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Use Your TrueBlue Miles with a Limited-Time 30% Discount

As the week fades into the weekend, we’re always looking for something to do. Thanks to JetBlue our attention has been turned towards finding and planning a bit of a getaway, and that’s especially the case now that they’re throwing a little bit of a sale. We know you’ve been stashing away those TrueBlue points in your frequent flyer bank, but with a 30% discount—now’s the time to book.

You only have a few more hours to decide on where you want to go and when you want to takeoff, as the fun ends today—April 26. Travel is valid between May 2 and June 26, and there are some certain restrictions buried down in the fine print. It looks like eligible flights are only those doing their thing on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Your discount can be quite a savings, but discounts can’t take the total points total below 5,000 TrueBlue points, so just plan wisely.

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Frequent Flyer Miles / American Airlines / AAdvantage / Airlines / Airline Loyalty Programs / Travel Websites / Dream Vacations / → All Tags

Use Those Miles Thanks to American Airlines' New Award Map

Spending all those hard-earned frequent flyer miles is often just as painful as collecting them in the first place—especially if you earned them during a few transcontinental flights in a middle seat. American Airlines usually has pretty decent availability, and with their partners in the oneworld airline alliance it’s not too tricky to get to plenty of spots across the globe. Thankfully they’ve made redeeming your points a little bit easier, as they’ve just introduced a new search tool.

The computer nerds over at American Airlines just revealed their latest project, as they now have an award map for your searching and booking pleasure. Sure there are some shortcomings with the new tool, as sometimes partner awards are kind of limited. However, we’ve got to say it’s pretty darn unique and a step above what some of the other carriers are doing.

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Frequent Flyer Miles / Delta / Delta SkyMiles / Airlines / Airline Loyalty Programs / Dream Vacations / → All Tags

Where Could You Fly with One Million Delta SkyMiles?

We often sit back and take a look at the balances on our frequent flyer accounts, all the while dreaming of more miles and more locations. Sometimes our imagination gets the best of us, and we’re thinking about where to go with this many miles or that many miles. At that point we might as well go all in, so we’ve started to think about where to go with one million miles:

We’ve flown with Delta more than we would like to admit, so we’ll start by dreaming up faux flights with them. One million miles will buy you, at the most basic level, 40 round-trip domestic flights in coach—that’s like pretty much one flight for every week of the year with a few leftover to head into the office to confirm your employment. At 40,000 miles per round-trip you can sit up front, but that’s going to limit you to just 25 round-trip flights in and around most of the United States and Canada.

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Delta Hops in Bed with Starwood Hotels to Launch 'Crossover Rewards'

It's only natural to assume that a frequent flyer, perhaps one with ultra high status in an airline's loyalty program, also spends a ton of time staying at hotels. Travel and hotels go hand-in-hand; it's no coincidence that Jaunted's sister site is HotelChatter.com. Thus, most large hotels have deals with airlines to earn miles on nights. That's about the extent of airline-hotel partnerships, however. Until now.

Announced early this morning, Delta is getting in bed with the Starwood Collection to launch a little something called "Crossover Rewards."

"Crossover Rewards" will shower extra love, miles and points on elite members of Delta's SkyMiles program and Starwood Preferred Guest when they stay at SPG properties and fly Delta jets. We're talking to the tune of 4pm late checkout at hotels and a free checked bag on Delta. That's just the tip of the perks iceberg, really. Here's the full breakdown of Crossover Rewards fun:

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Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Programs / Delta / Airline News / Airlines / SkyTeam / Delta SkyMiles / → All Tags

Big Changes for Delta SkyMiles: How the Medallions are Handling It

2013, man. This was to be the year we get elite status on Delta and we were just about to sign up for a Delta AMEX credit card when the airline dropped the news which has us thinking twice. Their SkyMiles loyalty program would change, transitioning from the classic distance-based mileage earning to a combination of distance and revenue.

In plainer terms, in order to get any status on Delta, a flyer would have to not only fly a certain amount of miles in a Delta seat, but also spend a certain amount on all those tickets, from $2,500 on up. The idea essentially to ensure the truly "elite" get their perks while those who gain Medallion status using super discounted fares or other incentives will drop down or out of the elite levels.

A nice grid of requirements is below...

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Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Programs / Virgin America / United / American Airlines / Virgin / Business Travel / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags

Go for Gold as Virgin America Announces a Sweet, Sweet Status Match

In case you thought that Virgin America only took after its sister airlines in mood-lit interior design, the airline is copying Virgin Australia's 2011 idea to attract business travelers and elite flyers by offering a status match.

Virgin America is specifically targeting elite flyers on United and American, offering free entry to their own Elevate Gold or Silver level status without the flyer having to sacrifice anything. United Premier 1K or Platinum, or an American Executive Platinum will automatically be Elevate Gold. United Premier Gold or American Platinum will automatically be matched to Elevate Silver. All you have to do is ask. Here's how:

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American Airlines Says Sorry for the Delays, Offers Up Double Miles

Several weeks ago things weren’t exactly going well for American Airlines. Pilots weren’t happy with the airline, and flights were canceled all over the place. Customers—and even politicians—were less than thrilled about these flight delays and cancellations. To make matters even worse there was that whole ordeal surrounding some loose airplane seats on some American Airlines flights.

