Jan
17
2007
I won’t actually drink Sutter Home wine, but I will take a free corkscrew…
How to Open Bad Wine
I’m Not a Fan of New York Hotels
Most places in the world, if you’re paying $450 a night for a hotel, you expect something out of the ordinary. In New York you can expect a bed. That’s the first reality check for folks not used to staying in Manhattan. The Holiday Inn Midtown usually goes for upwards of $369 a night. If you want to stay under $300, check out the Ramada. If you want closer to $200, there’s the HoJo’s at Penn Station. Even when you’re at a nicer property, rooms and bathrooms are uniquely small. Think 250 square feet. 350 square feet might be considered a junior suite. And — I can say this as a former New Yorker — the hotels are staffed by New Yorkers…. When I’m up in New York I’m most likely to stay at the…
25% Bonus for Converting Hotel Points to Northwest
Jan
02
2007
Northwest is offering a 25% bonus on hotel points converted to miles by January 31. Registration is required.only valid for WorldPerks members who reside in North America. The bonus applies to points converted from Goldpoints, Hilton, Hyatt, Priority Club, and Marriott. Starwood transfers are not included.
United iDine Bonus: 5000 Bonus Miles for 10 Dines by March 31
Jan
02
2007
Register by February 15 and dine 10 times (minimum $25 spend) by March 31 at qualifying restaurants to earn 5000 bonus Mileage Plus miles.
Tumi Winter Sale
Tumi, my favorite luggage brand, is having their winter sale — up to 40% off on discontinued styles and colors. This seems to come twice a year (most recently back in June) and items are available until they sell out. Even with the sale this isn’t cheap luggage. You won’t find any $35 wheeled carryons here. But Tumi is outstanding for the frequent business traveler.
American Raises its International Upgrade Co-Pay and Extends it to… Hawaii
Starting March 1 American’s fee to upgrade internationally with miles increases from $250 to $300, and a new $150 fee will apply to mileage upgrades to and from Hawaii.Full fare tickets remain exempt from the fee, and upgrades requested prior to March 1 (for travel after March 1, even if the upgrade doesn’t clear until after March 1) won’t have the new fee structure apply. $250 to $300 ($500 to $600 roundtrip) isn’t a big deal — once the fee was introduced, a 20% increase in that fee is almost beside the point. The watershed was broken, off course the price would increase. Though extending the fee to Hawaii flights is a huge deal, a real blow to AAdvantage members. And, frankly, it’s not all that good a deal –“YUP” fares that confirm in first…
Varig Exiting Star Alliance
Won’t affect most folks, but Varig is leaving the Star Alliance as of January 31. No great loss in one sense — they’re not a particularly strong or valuable player — but Star Alliance is already really quite weak in Latin/South America (and the former loss of Mexicana was no help, either).
An Extra Month to Redeem Starwood Points at Lower 2006 Pricing
Usually each year in late December Starwood adjusts the categories that each hotel is in, determining the new number of points required for a property’s award redemption in the coming year. This year, since they’re introducing a new more expensive “category 7” for redemptions on February 1, they’re delaying the usual category adjustments until that time as well. Now, that doesn’t mean in practice that every hotel will be adjusted on February 1 — some usually happen a few days before the changeover, some a few days after (since in this past it’s been a cumbersome process for the programmers). And occasionally hotels get changed during the year as well, usually based on a review of their revenue that they request Starwood Preferred Guest to undertake. So don’t take this absolutely to the bank, and…
Chase Getting Wise to Credit Card Churning?
For years, one of the easiest way to earn large amounts of miles has been churning credit cards. Some issuers keep awarding signup bonuses no matter how many times you apply. There are even reports of successfully obtaining new United Visa cards every 34 days or so — along with the 25,000 bonus miles for new cardholders (on both the personal and business cards, with fee waived the first year!) each time. FirstUSA, which was acquired by BankOne, and is now Chase has been famous for allowing this on all of their co-branded cards — not just United, but also British Airways, Priority Club, Marriott, Southwest, etc. Citibank’s American Airlines co-branded products have been easy to churn, and Bank of America cards like the USAirways Visa have as well. There’s always a discussion of affect…
Another step in the trend towards earning elite status based on credit card spend
The Delta American Platinum Express is upping the ante. Instead of just the old 10,000 elite qualifying miles for a spend target, you’ll now get 10,000 qualifying miles when you hit $25,000 in spend during a year and another 10,000 qualifying miles when you hit $50,000 in spend during the calendar year. That’s 20,000 qualifying miles for credit card spending. The Delta Amex used to award qualifying miles for spending over the course of your cardmember year (i.e. between the months where your annual fee hits) rather than calendar year. For the 2007 transition year you get your 10,000 qualifying miles based on your cardmember year and up to 20,000 qualifying miles based on calendar year spend – so up to 30,000 qualifying miles. That’s Silver Elite status without setting foot on a plane, or…
