The Weekly News Roundup is a collection of headlines from around the internet that caught the attention of the Tagging Miles team. Content on these blogs do not necessarily reflect the positions of Tagging Miles, and should not be considered endorsements. Have a great story we should read? Contact us now and let us know!

Manufactured Spending

• Shawn of Miles to Memories shares a reader’s new fraud fear for those of us who buy Visa Gift Cards.
• Milenerd shares some concerning developments, it’s becoming harder to get the most rewarding credit cards from Chase and Bank of America, and even more fraudulent gift card news.
• Doctor of Credit warns – don’t go using that NBA card too much – maybe they’re realizing that 5x everywhere isn’t such a smart idea (well, you know, for them, not us, of course).
• Doctor of Credit goes further and provides the ugly truth of Chase credit card churning. You can also read my thoughts and strategy on these concerning developments.
• Chasing the Points argues not writing off Plenti just yet… My read of his post is that there really is nothing to see there, at least for now. Its ironic, because I was just thinking yesterday, how Plenti hasn’t gotten a whole lot of press lately, are there some hidden values there? Seems like the answer is: no.
• Shawn also shares yet more concerning developments on buying Visa Gift Cards from GiftCardMall – I got whiplash watching this one go back and forth.

Travel

• A day after reports of Etihad awards being unavailable to AA, Milecards follows with a post that first class is indeed bookable. That’s how quick things move in this game, folks!
• Dia the Deal Mommy went for a boat ride in a car — and you can too! I remember seeing one of them growing up in NY, although I only remember it going into the water once (and it did come back out!).
• From Business Traveller – Alitalia reveals their new business class seat. Now, this is a little bit more wow than the livery they revealed last week, but, still not the most exciting. I mean, its the same seat that Etihad flies (hey, consistency!), just in leather. Really where I think Alitalia gets points is for the look of the seat, very stylish.
• Southwest offers the science behind flight numbers... From an #avgeek standpoint, I found this very interesting… Of course, it also impacts me from a travel standpoint, because I usually just change the flight number plus or minus one when searching for the returning flight, and usually get lucky, but looks like it was just that, luck, e.g. for American Airlines that apparently uses the same flight number for out and backs.
• Runway Girl Network reports that American (pending regulatory approval) will be flying from LAX to Sydney, operated by a 777-300ER, and Qantas will operate Sydney to San Francisco. Seems like a pretty big win for OneWorld fliers! Just don’t fly economy.
• Gary Leff continues the interesting discussion of mistake prices. This post he shares a time when someone paid a standard hotel rate, however the hotel attempted to call it a mistake, because it was during a special event weekend. Based on the information presented, it sounds to me a lot like the hotel is in the wrong.

Reselling

• Oren’s Money Saver warns about retailer bans, having seen a few new bloggers banned in recent months. I’ve shared my own warning when it comes to manufactured spending (insert costo/USAA post)
• Chasing the Points shares some of his gift card churning data. It’s really insightful, because inventory turnover is huge in this game.
• In case you missed it – there’s an NPR Podcast – for those of you who resell for miles and points through portals, you’ll probably get a laugh (I did).

Back to Basics:

• Sometimes it’s good to go back to basics, regarding finding award space, God Save the Points has a great reminder of the tried and true methods.
• Chasing the Points dusts off a post from Dia the Deal Mommy about a “convertible credit card” – its a great way to start, if you’re not a seasoned credit card churner.
• Travel Codex writes about American Airlines’ award routing rules. A good read if you plan to use AAdvantage miles for awards.

Nonsequitar:

• Skift has a great interview / write-up about JetBlue’s Executive Vice President Commercial and Planning, Marty St. George. The article, for me, really showed why culture can be such a difference maker in the airline business (Southwest gives similar proof)
• Paris Air Show starts soon – Vietnam Airlines’ has a Boeing 787 there this year for some flying around. Here’s their practice: