The two best offers I’m currently aware of are 30 Northwest miles per dollar spent at FTD and 30 United miles per dollar spent at FTD. The Northwest offer is new. The United one has been around a long time. Though the latter says it is for United’s top-tier elites, it works for anyone.
Tomorrow is their fifth anniversary and they’re giving away 500 roundtrip tickets to the first one hundred people who show up at each of their five New York City borough locations dressed as one of the destinations they fly to (along with a canned food item for City Harvest).
Refer up to four friends to Mileage Plus. Each one that flies a roundtrip (as long as it isn’t booked as an S, T, or L fare) before June 30 will earn 3000 bonus miles plus 2000 miles for you. Update: This appears to be targeted, though a majority of reports to me so far are from folks who were targeted. Your mileage may vary.
In a move that matches United, American is offering double miles on all flights booked by February 18 for travel through May 25. Registration required.
When India’s Minister for Civil Aviation can say with a straight face that India’s airports are more secure than US airports, I view that as a strong indictment of US security policy. Anyone who has traveled through a major Indian airport must shake their head, though more at the chaos than the security. And it’s true that there haven’t been major recent security incidents there that I’m aware of. But the US should be looking pretty hard at itself when claims like these are made openly. (Comments are open, feel free to flame away.)
Lara Flynn Boyle flashed her breasts and tried to climb into bed with a male stranger on board a British Airways flight in first class from Los Angeles to London.Passengers say they saw the star naked and “wild-eyed” as she leaned over a male passenger, tried to get into his bed, pushed up the window blind next to the man and shouted: “We’re landing, get your clothes on” – even though the flight was still more than four hours away from Heathrow. The cabin crew gave the actress a blanket to cover herself. But the show continued as she ripped out a reading light from her seat, thrust it at a steward and demanded: “Get rid of this and get it out of my sight for ever and ever.’ She then walked to the lavatory,…
Andy Bowers writes that online checkin is a security threat. I always thought it was a great way to meet friends and family at their gate and use airline clubs as a free pub on days I’m not traveling.
Through February 11, USAirways is offering 10,000 Dividend Miles for signing up for a lounge membership with promo code CLB10. That’s a pretty good bonus offer, but while USAirways has some breathing room to operate I’m not sure I’d be investing in anything that last’s a full year with them. They may well be around, but I’d rather fly to Vegas and put the money on black. Better return that way. Besides, it still offends me that USAirways charges extra for accessing partner lounges. If I just wanted access to the club on the carrier that I was flying on the day that I was flying with them, I’d probably buy an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge membership.
eBay has a new member-get-member promotion. Existing members can refer new members. If a new member buys something for $10 or more or lists something for sale within 30 days, both the referring member and the new member receive 500 eBay Anything Points. Those points, of course, can be used for eBay purchases (500 points = $5 credit) or converted to airline or hotel points at Points.com. I can of course refer anyone who wishes to join eBay, just drop me an email. But most people have joined at one point or another I imagine?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
