The Merrill+ Visa offers an interesting value proposition: a proprietary points program that can be used for coach airlines tickets or for merchandise, a la Worldpoints or a CapitalOne card. So far, not very interesting. But there are spending thresholds of $20,000 and $50,000 and at each threshold additional benefits kick in. $50,000 in spending on the card in a calendar year will earn 4 free nights at a Ritz-Carlton hotel. That’s a decent reward for $50,000 in spending, but since the proprietary points program wasn’t that useful to me I still preferred my Starwood American Express and Diners Club combo. Now they’ve introduced point transfers to British Airways on a 1:1 basis. So $50,000 in spending nets you 4 Ritz-Carlton nights and 50,000 British Airways miles. Not bad at all, actually an amazing return,…
Northwest and Delta File for Bankruptcy
Delta and Northwest both filed for bankruptcy this afternoon after market close.Both were expected to file in advance of bankruptcy law changes going into effect October 17th. Northwest did not receive any debtor-in-possession financing commitments, instead opting to operate with its existing $1.5 billion in cash. Delta received commitments of up to $1.7 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from GE Commercial Finance and Morgan Stanley and has received a separate commitment of another $350 million from American Express. Amex prepaid the purchase of half a billion Skymiles last year to infuse cash into the airline. One requirement of those funds was that as a first act Delta ask the bankruptcy court to reaffirm the airline’s frequent flyer program liabilities. I don’t expect immediate changes to either airline’s frequent flyer program. If anything I’d anticipate more mileage…
Hilton Downgrades Instant Gold Members
Sep
14
2005
Back in April I mentioned (here and here) a promotion code to instantly upgrade your Hilton Hhonors account to Gold status. It’s a code meant for Citibank Chairman’s Card credit card holders, but Hilton apparently made no effort to restrict up front who could use it. It isn’t even just a situation of a secret promo code that got out. I called Hilton one day and the promo code was mentioned in the voice tree without even reference to the Citibank Chairman’s Card. Now, however, Hilton is haphazardly going through their records and demoting the status of people who signed up using the code. I say haphazardly because some people who were eligible for the promotion (they had the Citibank Chairmans Card) were downgraded, and others who were not eligible still retained their status. What’s…
The Westin Diplomat
I spent Labor Day weekend at the Westin Diplomat on a cash and points award reservation — $60 and 4000 Starwood points per night. It’s located in Hollywood, Florida — North of Miami, not exactly in the middle of the action but right on the Atlantic Ocean. In the 60’s and 70’s the original Diplomat was frequented by Rat Pack types. The hotel closed in 1991 and was acquired by the International Brotherhood of Plumbers and Pipefitters in 1998, torn down, and rebuilt. A building project funded by a union pension to a tune just shy of $1 billion dollars seems like a good idea, doesn’t it? So it should be no surprise that the State of Florida managed to force the union to get an independent trustee appointed to oversee the money and to…
Budget Car Rental Discount
I’m usually an Avis guy (recent problems notwithstanding). But sometimes the rates from other car companies are just too good. I recently booked a colleague on a 13-day full size rental with Budget that came to $295 — that’s $22.69 a day including taxes and fees. Their United Airlines special offer gives miles and a real 10% – 15% off the best web rate. Not always useful, but one for the arsenal.
Gratis Networks becomes FreePay
About 3 weeks ago, Gratis Networks changed its name to FreePay. Gratis, of course, is the company that spawned the Free iPods offer and then expanded into things like free digital cameras and free Xbox 360s. As long-time readers of this site know, I spent a lot of time figuring out the best ways to go about getting these offers. In general, you have to complete a marketing offer and get several friends (3 to 10, depending on the electronic item you seek) to do the same. If you wait long enough, easy offers will show up — offers that are free or free for a trial period long enough to cancel without getting charged. Customer service is slow, the company isn’t responsive, but I’ve always gotten my items — the iPod mini, the photo…
Overstock Coupon Link
Overstock.com is offering 12% off entire orders for first-time buyers through September 30th.
USAirways-America West Frequent Flyer Partnership Coming Soon
In the next few weeks you’ll be able to earn miles in the program of your choice — USAirways Dividend Miles or America West FlightFund — when flying on either airline. Sometime in 2006 miles from both accounts will be merged together. The two airlines have started to release some information regarding their frequent flier plans. Starting this fall, members of US Airways Dividend Miles plan and America West’s FlightFund plan can earn and redeem miles throughout the new airlines’ combined route system. Next year, the miles will all be combined into a single Dividend Miles account. And the miles will not expire as long as your account is open, officials of the airlines said. …The airlines speculate that “Day 1” of the merged airline could be as early as Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Earning and burning miles for hurricane relief
The Akron Beacon-Journal carries a piece (Hat tip to Tripso Daily) on using your points to help Hurricane Katrina victims. The best advice, no surprise, is to visit Webflyer.com which has a rundown of how to use your points to make a difference. Most major programs have a way to either donate points (which in many cases will be converted to cash for charity by the loyalty program) or to earn points for your own donation of cash.
Gas Prices Rise, Rental Car Gas Becomes Cheap
Tyler Cowen points to gas prices higher than a rental car company’s price for refilling your tank. Gas at the pump in downtown Birmingham: $3.99/g. Gas from Hertz when you return it: $3.05/g. Still, be careful out there — there may be other costs besides per-gallon costs, such as flat service charges on gas refills. And this doesn’t mean you should “prepay” the gas which requires you to return the car empty in order to make out well since you’re prepaying an entire tank of gas (again, check the service fees).
