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The Pluses And Minuses Of United's New One-Way Awards Bookings
If you followed our less than smooth attempts to book a European vacation last year, you'll know the staggering importance of one-way awards bookings. So useful is this option that at one point we recommended you make it a top criteria when choosing where to pool frequent flyer miles. It's great news, then, that United has followed American Airlines' May policy change and launched one-way bookings.
One-way awards are currently limited to online purchases, so you'll have to go to the Mileage Plus site if you want to book them. Customers are also limited to a single award level across their itinerary, and the only available levels are Saver Awards and Standard Awards. Stopovers are verboten, which has caused consternation in some quarters. Everything else works more or less how you'd expect: tickets are changeable but not transferable, Standard Awards give you more flexibility than Saver Awards do, and so on.
Tags: Volunteer Travel / Haiti Travel / Earthquakes / Frequent Flyer Miles / Disasters / → All Tags
Relief From the Sky: What the Airlines are Doing to Help Haiti
As we reported last week, Spirit Airlines was giving away enough loyalty miles for a free flight to anyone who donates $5 to Haiti by Jan. 17. But, Spirit isn't the only airline getting involved in the relief efforts. Here's a look at a few other airlines and what they're doing to help:
· American Airlines: American is giving customers a chance to earn 250 bonus miles when they donate at least $50, or 500 bonus miles for a donation of $100 or more to the American Red Cross through Feb. 28, 2010. The airline, in conjunction with American Eagle, is also sending three flights to Haiti filled with 30,000 pounds of relief supplies, food and water.
· Continental Airlines: Continental has a program for OnePass members in which they can donate their miles to relief groups, including the Red Cross.
More airlines, after the jump
Tags: Earthquakes / Haiti Travel / Disasters / Tragedies / American Airlines / Frequent Flyer Miles / → All Tags
American Offering Bonus Miles for Donations to Haiti Relief Efforts
If you're looking to donate to a Haiti earthquake relief charity but don't want to wait till George Clooney's MTV celebrity-filled telethon on Friday, American Airlines is offering an alternative through the American Red Cross.
Make a contribution to the American Red Cross and the airline will award your do-gooding with bonus AAdvantage miles. A minimum $50 donation will get you 250 miles and a pledge of $100 or more will earn you 500 miles.
Tags: Earthquakes / Haiti Travel / Disasters / Tragedies / Spirit Airlines / Volunteer Travel / Frequent Flyer Miles / → All Tags
Donate $5 To Haiti Relief and Spirit Airlines Will Give You a Free Flight
All day today and yesterday, ways to do your part to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti have been publicized on Twitter, Facebook, and on the news. Even celebrities are throwing their weight behind some of the text-to-donate schemes, but how can you be sure it's all legit?
Unless you really do the research, it's all a crapshoot with those texting charities and money boxes at gas stations, so we're throwing our weight behind the charity efforts of an airline, of course. Specifically Spirit Airlines, who will give you enough loyalty miles for a free flight if you donate only $5 to Haiti by January 17.
On their website, you can login or sign up for the Spirit Airlines frequent flyer program (Free Spririt) for free, and then choose who you'd like to donate to: The Red Cross, UNICEF, or Wyclef Jean's charity Yéle Haiti. After completing the donation form and sending at least $5 to the charities, Spirit will credit your account with 5,000 miles if you're among the first 200,000 to do so, which is enough for a roundtrip flight if you have the Spirit Mastercard, or half of a one-way flight if you don't. Granted, it'll take 6-8 weeks for the miles to drop into the account, but it's for a good cause. Go here to participate and donate.
Related Stories:
· HaitiRelief [Spirit Airlines]
· A Man with a Radio is all that's left of the airport in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti [Jaunted]
· Spirit Airlines News [Jaunted]
Tags: Travel Rants / Travel Tips / Airlines / Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Programs / American Airlines / British Airways / Europe Travel / British Airways Strike / Omri Ceren / → All Tags
How American Airlines And I Survived The British Airways Strike Together
And now, in the spirit of holiday travel, a rant from Jaunted writer Omri Ceren, who has spent the last week riding an emotional roller coaster thanks to the called off British Airways strike and his complex flight plans. Do enjoy his story:
Many of you have been following with interest my ongoing and frustrating odyssey to book a winter trip using only American Airlines miles. It's not really "many of you" as much as "three or four" and it's not really "interest" as much as "idle curiosity." Still, there are a couple lessons to be drawn from the final itinerary: LAX-SOF, SOF-TLV, TLV-LHR, LHR-LAX for 80K miles plus fees and taxes.
