Insurance quotes are a pretty reliable/exploitatable source of miles & points, and there's a new one for 1,500 US Airways miles today. This may be a targeted promo, so your results may vary; Mrs. Wrider received the promo email but I did not. It's up to you how "accurate" you want to be indivulging your personal information; in the past the miles have posted regardless.
A new twist with this promo is the drawing for 250,000 miles, winner to be notified by telephone. Perhaps they've been receiving a few too many "inaccurate" entries for recent promos? Note: Open to residents of AZ, CO, IL, IN, KS, MN, OH, TN and WI. Only 500 miles are given in AZ, and sweepstakes prizes are $10 in AZ and $50 in OH. Boo.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Free Hilton HHonors Gold status thru 8/31 or 5,000 points for elites
It's already been reported elsewhere, but you can snag a trial of Hilton HHonors Gold status if you have a Visa Signature card at this link. If you have three stays at Hilton properties by 8/31 you'll keep the staus through 2012. If you're already Gold or Diamond (and have a Visa Signature card) you can claim 5,000 free points.
There's not much difference between Gold and Diamond so it's a pretty good offer. Though I'm Diamond right now, I plan to let my HHonors status drop to Gold next year by spending $20,000 this year on my ever-useful HHonors Amex card.
There's not much difference between Gold and Diamond so it's a pretty good offer. Though I'm Diamond right now, I plan to let my HHonors status drop to Gold next year by spending $20,000 this year on my ever-useful HHonors Amex card.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Followup: 15% off AA flights to/from DFW or MIA
Thanks to the Dallas Mavericks' NBA Finals win, American Airlines is handing out some extremely limited-use 15%-off coupons as part of their All-American Shootout promo I covered earlier. It's good for a roundtrip to or from DFW or MIA for travel Sept. 6 through Nov. 14, just it time for fall fare hikes when I searched for some routings on ITA. And it's only valid for the next 48 hours. With conditions so restricing, I probably won't be able to use it. Bummer.
Thanks for playing the All American Airlines Shootout Game on Facebook. You are the lucky winner of a 15% promotion code that you can use to purchase your next flight booked on AA.com. Code is valid for one roundtrip flight for you and a companion from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) or Miami (MIA) to anywhere we serve in the continental United States OR from anywhere in the continental United States to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) or Miami (MIA).You must make your purchase in the next 48 hours for travel Sept 6, 2011 through Nov. 14, 2011, VisitAA.com now and use the promotion code shown below
Thanks for playing the All American Airlines Shootout Game on Facebook. You are the lucky winner of a 15% promotion code that you can use to purchase your next flight booked on AA.com. Code is valid for one roundtrip flight for you and a companion from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) or Miami (MIA) to anywhere we serve in the continental United States OR from anywhere in the continental United States to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) or Miami (MIA).You must make your purchase in the next 48 hours for travel Sept 6, 2011 through Nov. 14, 2011, VisitAA.com now and use the promotion code shown below
Datapoints: Citi Checking AA miles, Free Spirit promo, Modded Marriott MegaBonus
To give you an idea as to how some various mileage-accruing endeavours can go, I'm starting a "datapoints" feature. Enjoy!
1) I opened a checking account through Citibank on 1/7/11 through the promo code C25A which gives 25,000 AAdvantage miles if you (a) make two direct deposits per month or (b) pay a couple online bills per month or (c) make five signature-based (non-PIN) debit card transactions, whichever you choose for two consecutive months. I opted for option (c) as it would be least disruptive to my normal banking operations. I also signed up for a basic AA debit card (2,000 miles for a $25, not a great deal but whatever). After doing at least seven debit purchases (a couple extra than necessary just in case there were processed as PIN debit accdentally), I watched my AAdvantage account patiently for two months after the last statement closing date which satisfied the requirement (3/24/11). Little did I know the miles where supposed to post 90 days(!) after that last statement date, but I actually thought it was 6-8 weeks. So on Sunday 6/12 I sent an online secured message to Citi via the stating that I have met the requirement and would they please post my miles. The reply came on 6/13 verifying that I had indeed satisfied the conditions of the promo and they would be posting the miles immediately, and on 6/14 the miles showed up in my AAdvantage account. Success! But the real beauty of this promo is it looks "churnable," so I'm going to close the account and do it all over again once another Citibank signup promo shows up...
