Jan 27 2016

I don’t usually like using points for non-travel awards, but there are two exceptions–to keep points from expiring, and when there’s the opportunity to use a big travel company or bank’s contacts to get access to the kind of life events you can’t possible set up on your own.

Starwood has a new set of culinary experiences that you can use your points for starting this morning, including Morimoto and Eric Ripert chef’s table events. Definitely worth doing if there’s something that matches your interests, and you have my permission to use your Starpoints for something other than transfers to American, Alaska, or Japan Airlines miles….

Continue Reading »

Jan 27 2016

Regular readers of the blog know that I use Award Wallet to track my miles and points.

The free version of the service suffices for most. You enter your frequent flyer account numbers and passwords. Then you can update most of your account balances with a single click and see them on one page. You can log into your accounts with a single click.

When I first signed up I realized quickly I was happy to pay the minimum required for their premium membership that included expiration date tracking for many of my accounts.

Continue Reading »

Jan 26 2016

American’s revenue management has been notoriously stingy about releasing seats for premium cabin international travel over the past three years.

American seems to have released a ton of award and upgrade space from several US cities to London. There are plenty of dates where you’ll find as many as 6 or more award seats on the elusive Los Angeles – London route even.

Continue Reading »

Jan 26 2016

Chase used to be offer tons of miles for mortgages, people used to refinance or take out seconds on their home and immediately pay them off. They might earn 100,000 miles at a cost of under $200 and a whole lot of time on paperwork.

But unsecured loans probably aren’t something you should do for the miles no matter what marketing emails you receive in your inbox.

Continue Reading »

Jan 26 2016

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.

Continue Reading »

Jan 25 2016

Delta, United, and American have been called “legacy” airlines (since they pre-date airline deregulation) and also “full service” airlines even though they charge most passengers now for things like checked bags and change fees in my professional lifetime have gone up eight-fold. But even as they’re finding themselves more profitable than ever, they’re working to shift their business model to provide less value to the customer at the same price point.

The airline industry is such a strange beast. In most businesses, competition forces companies to deliver more and more value to the customer.

Continue Reading »

Jan 25 2016

Two months ago I mentioned an offer where you can get 47,000 IHG Rewards Club points for $47.

Buying 94 notecards, envelopes, and stamps you can register for the IHG Rewards Club Priceless promotion. There’s even a reader who will do the work for you. I received all of my entries on Friday and did better than expected.

Continue Reading »

Jan 25 2016

I’m going to visit Al Maha Desert Resort next month. Lucky called it his favorite Starwood Starpoints redemption ever. It’s an all-inclusive with standalone villas and infinity pools in the desert outside Dubai where rates can exceed $1700 per night and is consistently deemed one of the world’s best properties on TripAdvisor.

For bookings made by March 8 Starwood is offering awards there for ‘only’ 39,000 points a night instead of the usual 60,000. And I’m going to use some of my points there.

But you can stay for free.

Continue Reading »

Jan 25 2016

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.

Continue Reading »

Jan 25 2016

Andie MacDowell was flying American Airlines Los Angeles to Charlotte to Charleston, South Carolina on a first class ticket on Friday with a pet in cabin. She was downgraded to coach for the short Charlotte – Charleston segment.

She had reserved a bulkhead seat for her Charlotte to Charleston flight. A pet in cabin has to go underneath the seat in front of you, but that’s not possible with a bulkhead seat.

She got very expressive on twitter. And twitter got expressive back.

Continue Reading »