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US Airways Rearranges Frequent Flyer Program To Give 'More Flexibility.' Oh Noes!
US Airways just published a press release promising customers a new tier system for frequent flier purchases, the promise being that travelers will get "more choices and flexibility." Right now there are three kinds of award bookings you can make using your miles: off-peak, mileage saver, and standard awards. After January 6, 2010 there will be four categories: off-peak, low, medium, and high awards.
Essentially they've taken one of their awards tiers and split it into two. Fair enough. But now they get to rearrange what each rewards ticket costs into a 4-category system, and here's where things get interesting; will they use the new system as a cover for making everything more expensive?
Tags: Frequent Flyer Programs / LCCs / Airline News / TrueBlue / Jetblue / → All Tags
Three Ways To Get Value From Your Old Jetblue TrueBlue Points
Welcome to day two of what we're going to begin calling TrueBlue2, the second version of Jetblue's frequent flyer program, now based on money spent on airfare rather than miles flown.
Thus far, the transition appears smooth; the new program appeared on Jetblue's website over the weekend, slightly earlier than the Monday launch we expected. We haven't yet heard of any big snafus with it, only that the points will be harder for flyers to keep track of, since now we're talking thousands of points versus the easy-to-do-the-math tens of points of the old system.
Still, the question remains of what to do with your old points—since TrueBlue1 points cannot be carried into the new system and will continue to expire as usual. Well, there are three options for your old TrueBlue points, and you better get on it now if you've got points lingering...
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: TrueBlue / Jetblue / Frequent Flyer Programs / LCCs / Airline News / → All Tags
Jetblue's Revamped TrueBlue Program Begins Monday; Get To Know It Now
Whose ready for the "newer, truer TrueBlue" program from Jetblue? Well, ready or not, it's coming at the beginning of next week and the arrival of the new structure means no more free flights just by accumulating a few roundtrip coast-to-coasters; nope, now you've got to watch how much you spend versus how much you fly.
If you're keen to check your point balance or do some other fiddling with your TrueBlue account in the next few days, you better do it now. Accounts will be unavailable between Friday and Monday morning during the switchover. For those of you who simply can't wait for the new program to take affect, you can read up on the changes...
The details on the new TrueBlue program, after the jump.
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Burn Your United Miles On More Than Just Free Flights
United Airlines is all about being in the news lately. Earlier in the week they got our attention with their unlimited baggage fee—too bad we’re still not totally sure if it’s worth it. If you are a diehard United fan then you’ve probably accumulated your share of frequent flyer miles with the airline, and with availability getting more and more limited everyday, you probably need a way to burn some. If that award ticket to Tahiti just isn’t happening, you might want to consider using them for a car or hotel.
United’s Mileage Plus members can now use their hard earned miles to book a rental car or a hotel stay. They’ve launched a new booking engine for each service, so you can easily find out how much damage that “free” hotel stay will do to your account. If you’re looking to relax in New York City next weekend you can crash at the Hilton New York on Saturday night for 48,250 miles. Unfortunately, you could get yourself to Hawaii with that many miles, so we say it’s totally not worth it. However, it’s an option, and we do appreciate a choice.
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United's New 'Fly Like A VIP' Elite Status Offer Triggers Criticism, Confusion
There's a bit of a dustup going on at travel blog The Cranky Flier, where a post on United's new "buy Elite Status for a day" program is drawing strong comments from all sides. The debate revolves around whether it's fair—and, more importantly, whether it's smart—for the airline to allow regular passengers to purchase Elite perks like Economy Plus seats, early boarding, Red Carpet Club Access, and so on.
The arguments are clear. On on hand, it's fair as airlines need to diversify their revenue streams otherwise they'll go out of business and we'll all lose. If people are willing to pay then let them pay. On the other hand, letting passengers purchase Elite status now means devaluing the miles that loyal customers banked earlier, since the assumption back then was that status equaled exclusive perks. If nothing else, the gamble risks encouraging United fliers to rack up miles and status elsewhere, secure in the knowledge that they can purchase Elite status on a per-flight basis.
Tags: Southwest Airlines / Airline Miles / Frequent Fliers / Mileage Programs / United / American Airlines / Frequent Flyer Programs / → All Tags
Southwest Hopes To Fill Seats By Offering Double Rewards Credits
We all know that airline travel has been down due to the economic situation, and when you combine that with the fall travel season things become very slow. That’s why a few airlines have searched through their marketing box and have pulled out the double frequent flyer miles promotion. American Airlines and United have announced that they’ll be providing double elite-qualifying miles through the middle of December. Those are the miles that get you airline status, and fancy upgrades, but won’t help you add to your frequent flier piggy bank for that dream vacation.
