When your miles are expiring there are plenty of ways to extend them, depending on the program. In general programs let you extend your miles by earning miles in an account or by redeeming miles.
I frequently use Magazines for Miles to keep family member accounts alive without spending any money. I had forgotten there’s a newspaper redemption option, too. And there are some options I’m finding useful on their own merits, not just to deal with expiring miles.
Credit card companies are the largest buyer of miles from the big US airlines. By extension they’re the largest customer for air travel, too. They’re paying billions of dollars and they care what they’re getting in return because they need those miles to be valued by cardmembers in order to incentivize spending on their products.
So why don’t card companies raise a stink when airlines devalue their miles? After all the card companies are getting something worth less for their money. Banks aren’t usually known for being pushovers as counterparties.
Regular readers know that it’s almost always a good idea to pre-order your meal in American Airlines domestic first class, if you’re in the cabin at least 24 hours prior to departure. They have special meals you can order in addition to the two choices that’ll otherwise be on board. For lunch I’ll often take the kosher meal or the muslim meal (I do not like the kosher meal at breakfast).
Since launching a partnership with Zoës Kitchen American Airlines has introduced a pre-order charcuterie plate.
If you want to earn the most points for your spending — beyond just earning a big signup bonus — you need to pay attention to what you spend the most money on and which cards give you the best juice for that specific spending.
If you drive a ton you want a card that maximizes gas spend. If you eat out a lot, there are cards that bonus restaurant spend. Since I travel a lot it’s air, hotel, and dining. Some cards are great for multiple categories.
In November American Airlines revamped their first class meal lineup and included a cheeseburger option at lunch.
My initial reaction was that it looked very similar to United’s cheeseburger, right down to the Sir Kensington condiments, however it appeared to have a proper bun rather than United’s pretzel bun. On Tuesday I finally got to try the cheeseburger.
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.
How about a little real talk about staying comfortable on a long flight, when your class of service isn’t going to do it for you?
What obligation does a passenger have to understand their fare, and how what they’re buying will meet their needs (or not)?
And while It’s fair to blame airlines for a lot of how we experience travel, don’t we also have to take some responsibility for ourselves? The whole experience would be better for everyone, all around, if we’d practice gratefulness.
Marriott’s Autograph Collection Waterline Marina Resort has followed the lead of the JW Marrriott Guanacaste and declared that they do not upgrade Platinums. And they’ve brashly done so at Marriott.com:
Chase even suggests that getting a small business card is one of the things you should do as you start your business, that it’s often the first resource many business owners look to as they start to grow. A small business card allow yous to separate business from personal expenses and builds the credit history and identity of your business.
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 »
