Quick $200 Giveaway – Leave a Comment Here

by Gary Leff

Quick giveaway: $200 (2 prizes of $100 gift cards)

I received 5000 Starwood Starpoints from a complaint that I didn’t feel was a great idea for me to take. Rather than trying to get them to claw back the points, I feel better giving something away in its place. A few readers had proactively suggested (I didn’t ask for advice… 😛 ) that I give away Starpoints, but I can’t really transfer them and they’re expensive to buy. So a $100 gift card seems appropriate there.

And in addition I had an extra $100 card I had purchased to do a few experiments with, and that I don’t wind up needing. Obviously it’s money, and I could either use the card or manage to get the funds back into a bank account. But the card was purchased in the name of frequent flyer ‘science’ so I figure it’s worth giving away here as well.

So that’s two good reasons to give away $100, and I thought I’d give away 2 x $100 gift cards. It’s not a monster big prize, so we’re not going to do a multi-day multi-post extravaganza on it. Just a quick giveaway over the course of the next 24 hours. (I’m leaving it open that long to ensure everyone following by email subscription, or regardless of time zone, has a change to participate.)

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post that answers any of the following:

  • What you will do with a $100 gift card?
  • What is the best travel tip you know?
  • What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from this blog?

Any of these work.

You may enter one time only. By entering you agree that I’m trying to do something reasonably nice and you won’t give me a hard time over the nuances of rules, complain in any way, and agree to be bound by any and all of my judgments are they relate to this offer (and agree that those judgments are final and are not appealable).

Fire away in the comments, I look forward to drawing winners and sending out the prizes.

About Gary Leff

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 »

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Comments

  1. 1. Pay for transit stay at Marriott with $100 gift card.
    2. Look for sweet spots on award charts.
    3. Book US Airways award through agent roulette.

  4. Thanks Gary!
    From your blog, I’ve learned to consider multiple options with different carriers/alliances in order to maximize my miles usage. Thanks for the contest.

  5. I would use the gift card to reimburse myself for the $100 I’m giving to my sons mom for caring for my son while I was in San Diego this weekend. 🙂

  7. What would I do with a $100 gift card? I’d splurge on the new hard side suitcase that I’ve been coveting, but can’t really justify buying. 🙂

  9. I’m a college student – you taught me how to fly LH F through FRA to my semester abroad! Thanks!

  12. The most valuable thing that I learned in this blog is that the almost impossible is possible “DELTA”.

  21. What you will do with a $100 gift card? – use it to help with the expenses of my upcoming trip to CO, TX and VA

    What is the best travel tip you know? – always pack an empty bag to serve as an additional piece of luggage to haul all the stuff you bought at the place you visited

    What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from this blog? – four words: “hang up, call again”!

  24. I didn’t know anything about miles and points until I happened upon your blog a year ago. Happily, I can now afford to take more vacations!

  25. Before this blog, I was unaware of the points game and I feel that the points system has showed me what life is all about. The more you give, the more you get.

  26. What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from this blog? I can now travel in a smart & decent way!

  31. What is the best travel tip you know?
    Booking SIA flights using cash and points for the family. Our kids’ account have a few thousand points about to expire but don’t have enough for awards tickets and I realized we can book tickets in SIA using cash+points. However, when booking 3 tickets together, the system only uses points from a single account and it was not possible to book a kid’s ticket separately as since there’s a minimum age requirement. Then I realized I can book the kids’ tickets as “adults” and could use cash+points. To be sure that I don’t get in trouble, I called SIA support and they tried to assist but at the end saying “Go ahead and book them as adults”. Sure enough, SIA was fine with that and we were able to used up almost all the SIA points in each account that were about to expire for cash+points tickets.

  32. I’m going to Russia to take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok. The gift card will help to offset the crazy summer hotel prices in Russia!

    Thanks, Gary, for the tutorial on booking Meridien Airlines first class to Moscow! Can’t wait to try the hot-tub 🙂

  34. Always carry a plastic garbage with you. The big ones. You won’t believe how many things you can use it for when things go wrong. They only weigh an ounce and take up hardly any romm at all

  36. Ive gotten to know of cash back portals from this blog. Sometimes, the pay out+ points are enough to get 20-25% back from the expense.

  38. I would use the $100 on a trip that I can now take because of this blog. I was new to this and this site has taught me a lot. Also, I learned a quick travel tip: When your suitcase is full, use a garbage bag, vacuum and rubber bands inside of the suitcase and suck the air out. It works every time!

  39. The best thing that I learned from your blog is New Zealand is a crappy place to live in terms of those frequent traveling programmes. Not many good hotel chains, no good credit cards, not many good FFP. Thanks

  40. Best travel tip? Always carry a backpack or small bag and have a sweater or something warm in there; airplanes and airports always differ in temperature.

  42. When traveling, always a use a VPN, especially when logging on any financial websites (banking, PayPal or anything else where you enter in a password).

  43. If you want to burn points most effectively, be flexible about your destination and departure.

  45. Travel tip:
    Always carry an extra pair of a shirt and undergarments in the event of a delay of cancellation.

  49. What you will do with a $100 gift card: Take my son to MIA.

    What is the best travel tip you know? During IRROPS when there’s a huge line to rebook with a gate agent, call the airline and work it out on your cell as you stand in line.

    What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from this blog? Hung up, call again.

  50. Best thing I’ve learned is … be nice! If you don’t get the answer you want, HUCA. Sometimes you can get what you want by getting the phone agent on your side with a little bit of extra info. “I want to take my granddaughter to Japan, but I can’t figure out how to do it with _______ miles/points.”

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