Southwest Airlines usually isn’t a follower of such trends as they kind of pride themselves on going their own way, but they too are now offering a fall travel rewards promotion. It's not a true double Rapid Rewards bonus, because their business select passengers won’t get the full bonus. However, we never spring for business anyway, so we’ll be happy enjoying one bonus credit for one-way trips and two bonus credits for round-trip flights.
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Will A British Airways-AmEx Partnership Bring Mile-Chasing Back?
British Airways announced this week that it's partnering up with American Express's Membership Rewards program, so cardholders can convert their points into Executive Club miles. But in this economy, are frequent-flyer miles still a good deal?
Prior to this agreement, only British cardholders could harness the power of their green cards to buy miles in the Executive Club for British Airways and its Oneworld partners. Earn enough points and members might even be able to take advantage of BA's newest Caribbean routes bowing this fall.
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One Last Bonus Promo For JetBlue's TrueBlue Program
Despite their recent announcement that they’d be shaking up their TrueBlue frequent flyer program, JetBlue still has a special spot in their heart for their old reward system. The airline known for leather seats and in-flight television just announced the chance to score triple TrueBlue points. Think of it as once last hurrah under the old program.
Make sure you register here before booking fever sets in. Then feel free to book your flights between now and September 23. Anytime you travel between August 17 and September 23 you’ll be rewarded with three times the normal amount of TrueBlue points. Of course your bonus will be applied to your account once travel is complete.
As a reminder, 100 points will get you a free flight as long as there’s availability. Once the program makes the changeover, you won’t lose all the points you’ve earned. Any leftover points will remain in your account, and you’ll be able to convert new points back into old TrueBlue points in order to secure a flight freebie. Nothing but blue skies ...
Related Stories: [Photo: mrkathika]
· Thrice Is Nice - TrueBlue Promotion [JetBlue]
· Jetblue To Relaunch TrueBlue Program With More Ways To Earn Free Flights [Jaunted]
· JetBlue coverage [Jaunted]
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Jetblue To Relaunch TrueBlue Program With More Ways To Earn Free Flights
We've had no issues with Jetblue's TrueBlue frequent flyer program, probably because we fly enough to quickly rack up the free flights. Regardless, Jetblue has just announced that they want more people to reap more awards for travel even easier, and so they'll be revamping the program for re-launch this fall.
Here's some details on what we can expect with the new program:
· You'll receive 6 points per dollar spend on your flight booked on Jetblue.com (8 points if you have the Jetblue AMEX), unlike in the current TrueBlue program, where points are awarded based on length of your flight—the traditional definition of airline miles.
· Bonus points for those who frequently fly
· No blackout dates (hello, Christmas Eve)
· No expiration on points accumulated (yay!)
· One-way award flights starting from 5,000 points (akin to spending $830 dollars on Jetblue flights)
All in all, the new system reminds us of Virgin America's Elevate program, which also rewards points based on the price of your flight. Comparing the two however, Jetblue will give you a free flight first; you'll need to spend almost $100 more on VA before you get any freebies. So bring it on, Jetblue, we're ready to rack 'em up.
Related Stories:
· A New TrueBlue [JetBlue]
· TrueBlue Program Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Jaunted]
Tags: Flight 1549 / US Airways / Accidents / Super Bowl / Frequent Flyer Programs / → All Tags
Exactly How Much Compensation are Flight 1549 Survivors Entitled To?
The goodies are coming to survivors of U.S. Airways flight 1549 in dribs and drabs. First, everybody got a check for $5,000 of mad money, along with reimbursement of the cost of their tickets. Now, the New York Post is reporting that they've all been automatically upgraded to Chairman's Preferred status, the airline's highest level of frequent flier privilege. The catch? They only get it through March 2010.
Tags: Frequent Flyer Programs / Virgin America / Richard Branson / Credit Cards / → All Tags
Virgin America Wants to Tap That Cash
In what is most likely another step towards world domination for Richard Branson, members of Elevate, the Virgin America loyalty program, have been receiving actual mail from the airline this last week.
Don't worry about missing out; the envelopes are just more credit card application junk as it seems Virgin America is trading a little cool for a lot of cash. Evidently, they are now trying to get in your pants...pocket, we mean, with a Visa Signature Card. (Previously, Virgin Altantic announced an Amex card.)
Of course they are beginning with the VA fans first and directly positioning themselves to counter Jetblue's TrueBlue Visa by offering no annual fee and all that other APR mumbo jumbo.
