Reader WR asked for “[w]ays to maximize miles *without* use of credit cards.” I’ll take the question to mean, what are the best ways to earn miles without signing up for credit cards, or using credit cards as the means of earning miles (through bonus categories, or heavy spend – manufactured or not). I’ll allow that credit cards can be used as a payment mechanism for activities you’d do otherwise. There have been plenty of great opportunities over time. I’ll never forget earning 20,000 Delta miles for a Bosley hair restoration consultation (I had more hair back then). I used to benefit mightily from United’s GroceryMiles program with Safeway. And then there was dumpster diving. But there are lots of ways to earn miles today:
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Why Aren’t There Any Good Thai Restaurants in New York?
Reader Andrew said, Gary, would you tell us about your favorite Thai restaurants in NYC? Are any of them the same caliber as Elephant Jumps? Bonus points for being run-down, hole-in-the-wall places. If you want to eat Elephant Jumps’ food you’re going to have to go to Elephant Jumps. There’s unlikely to be a New York substitute. For all of you New Yorkers that have your back up at that statement, I’ll happily concede that the Washington DC area can compete or outcompete New York in probably only one or two other areas — Vietnamese for sure, and I’m tempted to say Ethiopian although that cuisine has been in long-term decline in the District. You’re going to get more hole in the wall places in Flushing than in Manhattan, and in Manhattan on the streets…
IHG Rewards Club Unannounced Update to Terms and Conditions
IHG Rewards Club has again updated its terms and conditions without notifying members. This isn’t the big change to points-earning they snuck in just before the clock struck midnight on the New Year. Instead it’s a change to how they reward meeting planners and corporate bookers. Roughly speaking it appears they’re aping what Starwood has done with SPG Pro but they’ve updated their terms and conditions without telling members.
Now that American-US Airways Has Consolidated into a Single Frequent Flyer Program It’s Time for AAdvantage to Update Its Award Rules
US Airways Dividend Miles was pretty much ‘anything goes’ as far as award routings go — the combination of flights you were allowed to use when booking an award to get from your origin to destination. There was no auto-validation of routings and no auto-pricing. Whatever region an agent thought you were traveling to determined the price they would enter. So you could ‘guide them’ (“I’d like to book a North Asia award, we’ll connect in Hong Kong in North Asia on the way to Bangkok. And now to wrap up this North Asia award let’s connect back through Tokyo and…”) I really do think American needs to liberalize their routing rules. American requires that:
Delta Adds 2 Airlines to Online Award Booking, Will Bring Back Virgin Australia
Delta added an online award calendar back in November (and then of course used it as a fig leaf for the elimination of award charts). Since then they’ve been adding various airline partners to their online booking functionality like China Southern and China Eastern and Aerolineas Argentinas and Garuda Indonesia as well as China Airlines and Gol. Now Delta has more updates. Aeroflot and Vietnam Airlines Added to Online Award Booking Aeroflot has decent business class award availability for two passengers much of the time and flies from New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Miami. Their inflight product is better than you think. And their flights are a way to travel beyond Moscow as well, such as to India. Vietnam Airlines doesn’t have a fantastic inflight product in business (though their new 787s will…
How to Stretch Hyatt Points and Get Great Upgrades
Reader Christian asks, I have a lot of Hyatt award nights booked for this fall in Asia and planned for next summer in Europe. While building up my points, I’d intended to do a Diamond Challenge early this summer, to have the status for this year and next. Now, with the Challenge effectively dead, I can (and likely will) get the Hyatt card later this year, but it only comes with Gold status. I value breakfast and club access, but am a bit dubious as to whether Gold status will get me anywhere, especially in Europe. I don’t have the points to move up to a club room for more than a few nights. Any thoughts or ideas? Hyatt used to hand out temporary Diamond status — complete with confirmed suite upgrades — pretty much…
American Airlines Ends Inflight Duty Free
Apparently American Airlines has ceased selling onboard duty free. Delta dropped duty free last summer. It was characterized in media as a dispute over contract details with their outsource provider, the same company I believe which American worked with (DFASS Group). Duty free is said to be a $3 billion industry, although that strikes me as surprisingly high. Duty free purchases of high tax items like alcohol and cigarettes are popular as are jewelry and cosmetics, especially in Asia and the Middle East as well as Scandinavia flights. You’ll just have to buy your duty free here instead. US airlines don’t have the same volume of duty free purchases as Asian and Middle Eastern carriers. I’ve read that Korean has a standalone duty free display for shopping throughout the flight on the A380 (I’ve only…
Will the Thai Airways Mileage Program Be a Savior for United Passengers?
yosithezet responds to my post suggesting that the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program is a good place to credit miles for United flights (because it earns full miles flown and you can top off accounts with points transferred from Citi, Chase, Amex, and Starwood) by asking, “What about Thai? And that’s such a good question! Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus offers full mileage earning on all paid United fares. Here’s the earning chart: And for avoidance of doubt:
Where Should You Credit United Flights to Now That They’re Awarding Fewer Miles?
With United’s new revenue-based frequent flyer program for earning miles from flying, you earn miles based on the price of your ticket and not based on the distance you fly when traveling on United. The ‘break-even’ price to earn the same miles in 2015 that you would have earned in 2014 is a ticket that costs about 20 cents per mile. But United’s average fare is significantly less than 15 cents per miles. So on average folks are positioned to earn fewer miles from their flying under the new program. As a result, it is worth asking whether — if you must fly United — to credit those miles to the MileagePlus program or to credit to a partner airline. If you are going to earn elite status, credit to United. You may earn fewer…
For the Best Airfare Deals (Including Mistakes), Follow The Flight Deal
Several readers asked how they could have found out about the American Airlines mistake business class airfares to China from earlier this week. That one was on FlyerTalk first, I believe, but it was also posted at TheFlightDeal.com. They had the $1700 3-cabin first class deal to Seoul and the $178+ fares to Abu Dhabi, India, and Africa. They also had this month’s $500+ Air France premium economy deal to Istanbul (a $2500 – $3000 ticket normally). Scanning their site just this morning I see: Chicago – Jakarta for $795 roundtrip Los Angeles – Copenhagen for $651 roundtrip New York – Bangkok for $756 roundtrip San Francisco – Stockholm for $654 roundtrip Seattle – Hong Kong for $536 roundtrip They have a daily email list and they tweet out deals as well as listing deals…
