Via Upgrade Travel Better, channeling MileMaven, Alaska Airlines is offering elites who didn’t requalify for their previous status last year a short-cut to regaining that status. Between January 15 and March 15, MVP status requires four paid flown segments and MVP Gold requires eight paid flown segments. Registration is required. Man, out on the West Coast a simple segment run like this is easy, Seattle to Portland runs are cheap, there’s a Los Angeles hub, and even flights connecting in places like Boise. It should be possible to requalify for MVP Gold on a single ticket in a single day (albeit that may not be the cheapest option) if you work at it hard enough.
The New York Times Picks Up the BoardingArea Story
The International Herald Tribune article I mentioned last night is now in the New York Times in substantially the same form, except for the mention of View from the Wing. Now I really do feel like David Hasselhoff.
Double Miles to Mexico on Delta
Jan
29
2008
Delta is offering double miles to Mexico (in coach, triple miles in business) for travel through April 15. Registration required. Eligible routes: Atlanta (ATL) Guadalajara (GDL) Atlanta (ATL) Leon (BJX) Atlanta (ATL) Queretaro (QRO) Los Angeles (LAX) Guadalajara (GDL) Los Angeles (LAX) Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo (ZIH) Los Angeles (LAX) Loreto (LTO) Los Angeles (LAX) Mazatlan (MZT) New York (JFK) Mexico City (MEX)
New Round of Dining Bonuses
There’s a new set of iDine bonuses available for most programs which having miles for dining components. Ok, the company that offers these is called Rewards Network these days, but they’ll always be iDine to me. They can be thankful I don’t still call them Transmedia. United. 500 bonus miles for every $100 in spending through March 15, up to 10,000 bonus miles. Delta. 2000 bonus miles for spending $250 by March 31. Northwest. VIP Dining Status (which earns 5 miles per dollar instead of 3 for online-registered members) for spending $250 by March 31. Alaska. VIP Dining Status (which earns 5 miles per dollar instead of 3 for online-registered members) for spending $250 by March 31. American. 250 bonus miles for every dine of $25 or more through March 31. Priority Club. VIP Dining…
Getting Some Attention in Europe
(Which sorta makes me feel like David Hasselhoff.) BoardingArea and View from the Wing are mentioned in an International Herald Tribune piece on business travel blogs.
Hilton HHonors Lifts Blackout Dates and Capacity Controls on Hotel Night Award Redemptions
Hilton HHonors has announced a huge improvement to its award redemption program — no blackout dates, and from the way that I read it what they actually mean is also no capacity controls, just like Starwood if a standard room is available you can redeem for it with points. The fine print here presumably is that each hotel will likely have some flexibility in determining what constitutes a standard room, this is a problem at the occasional Starwood property as well. Hilton has long offered the ‘diamond force’ for award nights for its top tier elite members. Presumably now all members will be able to redeem award nights just about any time they wish. This is a huge move for Hilton, and I’m waiting to see how this plays out in practice. Hilton HHonors points…
1000 Miles for Joining American AAdvantage
American is now offering 1000 miles for new member signup. Become a member instantly online – then, simply visit www.aa.com/offers and enter promo code BNR08 to earn 1,000 AAdvantage miles!
I Don’t Trust TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award Picks
Frequent readers of this blog likely know the general disdain in which I hold most hotel ranking lists. The various ‘best of’ compilations are usually written by people who haven’t been to the properties, and many of the lists seem influenced by advertising buys. TripAdvisor has issued its new 2008 Travelers’ Choice Awards, which represent a slightly different take… it amounts to an amalgamation of traveler opinions. And while I find TripAdvisor to be a useful site for picking up very specific comments on properties and looking for consistent themes across reviews, picking the best properties from the masses of opinions on the internet doesn’t work very well in practice. Here are just a few of the oddities which show up at a quick glance: The Signature at MGM Grand is supposedly the best luxury…
New United Visa Offer – Up to 40,000 Bonus Miles
There’s a new United Visa offer, here are the salient details: first year free, 20,000 bonus miles with first purchase (note, no requirement for minimum spending) 10,000 bonus miles for spending $10,000 on the card in six months (if you hit the $10,000 spending threshold, it amounts to earning double miles for your first $10k in spend) 10,000 bonus miles on your first anniversary with the card (which will imply paying a $60 fee) Chase, the card issuer, is clearly trying to incentivize two things: getting new cardholders to start putting their spending on this card rather than existing cards, and getting those cardholders to keep the card a full year rather than pocketing the initial bonus and cancelling befor ethe fee comes due. For those who just want the quick mileage fix, then the…
Conflict of Interest Watch, or Where are My Free Perks??
The Times of London is reporting that British Airways is revoking Michael Winner‘s complimentary Gold status after Winner published negative comments about the airline in a newspaper piece. A spokesman for BA explains: “Mr Winner has a complimentary gold card from British Airways. Given his recent comments, we are sure he won’t be needing it. So we won’t be renewing it. Our message to Michael Winner is: ‘Don’t worry, dear, it’s only a gold card.’ ” Ok, fair enough, There’s no reason for British Airways to extend you special courtesies if you’re going to trash it in print. But… wait a minute! The airline is offering up status, presumably hoping that it will influence your public statements. Shouldn’t that sort of thing be disclosed when you’re commenting publicly on the airline? And more importantly, why…
