News and notes from around the interweb: Success loading a(n Amex) Target RED card with a Onevanilla prepaid debit card Plastc is another take on loading all your credit cards into a single card, like Coin which went public a year ago but is still hard to get in beta. Personally I’m waiting until an actual product release before jumping on. How to check your room for bed bugs Save up to 1/3rd on SPG award redemptions at Caesars hotels. Savings vary with rates, and wind up not being a great deal much of the time. When Vegas rooms are cheap, pay cash. The Thai Coasian Anti-Bribery Campaign, Moral Hazard Edition You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one…
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The Best Amex Points Transfers by Destination Now That Delta Transfers are Being Capped
American Express Membership Rewards just took a hit with the news that there will be a cap on the number of points a member can transfer to Delta Skymiles each year. Now, I rarely recommended transferring to Delta. Their awards tended to be tougher to get and cost more than those of many other major currencies. But it was ‘easy’ for many — Delta was the last remaining major U.S. airline that American Express points transferred to. There are a surprising number of people out there with tons of Amex points, many hundreds of thousands and into the seven figures. And for them it’s often the case that just moving points over to the program they know was the simple solution. Nothing to figure out, or so it seemed. Starting in 2015, it will only…
Thai Government Initiative Cracks Down on Bad Thai Food Around the World
Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was so bothered by the state of Thai food around the world that she raised the issue at a Cabinet meeting. She has since been deposed by a military coup but her work lives on. The Thai Delicious Committee was formed and it is rolling out a new robot that will taste Thai food and declare when it’s bad. Diplomats and dignitaries have been invited to witness the debut of a machine that its promoters say can scientifically evaluate Thai cuisine, telling the difference, for instance, between a properly prepared green curry with just the right mix of Thai basil, curry paste and fresh coconut cream, and a lame imitation. A boxy contraption filled with sensors and microchips, the so-called e-delicious machine scans food samples to produce a chemical signature,…
Here are the 10 Best Ways to Take Advantage of a Big Chase Offer
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). How Useful Are Chase Ultimate Rewards Points? Chase Ultimate Rewards are probably the most valuable mileage currency, and certainly one of the top three. Along with American Express Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest points they have the flexibility to be transferred to a wide variety of programs. The value proposition here is that you get to decide later which miles you want — you can top off…
Lufthansa Long Haul About to Go Low Cost: Big Mistake?
Lufthansa is considering a new low cost long haul subsidiary that may fly Airbus A330s. The yet-to-be-named subsidiary, which is part of the Wings concept, would operate up to seven Airbus A330-300s. It will begin operations in fall 2015 with three aircraft in Munich, Düsseldorf or Cologne to take advantage of above-average growth in the leisure travel segment and round out the Lufthansa Group of airlines’ current route networks. ..Lufthansa is building on a new strategy to expand its LCC platform, Wings, which could include Germanwings, Eurowings and the new long-haul LCC returning to A320 operations to focus on direct point-to-point flights within Europe. I’ve never seen a wholly owned low cost carrier subsidiary that has actually worked, outside of Asia Pacific. (Think TED, MetroJet, Continental Lite.) In fairness, Jetstar (Qantas), FlyDubai (Government of Dubai…
The Full PointBreaks List of Discounted IHG Award Hotels Leaked Early
Yesterday IHG Rewards Club reached out to let me know that the next round of PointBreaks — discounted hotel redemptions that cost just 5000 points per night — would be posted on Monday for stays between September 29 and November 30. They shared a sample of the ~ 150 properties that will be featured: Crowne Plaza® Hotel Huizhou – Huizhou, GD Crowne Plaza® Kumamoto – New Sky, Kumamoto, Japan Crowne Plaza® Dublin- Northwood, Ireland Holiday Inn® Sydney – Waterfront, Sydney, NS, Canada Holiday Inn Express® – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico Staybridge Suites® – San Diego Rancho Bernardo Area, California, USA Candlewood Suites® – Washington- Dulles Herndon, Virginia, USA
This Really is the Last Time You’ll Be Able to Buy US Airways Miles on the Cheap
US Airways is running a 100% bonus on purchased miles through September 30. For the past several years US Airways has been the industry leader in selling miles cheap. Offering a 100% bonus just meant, more or less, meant that it was a day of the week that ended in “day”. With this offer they sell 20,000 or more miles at 1.88 cents apiece. Of course US Airways miles aren’t as cheap as they used to be or even as cheap as they used to be. And you can’t get 90,000 mile Hong Kong awards in business class anymore. But now that those are 110,000 miles, you might as well go for first class which is just 120,000 miles roundtrip. Hard to argue first isn’t worth it, for just 5000 miles more each way. I’m…
Emirates A380 First Class Award Space Wide Open This Winter – Act Fast!
The easiest way to search for award space is with the Alaska Airlines website, since Alaska is a partner of Emirates and allows searching their space online. They also show an award calendar. Historically they have only shown a subset of the space that Emirates makes available. Expertflyer shows space, at least as offered to Emirates’ own Skywards members (and Emirates Skywards is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards — but does add fuel surcharges where applicable). What’s interesting is that the Alaska Airlines website seems to be showing availability hat matches Expertflyer. Right now, even to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members there appears to be very very good award space this winter in first class for two passengers on several routes between the US and Dubai — routes served by Emirates Airbus…
Here are the Top 10 Ways to Earn Miles — Several Are Quick and Easy
Yesterday I wrote about the 11 greatest miles and points deals ever. Some folks had their own, and there were plenty of amazing opportunities I didn’t add to the list — like how I used to earn 80,000+ miles at a time opening and funding Citibank checking accounts with a credit card (you couldn’t use Citibank credit cards to do this, and after enough accounts they’d say you could not do it anymore!). What some folks asked me for was, what are the best ways to earn miles today? You can’t get 20,000 Delta miles for a Bosley hair restoration consultation anymore. And the United-Safeway partnership no longer gives you miles. You can’t get a free Airtran flight for 64 Coke cups from Wendys. And yet I’ve never earned as many miles as I do…
Swiss Outlines its Fleet Plans: Keeping First Class, Adding More Flying to the U.S.
Business Travel News carried a piece on Swiss’ U.S. and fleet plans based on an interview with the airline’s senior director for the Americas, suggesting that the airline wants to be high-end. Swiss aims to “be closer to our customer and have a higher product point” with new aircraft. “When you have a fleet of 90 aircraft, its easier to get there,” They plan to deploy six new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to the Western U.S. and East Asia. They do not plan to add premium economy, but do currently plan to keep offering first class. Sadly, Swiss first class redemptions are available only to Miles & More elite frequent flyer members and not at all to partner airline frequent flyer members. Swiss currently flies to Boston, Chicago, New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles, Miami and…
