remain engaged enough in the program. The ‘rate your dine’ bonus was…
10% Hilton Discount
Via One Mile at a Time, Hilton is again offering 10% off best available rate by booking through the Team USA™ Advantage link..
United Tries to Hide its Upgrade and Award Inventory from Customers
Expert Flyer is no longer able to show United upgrade and award availability. Apparently United contacted them and let them know that they weren’t ‘authorized’ to have access to the information, and demanded that they stop making it available. United previously demanded that Seatcounter remove access to this information as well. Over the past several months United has gone to great pains to restrict access to advance confirmable upgrades. Over the summer these upgrades became very sparse for cross-country flights. Overseas flights they’re also much harder than in the past. One explanation for difficulty in upgrading internationally is fewer seats as United reconfigures planes with their new business class. I predicted this would be a problem when they first announced the retrofit of their aircraft, since the new business class cabins feature fewer premium seats…
See Where Big Brother Has Been Watching You Fly
The Budget Travel blog tells you how to get your Homeland Security Automated Targeting System files which include your international travel activity since 2002. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is required by law to make your records available to you, with some exceptions. Your request must be made in writing on paper and be signed by you. Ask to see the “information relating to me in the Automated Targeting System.” Say that your request is “made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552).” Add that you wish to have a copy of your records made and mailed to you without first inspecting them. Your letter should, obviously, give reasonably sufficient detail to enable an official to find your record. So supply your passport number and mailing address. Put a date…
LAN’s Award Chart Changes
LAN’s current award chart is being ‘enhanced’ on January 18 — and I don’t care one bit. Because there aren’t going to be any changes to their business class oneworld distance-based award chart. While at first glance those awards appear to be expensive, they become a better value when you realize that Starwood points transfer at 1 -> 2 into LAN. And the double conversion rate applies to the transfer bonus as well. So 20,000 Starwood points yields 50,000 points with LAN…. 95,000 Starwood gets you 40,000 kilometers of oneworld business class flying and 120,000 Starwood points gets you 56,000 kilometers of oneworld business class flying. (E.g. Los Angeles – Hong Kong – Sydney and return, with stopover, would cost 95,000 Starwood points for Cathay Pacific business class, with kilometers to spare, award inventory permitting…
American Dining for Miles VIP Fast Track Offer
Rewards Network (ok, I’ll call it that) is offering a ‘fast track to VIP’ with their co-branded American Airlines program. If you dine four times by February 28th, spending $25 or more at qualifying restaurants, they’ll upgrade your account and give you 500 bonus miles. Registration required.
Lima Restaurant: Good Food, Abominable Service
Last night I had dinner with a small group of Flyertalkers. At my suggestion we ate at Lima Restaurant. They had availability for our sized group, they offer a pre-theatre menu (3 courses, $35 dollars) until 7 p.m., and I’ve been meaning to go back and try them since they re-opened after a renovation. The food was surprisingly good. The service was appallingly bad. It was the worst service I’ve had since brunch at Poste. The waiter came over to take orders but the person he started with wasn’t ready. He refused to start with someone else at the table, and hovered over the member of our party who wasn’t ready instead. He said that he had to rotate in the specific order he was asking for, and couldn’t rotate beginning at a different spot…
Citibank Ending Fixed Point Flight Redemption?
According to Frugal Travel Guy Citibank’s Thank You Points will no longer offer ‘fixed point redemption’ come March 1, 2009. This is a huge blow to the program. It allowed points to be worth 2-3 cents apiece, instead of the standard 1. Truly a disappointing development. Variable point redemption lets you use points to buy flights, with the points worth a penny apiece. Fixed point redemption lets you buy tickets up to a specified dollar value for a set number of points. Ending this option makes Citibank credit cards earning these points that much less valuable. I will be putting a bunch of money on my current Citi Platinum American Express (which is pooled with a fixed-point redemption-eligible account) to get up to 90,000 points in order to make my next redemption level. And I’ll…
