United Reverses Course on Their Expiring 500 Mile Upgrades

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Jun 01 2007

A couple of weeks ago I noted that effective June 1 United would no longer allow expiring 500 mile upgrades to convert to miles — and was also blocking the early conversion of 500 mile upgades in order to get in under the wire. This was a big blow to international customers who rarely use 500 milers, as well as United frequent flyers in TED cities with no cabin to upgrade into. Responding to complaints and pressure, United has relented and reversed course… sort of. Current Global Services, 1K, and Premier Executive members of Mileage Plus can register by August 15th so that their expiring 500 mile upgrades will continue to convert to miles — as long as the member retains at least Premier Executive status or resides outside of the 50 U.S. states. General…

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Alaska Starts Hawaii Service

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines
Jun 01 2007

It’s been rumored for what seems like forever, and Alaska Airlines has finally announced service to Hawaii.Seattle-Honolulu starts October 12th; Seattle-Lihu’e begins October 28th; Anchorage-Honolulu starts December 9th. They have some great introductory fares of $109+tax each way, but don’t count on finding any seats left (after a day!) at that price. Instead, fares of around $160+tax each way are still available — which is pretty darn good. Alaska will apparently allow use of the Bank of America Visa $50 companion tickets on these routes, and the flights are upgradeable with miles and MVP Gold Guest upgrade certificates. If you have or can score a $50 companion ticket on a $350-ish all-in ticket, and there’s upgrade availability, two people can fly first class from Seattle to Hawaii for $450 or so roundtrip + 40,000 frequent…

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Open Enrollment Returns to British Airways Executive Club

by Gary Leff

british-airways-plane
Jun 01 2007

Nearly four years ago British Airways stopped letting just anyone sign up for their frequent flyer program. Riiff raff, non-full fare paying passengers be gone! They’ve apparently, quietly, reversed course. British Airways is once again letting anyone enroll in their Executive Club program. You no longer need to use this Starwood promo link or similar ones, eg from Diners Club, to sign up for the program.

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Free Flights for Buying Pants

by Gary Leff

Dockers is offering a free roundtrip ticket with purchase of $125 in mens clothing. It’s one of those really difficult, restrictive promos which require picking from a list of departure and destination cities and being really flexible with your travel. But several Flyertalkers have some interesting approaches for making the most of the promo.

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Free SAS Luggage Tags

by Gary Leff

SAS plane
May 31 2007

SAS is giving out free luggage tags to all SAS Eurobonus members. Just email eurobonus@sas.no with the subject BagTag and include your EuroBonus number in the email.

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Looking forward to paying my mortgage by credit card

by Gary Leff

The Wall Street Journal reports that mortgage payments by credit card may be on the way — for a fee.Details are still sketchy, and your financial position/amount of your mortgage payment/choice of rewards program will determine whether it’s worthwhile… I wouldn’t mind picking up 35,000 Starwood points at a cost of a penny a point in the first year, and no incremental cost in future years, should that be how this shakes out. Developing…

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$300 off $300 – Northwest Last Minute Packages

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
May 23 2007

Northwest’s Last Minute Packages (formerly ‘CyberSavers’) are offering a fantastic deal — promo code LMP2007 is taking $300 off a trip of $300 or more. Per Northwest’s promotional email, it’s only supposed to be taking off $25. One Flyertalker writes I just snagged a trip for Fri. night – Sun. night to the Chicago vicinity with two nights at a Radisson for $5.91 all-in. So if you’re still looking for something to do Memorial Day Weekend (or the following weekend), this may be the deal you’ve been waiting for.

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United Ends Mileage Conversion of Expiring 500-Mile Upgrades

by Gary Leff

united-plane
May 20 2007

United awards elite flyers (4) 500-mile upgrade certificates for every 10,000 miles flown on United (and United Express and Ted.. rar!.. planes). They also sell ’em. And they can be used to upgrade domestic flights a few days in advance of travel subject to availability, the specific length of time governed by your particular status with United. Currently, if those upgrade certificates expire unused, they each convert to 500 frequent flyer miles. June 1 this practice is no more. I knew about the change back in January when it was posted on Flyertalk and didn’t see it as an especially big deal. It used to be that the old paper 500s converted just to 250 miles, and you had to mail them in to boot. Then when they went electronic it actually improved to the…

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