Bonus datapoint: My wife did the same deal, got the same card, met the same requirements, sent the same email, and was told the miles would post no later than 7/22. YMMV, indeed!
2) Spirit Airlines announced a Mega Miles Giveaway tour on 4/4, which promised 5,000 Free Spirit miles (in addition to a shot at 1,000,000 miles) for signing up to their email list as part of the promotion. Even though I've never flown Spirit, that's no reason to turn down 5,000 free miles! Besides, you never know when you might need a positioning flight for a mileage run. Anyway, I signed up for the promo and on 5/13 I received an email with the 5,000 certificate and a link to sign up for a Free Spirit account. I did so, and entered the certificate number from the email. Miles posted today 6/15, as promised.
Bonus datapoint: My wife did the same deal, with the same results.
3) As I blogged previously, you can usually modify your Marriott MegaBonus offer to suit your travel plans for a timeframe of the promotion. I did so myself for the promo ending on 4/30; changing my 25-night/35,000 point offer to 15 nights/25,000 points. The points hadn't posted after a few weeks so I called the Marriott Platinum number last night to ask after them. At first the rep couldn't follow what I was asking, but after a few minutes on hold he found the notes on my account from my earlier request and agreed post the points. This morning, my Marriott Rewards account is 25,000 points richer.
1) I opened a checking account through Citibank on 1/7/11 through the promo code C25A which gives 25,000 AAdvantage miles if you (a) make two direct deposits per month or (b) pay a couple online bills per month or (c) make five signature-based (non-PIN) debit card transactions, whichever you choose for two consecutive months. I opted for option (c) as it would be least disruptive to my normal banking operations. I also signed up for a basic AA debit card (2,000 miles for a $25, not a great deal but whatever). After doing at least seven debit purchases (a couple extra than necessary just in case there were processed as PIN debit accdentally), I watched my AAdvantage account patiently for two months after the last statement closing date which satisfied the requirement (3/24/11). Little did I know the miles where supposed to post 90 days(!) after that last statement date, but I actually thought it was 6-8 weeks. So on Sunday 6/12 I sent an online secured message to Citi via the stating that I have met the requirement and would they please post my miles. The reply came on 6/13 verifying that I had indeed satisfied the conditions of the promo and they would be posting the miles immediately, and on 6/14 the miles showed up in my AAdvantage account. Success! But the real beauty of this promo is it looks "churnable," so I'm going to close the account and do it all over again once another Citibank signup promo shows up...
Bonus datapoint: My wife did the same deal, got the same card, met the same requirements, sent the same email, and was told the miles would post no later than 7/22. YMMV, indeed!
2) Spirit Airlines announced a Mega Miles Giveaway tour on 4/4, which promised 5,000 Free Spirit miles (in addition to a shot at 1,000,000 miles) for signing up to their email list as part of the promotion. Even though I've never flown Spirit, that's no reason to turn down 5,000 free miles! Besides, you never know when you might need a positioning flight for a mileage run. Anyway, I signed up for the promo and on 5/13 I received an email with the 5,000 certificate and a link to sign up for a Free Spirit account. I did so, and entered the certificate number from the email. Miles posted today 6/15, as promised.
Bonus datapoint: My wife did the same deal, with the same results.
3) As I blogged previously, you can usually modify your Marriott MegaBonus offer to suit your travel plans for a timeframe of the promotion. I did so myself for the promo ending on 4/30; changing my 25-night/35,000 point offer to 15 nights/25,000 points. The points hadn't posted after a few weeks so I called the Marriott Platinum number last night to ask after them. At first the rep couldn't follow what I was asking, but after a few minutes on hold he found the notes on my account from my earlier request and agreed post the points. This morning, my Marriott Rewards account is 25,000 points richer.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
100% bonus on US Airways purchased miles is back!