American Airlines clearly recognizes what they did wrong last month, and now they’re trying to make it up to everyone with a little bit of an apology and promotion. They’re sorry for both the delays and cancellations, but also for screwing up the plans of their passengers. We didn’t miss our grandma’s birthday, but we’re betting an in-flight snack that someone did.

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Four Airlines (and Other Charities) Desperately Seeking Your Sandy Relief Donations

A facade collapse from high winds in the middle of Sandy

The airports have reopened most traveler's unexpected "Hurrications" have thankfully ended, but that hardly means it's time for "business as usual."

Hurricane Sandy relief is desperately in need in many areas of New York City followin a variety of factors that put entire communities out, from fires that leveled homes to floodwaters that ruined entire neighborhoods, to power outages that leave residents hungry...the metropolis known as the capital of the world is in dire need of your dollars. We write this from one part of the city, poised to go help any way possible the moment the business day closes.

Airlines with a significant NYC presence are naturally doing their part and offering bonus miles for anything you can give. Here's a round-up:

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What You're Going to Gain from Qatar Airways Joining the Oneworld Alliance

L to R: Horton, Al Baker, Walsh, Ashby

Earlier today, in a small event room in the middle of Midtown Manhattan, four men sat down in front of four microphones. They—Tom Horton (CEO American Airlines), Akbar Al Baker (CEO Qatar Airways), Willie Walsh (CEO of IAG, parent company of British Airways and Iberia) and Bruce Ashby (CEO Oneworld Alliance)—represented their respective airlines but also sat there as heads of companies responsible for billions of dollars in the travel sector and millions of flyers in the air. And they'd come together to get even closer to one another, by inviting Qatar Airways to join the Oneworld Alliance.

Guess what? Qatar Airways accepted the invitation.

From here it'll take another 12-18 months until Qatar completes integration into Oneworld, but now's the time to start smirking at the potential benefits. Yeah, you're probably like, "why should I care?" Well, just think that next time you book a long-haul flight with American Airlines and it has a stopover in Doha, you could actually be walking onto a Qatar Airways plane (ooo maybe even a 787!) with Qatari crew and Qatar's 5-star service and then you'll be googling to see when all this happened while being very glad it did.

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Airline Loyalty Programs / Frequent Flyer Miles / Virgin America / Airlines / Airline News / LCCs / SFO / Travel News / Virgin / → All Tags

Everything You Need to Know to Grab Virgin America Elevate Gold

Well this is sure the week to announce loyalty programs changes, huh? First we had the announcement of JetBlue's TrueBlue Mosaic level, and now Virgin America is going to reward their more frequent flyers with two—count 'em—two levels above regular Elevate Red, and with accompanying complimentary perks.

Please welcome Virgin America's Elevate Silver and Elevate Gold to the frequent flyer status dance party. The program officially kicks off August 8, so don't go logging in to check your status quite yet.

Becoming Virgin America Elevate Silver

· First off, you've got to be a member of the Elevate program in general. Join here for free and you'll begin at level Red.
· Fly somewhere, and do it a lot. To go from Red to Silver, you must earn 20,000 status points in a calendar year. Elevate points are based on how much money you spend on flights, not on miles flown, and it's 5 points per $1 spent.
· You'll need to spend $4,000 in one year flying Virgin America. Assume you spend $500 on each roundtrip, coast-to-coast flight, that's doable in 8 roundtrips.

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Airline Loyalty Programs / Frequent Flyer Miles / TrueBlue / Airlines / Airline News / LCCs / JFK / Travel News / JetBlue / → All Tags

JetBlue Mosaic: The Newest Elite Frequent Flyer Level to Drool Over

Very clever, JetBlue graphic designers--putting "friends" and "benefits" next to each other. Teehee.

Today we mark a new milestone in the tempestuous timeline of airline loyalty history as JetBlue announces an elite tier to their TrueBlue program: Mosaic.

JetBlue employees should be practicing their kowtowing now as JetBlue Mosaic officially kicks off this fall, rewarding the airline's most frequent flyers with six advantages above and beyond the regular-level TrueBlue, plus likely a shiny new card. But first, you've got to hit Mosaic. Let's break it down:

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Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Programs / United Airlines / United / Europe Travel / Africa Travel / Star Alliance / MileagePlus / → All Tags

United Airlines' Frequent Flyer Sale Knocks Off 25% to Europe or Africa

We know there’s plenty of people saving—or even hoarding—those frequent flyer miles in hopes of the next great redemption or value. Now just might be the best time to cash some in, as United Airlines is running a decent sale on redeeming MileagePlus miles for an award ticket.

The airline is offering up to a 25% discount on "free" flights—plus taxes and fees of course—to most destinations in Europe as well as Central and Southern Africa. The biggest savings are available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as you’ll only get a 20% discount during other days of the week. There’s probably all kinds of permutations and calculations involved with your dream ticket, but a basic 60,000 mile coach ticket to Europe from the United States can now be had for as little as 45,000 miles round-trip.

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