Wide Open Turkish Airways Business Class Awards For Four Or More, Several Routes

by Gary Leff

turkish airlines plane
Mar 14 2022

Most Turkish Airlines routes between the U.S. and Istanbul are wide open for business class award redemption between October and January – for four or more passengers! – with some routes having availability starting in May.

Turkish is a Star Alliance airline, which means you can use United miles to book. Or you can transfer Citi, Bilt, or Capital One points directly to Turkish for some amazing award pricing. You can also transfer from Chase to Aeroplan or United, Amex to ANA, Avianca or Aeroplan, or Citi, Brex, or Capital One to Avianca as well.

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New Curve Card: Not As Great As We Thought, Re-assigning Charges Doesn’t Retain Category Bonuses

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Mar 14 2022

The new Curve card is beginning to roll out. It lets you link other credit cards and choose which one you pay with, and it can give you rewards on top of the card that you’re charging to and lets you change which card you’re charging after the fact.

However they are saying that re-assigning charges won’t retain merchant codes for category bonuses.

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Donald Trump Asks Direct Mail Donors To Pay For His New Plane

by Gary Leff

Mar 14 2022

Donald Trump no longer has a 747 flying under the Air Force One call sign. He no longer has his Boeing 757 in flying condition either. It has fallen into disrepair needing maintenance and missing parts.

He recently had a well-publicized incident where the plane he was in – not his own – had to make an emergency landing. The Dassault Falcon 900 which was taking him from an event in New Orleans to Palm beach suffered an engine failure. His team used the opportunity to fundraise for a new plane.

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Man Upgrades Himself On 12 Hour Flight While Leaving Wife In Coach, Internet Brands Him Scum

by Gary Leff

Mar 13 2022

A man posted to Reddit and literally got branded an ‘a-hole’ on the site (with flair!) after sharing that he upgraded himself on a 12 hour flight while leaving his wife in economy, and expressed surprised that she was upset by this.

The 25 year old US expat living in Japan said his 24 year old wife was traveling with him to the U.S. for a month and they’d booked seats together. He spent miles for his own upgrade. He asked if he was being a jerk and the internet said yes.

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Beware ‘Optional’ 5% Service Charge At Hotels In London

by Gary Leff

credit card wallet
Mar 13 2022

The U.K. has strong laws that taxes and charges must be shown in the headline rate for hotels. They cannot advertise a price plus resort fee or service charges. The price cannot even be advertised excluding VAT (tax).

Yet many hotels in London and the surrounding area have a workaround for this. They’re adding a 5% ‘service charge’ to bills on top of the room rate which isn’t advertised or even disclosed during the booking process. The trick is that it’s a discretionary (optional) fee, which is to say that the guest can ask to have the charge removed.

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Disney World Is Getting Super Expensive And It’s Not That Good

by Gary Leff

Mar 12 2022

Disney World is the happiest place on earth, right? I’m not so sure. I recently took my toddler there, and she loved it – she was most excited to see Buzz Lightyear. She also didn’t want to get leave rides when they ended. I know I’ll make several more trips there, and my daughter will love it. At the same time Disney just costs a lot of money and isn’t actually that good.

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When American Airlines Cancels A Route, Does It Follow Its Own Rules Or Are Customers On Their Own?

by Gary Leff

Mar 12 2022

When American Airlines suspended its service to Sydney that meant my award itinerary to see my family was cancelled. I spoke to the airline and was told they would re-accommodate my business class award on Qantas… in coach.

This seems to violate both the airline’s published rules and the promise of the joint ventures with other airlines that they promote and are fighting with the government to allow.

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