Last night I was stranded in ATL, and after doing ‘the right thing’ and checking my bag from SNA to free up cabin space found myself with no change of clothes, no replacement contact lenses (I wear dailies) no toiletries etc… it was just me, my giant can headphones and my technology (Mac, Nexus 7, […]
Up to 10,000 AAdvantage or MileagePlus miles with Kaligo
Kaligo is a hotel booking site that has just landed in the US, and to kick things off they are offering a bonus to new customers. Here’s the schedule of the bonus:To celebrate our touch-down in the US, first-time bookings by new customers made until February 28th, 2015 will receive: 1,000 Bonus miles if the booking is […]
Do you go for the free lapchild seat?
I know, I’m a boring bastard – but you just bookmark this stuff now for when you grow up and have kids m’kay…. I spoke yesterday about how I had shifted my strategy towards frequent flyer programs by adding in Delta, SouthWest and JetBlue. I transferred enough Amex Membership Rewards for 3 JetBlue seats, even […]
I just changed my entire Frequent Flyer strategy
Well, I still don’t pay for flights. But I’ve made a massive change to my frequent flyer miles bank, and joined 3 new programs. Amusingly, I think most, if not all 3 are frequently disparaged by the ‘points experts’, so maybe I’m just going doolally due to lack of sleep around these here parts.The programs […]
Gift Card Economics – Everyone’s a winner!
A common question among the masses is, how can American Express pay you to buy gift cards? There are rebates that vary between 1-2.25% currently, and 4% or so have been seen in the recent past. That’s on top of Credit Card rebates. Let’s dive into some economics and see why they would do it, […]
In case you weren’t aware. I’m an expert.
Last night I picked up two copies of the Ritz Carlton with 140K bonus, for $395 a pop, and I was pretty excited about it too.Today Josh over at the Forum calls me out via message, asking me what my angle is because as far as he figures it, that wasn’t a smart move. So what […]
Learning from Criminals- how to value points
I’ve been bothered by this for the longest time. But I think we are all screwing up big time when it comes to Credit Card points. By valuing them high, we are stagnating, and losing real money. I find it interesting that people (myself included) who have been in ‘the game’ for any length of […]
Kimpton acquired by IHG! Why I think it is great news
I just received an email from Kimpton to inform me that IHG has acquired them. This is interesting news since IHG themselves were the subject of a failed acquisition just a few months ago, as SPG made a bid for them. Often, as a consumer, mergers and acquisitions are bad things. It is typically the […]
Analysis – is Whining or Begging more effective?
One thing all travel pro’s know is that you can add considerable alpha to your points strategy by whining and begging for more. The most effective location to deliver your message is Twitter, since the company reps you encounter there are more worried about promoting the brand than giving away a few points.So, which of […]
I need @Kickstarter to get me to LAX!
In case you live under a rock, and otherwise haven’t heard – TravelCon is happening on February 28th in Anaheim, CA. I’ve been invited there to present, and am a little nervous about it. Thus far I’ve managed to host two #DOs without having to talk about anything in depth. But more importantly, I can’t afford […]