The initial itinerary was uneven—seats that I thought were available weren't and I couldn't get a SOF-TLV flight even though oneworld partners fly that route—but it was what it was. Then the British Airways strike was announced, which led to this series of phone calls, the tips that came out of the experience, and an itinerary that included a bus ride from Heathrow to Gatwick and an overnight in the Budapest Airport. Then the strike got called off and I tried to get my original itinerary back, which is where this little Teaching Moment picks up.
First, I'd like to thank the US Mint for providing what until now has been the easiest way to convert credit into miles and then back again. They've closed that loophole so now you're advised to seek out branded debit cards. Second, this trip couldn't have been created without American Airlines one-way awards booking. More on that below.
Tags: Travel Tips / Airlines / Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Programs / American Airlines / Europe Travel / British Airways / → All Tags
Use AAdvantage One-Way Bookings To Create A European Vacation
Get together with any group of frequent fliers and—after they get done rightly trashing Ryanair—the topic of conversation inevitably turns to the declining value of mileage programs. When airlines aren't busy taking away perks, they're spending their time restructuring awards tiers so you don't notice how they're taking away perks. It's that steady decline, more than anything else, that underlies the very first rule of airline miles: don't hoard your airline miles.
So being good, rule-abiding travelers, we booked a trip to Europe this winter using AAdvantage miles and oneworld partners. We were able to book three destinations for 60K miles. That's not impressive on its own—three flights times 20K is 60K—but the beauty is that it more or less forms a round trip. The important trick comes from the policy change American Airlines implemented last March, allowing customers to use their points for one-way trips. And so 60K miles will get you most of the way from LAX to Sofia, Tel Aviv, and London and then, unfortunately, back home. The caveat is that you have to book SOF-TLV on your own unless you want to spend another 40K bouncing around Europe. Not ideal, but not a disaster.
Tags: Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Progams / Delta / United / → All Tags
Use Leftover Frequent-Flyer Miles To Give Gift Cards
Remember going to visit your Aunt Tillie in Des Moines, or when you had to take that business trip to meet with a new paper company in Scranton? Well if you don’t recall those travel experiences, it’s pretty likely that your frequent flyer account does. If you’re like most, you probably have a few extra miles left over that you might not use or that might expire. If that’s the case you can always use them for a little last minute holiday shopping. Just cash in your old miles for gift cards to your favorite stores and restaurants.
Last week, Delta had a little sale going on through their SkyMiles Marketplace. Gift cards valued at $50 could be had for just 5,000 Skymiles. It’s hard for us to get rid of extra miles when we know they could take us somewhere warm for winter, but 50 bucks is 50 bucks. However, as the program increased in popularity, Delta upped the cost for redemption up to 8,000 miles. Still, 8,000 miles that you forgot about is a decent deal to get a $50 gift card to Old Navy, Olive Garden, Macy’s, or another suburban shopping paradise.
Tags: Credit Cards / Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Programs / American Express / → All Tags
American Express Will Hold Your Miles Hostage If You Pay Late
The corporate sharks at American Express apparently see no reason why Delta, United, and American should get to levy random fees while they have to settle for regular, reasonable, generally accepted fees. How old fashioned! So the credit card, which is cobranded with Delta, JetBlue, Hilton, and Starwood Hotels, is introducing a new fine for customers who are late on their bills.
Not only will those customers have to pay all the normal late fees, but they'll also have to pay an additional fee if they want the points that they've earned to get transferred to their hotel loyalty accounts or frequent flier programs. According to Yahoo, it works like this:
Tags: Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Progams / Delta / American Airlines / United / Southwest Airlines / Continental / → All Tags
What Kind Of Crazy Loot Can You Score With Your Frequent-Flyer Miles?