Through June 30 you can get a 100% bonus on purchased US Airways Dividend Miles, to a maximum of 50,000 miles purchased (plus 50,000 bonus) for a total of about $1480 (or $0.0148/mile). As The Points Guy explains, there are a some great bargains to be had from North America to Europe in January and February in US Airways sweet new lie-flat Envoy seats are 60,000 for a roundtrip low-level award. Even stretching that return into March only costs an additional 20,000 miles for off-peak flights.
Even as a loyal American-flying Chicagoan there are tempting deals. I've been looking to book a flight for three to Paris either this fall or next April/May, a destination and calendar that are notriously hard to accommodate on American. US Airways has some strong availabilty for next spring in their Envoy class, certainly much better than American's availability.
A few caveats: The off-peak awards are for US Airways-operated flights only and you must have an active Dividend Miles account for 12 days before purchasing.
Even as a loyal American-flying Chicagoan there are tempting deals. I've been looking to book a flight for three to Paris either this fall or next April/May, a destination and calendar that are notriously hard to accommodate on American. US Airways has some strong availabilty for next spring in their Envoy class, certainly much better than American's availability.
A few caveats: The off-peak awards are for US Airways-operated flights only and you must have an active Dividend Miles account for 12 days before purchasing.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Take a shot at 50% off AA fares to DFW or MIA
American has their bases covered with the teams in the NBA Finals representing two key AA hubs, Dallas and Miami. To celebrate, they've launched a promotional game to win a discount code good for 50% off travel to or from Dallas (DFW) or Miami (MIA). It would appear you can play the game more than once as you're not required to give you AAdvantage number, just a name and email address. I played it on my phone and couldn't really tell how well I did, anyway. Access the game at http://www.aabasket.com/ or at AA's Facebook page http://bit.ly/AABBALL. Good luck.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
How to make your own Marriott MegaBonus
While some hotel promotions can be incredibly lucrative (Hyatt's famous Faster Free Nights) or incredibly boring (Hilton's current 1,000 points per night), Marriott Rewards has arguably the least exciting/most reliable promotion in their quarterly MegaBonus. It usually offers something like 35,000 points for 20 paid nights plus an additional 15,000 points for 25 paid nights yelding a total of 50,000 for 25 nights stayed within a three-month period on the high end. On the lower end, it's around 25,000 for 15 nights. It's a targeted promo tied to your recent activity and elite status, you can view your offer under Promotion Central (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page while logged into your Marriott Rewards account).
But there's a little-known feature of this promotion: It's flexible. Say you've been staying at plenty of Marriott properties lately and/or you have elite status. You may log in to see your promo is the 35,000 for 20 plus 15,000 for 25 variety. But with your travel plans don't get you anywhere close to that many nights. No worries, just call the Marriott Rewards customer service and ask them to change your offer to one of the lower thresholds. It won't change the offer you see while logged into the website, but they will track it for you manually. Which means you may have to call back if your points havent posted in 6-8 weeks.
Read this thread at Flyertalk to see what success folks have had with this in the past. The offers fluctuate slightly from quarter to quarter so make sure you're quoting an active offer. Phone numbers are below. Good luck!
Regular Member: 800-450-4442
Silver Elite: 1-800-228-2100
Gold/Platinum Elite: 1-800-321-7396
Marriott Rewards customer service.
But there's a little-known feature of this promotion: It's flexible. Say you've been staying at plenty of Marriott properties lately and/or you have elite status. You may log in to see your promo is the 35,000 for 20 plus 15,000 for 25 variety. But with your travel plans don't get you anywhere close to that many nights. No worries, just call the Marriott Rewards customer service and ask them to change your offer to one of the lower thresholds. It won't change the offer you see while logged into the website, but they will track it for you manually. Which means you may have to call back if your points havent posted in 6-8 weeks.
Read this thread at Flyertalk to see what success folks have had with this in the past. The offers fluctuate slightly from quarter to quarter so make sure you're quoting an active offer. Phone numbers are below. Good luck!
Regular Member: 800-450-4442
Silver Elite: 1-800-228-2100
Gold/Platinum Elite: 1-800-321-7396
Marriott Rewards customer service.
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