Taking surveys for miles was super lucrative twenty years ago. Now I very often don’t bother. The rewards tend to be much lower, and I’ve wasted too much time on screening questions to even qualify for a survey that don’t pay out at all, only to learn after that effort that I’m not eligible.
Here’s an exception to the rule. There’s a new offer to earn 10,000 Hilton points as a bonus for your first Guest Opinion Rewards survey, increased from just 1250 bonus points.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
American Airlines is refinancing the mortgage it took on its frequent flyer program with the U.S. Treasury by raising $7.5 billion against AAdvantage in private financial markets.
As part of these efforts they had to make a ton of information public about AAdvantage in an SEC 8-K filing. Here are 14 interesting things that they had to share with investors and the SEC.
The 39-year-old woman would remove a piece of clothing and then put it back on, though gradually more and more of her clothes were off. While she wasn’t endangering other passengers by her stripping, she was described as ‘disoriented’ and flight attendants and passengers teamed up to restrain her using a seatbelt, a rope, and tape.
In video taken onboard the flight, the woman is seen tied up in her seat to prevent her from taking off her clothes.
Greece’s tourism minister says the country will welcome travelers from most of the world who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, present a negative test, or antibodies from prior infection.
Airport bathrooms have always been sketchy places, and not just because you might run into former Idaho Senator Larry Craig. Whether it’s a hand poking through a men’s room wall at the Hong Kong airport, someone replacing the soap with a bodily fluid in Detroit, or a collapsing toilet sending a man to the hospital in Hefei, China, these are places you’ve wanted to get in and out of as quickly as possible.
With the Covid-19 pandemic airport bathrooms have taken on a new urgency because of risk of virus spread.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Monday, “Every time there’s a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this country.” But this isn’t actually true, and it misses the point completely.
When Air Canada relaunched the Aeroplan frequent flyer program – an American Express transfer partner, and soon to have a Chase co-brand credit card, so highly relevant to Americans – they committed to an award chart.
Right now though partner award pricing isn’t sticking to the chart. That means some awards are pricing higher than they should, and others are pricing for fewer miles.
Marriott charges resort fees on supposedly free nights. When you use your points you still have a cash co-pay or ‘loyalty tax.’ Neither Hilton nor Hyatt does this. And these resort fees can be $99 per night, plus tax, or even more.
Most Bonvoy members don’t learn there’s a fee to redeem their points until they’ve stayed with the chain, spent time in the program, and accumulated enough points to be ready to redeem. That’s why it’s a loyalty tax.
About 50 minutes prior to touchdown, the pilot got up to use the first class lavatory. A passenger seated up front got up to use the lav. The flight attendant working the forward galley should be blocking the path between the cabin and the cockpit. But that didn’t happen here. And this failing turned into a brawl between the pilot and flight attendant.
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 »