Earlier this year we were attempting to cash in some miles from Midwest Airlines accumulated over a lifetime of visiting Mom and Dad, when we noticed something weird: Along with gift certificates and logowear, we were presented with the option of using our surplus miles to buy Amtrak tickets. Well, that's weird: Why would an airline that still handles a generous amount of short-hop regional flights want to remind us that for short distances we could get a guaranteed outlet and more legroom?
Common wisdom holds that frequent-flyer miles just aren't what they used to be, thanks to high occupancies and rampant blackout dates. Not to mention, if you have trouble committing to one airline you probably have a few thousand miles sitting unused with a variety of different companies, with whom you will never fly enough to get the elusive free ticket. So why not cash them in for something wacky instead? With our guide, you'll never forget that trip to Acapulco so long as you have the electric doggy-door opener you bought with its mileage.
After the jump, we break it down by airline
Tags: Volunteer Travel / Military Travel / Airport Travel / Frequent Flyer Miles / → All Tags
For Veteran's Day, Donate Your Unused Miles To An Injured Soldier
If you've been looking for a way to give back to the men and women of the armed services, look to The Fisher House Foundation. As a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting America's military in their time of need, they're always looking for donated frequent flyer miles. The Hero Miles program allows passengers to donate their frequent flyer miles to service members and their families.
Fisher House specifically uses the donated miles to provide free airline tickets to military men and women who are being treated at a military or VA medical center due to an injury they sustained in Iraq or Afghanistan. The purchased plane tickets provide these men and women with the ability to visit home on an approved leave, or for their families to come to them.
The Fisher House works with several airlines including AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways for the Heroes Miles program. To donate, you can visit Fisher House's website or the individual airlines and request information about donating your miles.
Tags: Frequent Flyer Miles / Airlines / Travel Deals / Frequent Flyer Programs / Lists / → All Tags
Five Ways To Top Off Your Frequent Flyer Miles Without Leaving The Ground
We all have some frequent flyer miles hanging around in various accounts, but it seems like there’s never enough to finally book that award ticket to paradise. Well we’re here to help: we’ve compiled five of the best ways to top off your mileage account and gain some extra miles without even leaving the ground. Everyone wants to be able to make it rain with excess miles, and with a little work and creativity, you’ll be doing just that.
· Get Something To Eat:
Most airlines have programs where linking a credit card to a dining program awards you with airline miles when you hit up your favorite restaurant. Obviously it’s not every restaurant out there, so your favorite Applebee’s might be out of the picture. However, if you find a couple favorite spots you frequent anyway, it will be worth the minimal effort to get the bonus. AAdvantage Dining will give you five miles for every dollar you spend, and you’ll even get 1,500 bonus miles for signing up and spending $25. If you prefer Delta-flavored miles check out SkyMiles Dining. It’s the same deal: five miles per dollar spent and certain establishments will reward you with double miles.
Tags: United / Airline News / Frequent Flyer Miles / Travel Deals / → All Tags
United Wants To Win Back Your Love By Passing Out 500 Bonus Miles
Have you flown United Airlines lately? If you're answers is "no," or the even better "never," then United would like to give you some frequent flyer miles. Sounds counter-productive doesn't it, giving someone who doesn't use United some United miles? Well, here's the rub: you have to book a flight with United to get at them.
In an effort to drum up new customers and woo back those that have defected to other airlines, United is launching their "500 Reasons To Fly United" deal, whereby those who haven't booked with United for over a year (August 14 2008 or earlier) or have never booked with United, can claim a bonus 500 miles to their Mileage Plus account (be sure to sign up for one first) by booking a flight by October 31, 2009. Oh yea, and you have to book it on United.com; no having to explain your lack of United travel to a customer service agent.
We actually have a friend who, because she has the Mileage Plus credit card, always flies United. Will this promotion make her a little miffed that she can't get in on it, precious as her Mileage Plus points are to her? No way, jose, since she so easily racks them up already that 500 points to a frequent flyer is nothing, but sounds impressive to the casual traveler. We wonder how successful United will be with this promotion.
Related Stories:
· 500 Reasons to Book on United.com [United]
· United Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]
[Image: United]
