TRAVEL / FREQUENT FLYER TIPS

This is our biggest cash back offer ever for an American Express charge card.

$150 in Amazon gift cards! We’ve done $20, $50, even $100 on the Gold Card from OPEN. But never $150.

And what’s more, you’ll get 25,000 bonus points when you spend just $1,000 (*) in three months.

Now, the Platinum card DOES carry a $450 annual fee. And it’s not even waived the first year.

But the card has a ton of exclusive benefits, and if you were thinking about getting one anyway, maybe this free $150 in Amazon credit will push you over the edge.

For more information, and to apply, please visit our Business Platinum Card from American Express page.

To get the $150, be sure to use the specified link and enter your information so we can send you the reward.

* We got an email indicating this MAY change to $5,000 in three months, so perhaps best o get on this sooner than later – and please VERIFY the bonus on the Amex webpage before applying.

SPG today announced a slew of new benefits starting March 1st, 2012. If you stay at any of Starwood’s brands (i.e. Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St Regis, Le Meridien, Four Points, Aloft, or Element) on a regular basis, your benefits just improved in a big way.

To summarize:

1) GOLD members will now receive a welcome gift at check-in. Choose from 250 SPG bonus points (125 at Aloft/Element/Four Points), or FREE Internet, or a complimentary beverage. With some hotels still charging lofty fees for in-room Internet, this alone could make SPG Gold worthwhile. If you stay 20 nights as Gold, that could be worth $300 (at a $15 a night Internet access fee).

2) PLATINUM Members, who already get a 500 point amenity at check-in (or local welcome gift) will now additionally receive a free continental breakfast for them and a guest each day of their stay.

3) “SUPER PLATINUM” – (our term, not theirs!) means that Platinum members that stay 50 nights in a calendar year receive 10 Confirmed Suite Upgrade certificates (in a Standard Suite, not any suite!). Stay 75 nights and start receiving 4 Starpoints per dollar spent on-property AND “Time on your side” which means you can stay from 24 hours from the time you check-in. Check-in at 9pm and you can stay until 9pm the next night!

4) LIFETIME GOLD and PLATINUM !!

a) Earn Lifetime Gold after staying a total of 250 eligible nights (remember that award nights now count too, since last November) and earning Gold or Platinum any 5 years since joining the program.

b) Earn Lifetime Platinum after 500 eligible nights and any 10 years of Platinum status.

Conclusion:

These are really amazing changes to the SPG program. They’ve long been one of the leaders in frequent guest programs – but this really pushes them up a few notches.

While I’m sure some people will find negatives in this (i.e. things that don’t quite fit their travel pattern), I think it’s hard to argue with such improvements.

Complete details at: http://www.spgpromos.com/morepowertoyou/?language=en_US&IM=SPGT_Annc_SPG_ENG_1&EM=SPGMorePower

Share your thoughts in the comments!

DG

Dates: Travel between December 13, 2011, and January 31, 2012

Offer: Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer!

Travel on American Airlines or American Eagle anywhere we fly from December 13, 2011, through January 31, 2012. You’ll earn double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for your loyalty!

Link: http://www.aa.com/viewPromotionDetails.do?repositoryId=16384981

This morning I was greeting in my email inbox with a message from American Airlines notifying me of their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Now, I fly AA a lot and have considerable AAdvantage miles banked. What was my initial reaction?

GOOD!

You see, the other US-based legacy carriers have all already done this. It will allow them to unburden themselves of unviable union contracts that have kept them from having the money to spend on things like new and refurbished planes needed to compete with European and Asian carriers that offer far superior business class products on long haul flights – and even to refurbish domestic planes with things like WiFi and In Seat Entertainment that people have started to expect with the likes of Jet Blue offering it on every flight.

FOX wrote a piece on this filing that sums it up pretty well: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2011/11/29/what-every-passenger-should-know-about-american-airlines-filing-for-bankruptcy/

What about your miles? They are *most likely* very safe. The AAdvantage program is what keeps high paying customers loyal to AA and even if the company were acquired, not honoring the miles would alienate the customers the buyer would covet most. In past takeovers (not that we know a takeover will happen here), miles and statuses have been safe. Like when American took over TWA a couple of decades ago and AA turned those miles into AAdvantage miles.

Sure, flying AA near term might be a bit less fun as employees will be hurt by the filing and morale will sink – but long term, this should be a positive thing for AA;s frequent (and infrequent) flyers.

As of Nov 2nd, we have the following offer:

- Earn 30,000 bonus miles when you spend $500 in your first 3 months of cardmembership
- No annual fee for your first year of Card membership; $95 thereafter

And if you use the HotelMagician.com link as indicated, you’ll also get a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate after you are approved.

Follow this link to get the offer: Delta Gold American Express card: 30,000 Bonus Miles

In honor of all those who serve, through Veterans Day, Nov. 11th, AAdvantage® members will be rewarded 15 miles instead of 10 for each dollar donated through American’s Miles In Support of All Who Serve campaign, which supports USO programs and services to support the morale, welfare, social and entertainment needs of troops and their families, free of charge.

http://joinus.aa.com/uso-care-packages

If you’re trying to beat the Dec 1 change to the American Airlines Million Miler program, this would be a nice boost for a good cause.

If you haven’t been following, you have until December 1st for miles from all sources to count in attaining Million Miler status – AAdvantage Gold status for the life of the AAdvantage program.

Until Dec 1st, miles from all sources, including credit card spending, could towards the 1,000,000 lifetime miles needed to qualify. Any flying bonuses also count.

After Dec 1st, miles that could will be actual BIS (butt-in-seat) miles only – with the one exception of the Citi Executive AAdvantage Visa credit card. ($450 annual fee).

Are you close??

According to a new press release today from Delta:

Beginning next summer, you’ll be able to enjoy access to Economy Comfort seats on all domestic Delta mainline flights and two–class regional jets. These seats will be located in the first three to five rows of the Economy cabin and will allow you to stretch out with up to four inches of extra legroom.

Who gets it?

- All Diamond, Platinum, Gold Medaliion members on purchase.

- All Full fare tickets regardless of Medallion status

- Silver members at purchase for a feee or on check in for free.

More info here: Delta expands Economy Comfort to Domestic Fleet

This is as good as it has ever gotten in terms of bonus points from the Starwood American Express cards.

From now until August 22nd, new signups for either the personal or business cards will get a total of 30,000 Starpoints as long as you spend $4,500 within the first 3 months.  I value Starpoints at about 2.5 cents each, so this is worth about $750 just for getting a credit card. And the annual fee is even waived the first year.

There has never been a better deal and it will be only be offered for a bit over 3 weeks, so don’t wait.

And, as always with Hotel Magician, you can get $20 back as an Amazon Gift Card when you sign up and are approved for a personal Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express and $50 back as an Amazon GC when you signup and are approved for a Business SPG Amex.

Links are:

Starwood Business American Express Credit Card (SPG)

Starwood Personal American Express Credit Card (SPG)

Remember you must be a NEW cardmember to get the bonus and you can get one bonus from each “flavor” – personal and business.

This just in from American Airlines:

American Airlines is partnering with the American Red Cross to help the victims affected by the March 10, 2011, earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami in the Pacific.

If you would like to join us in supporting the disaster relief efforts by making a cash donation, American will reward your generosity with an AAdvantage® bonus mile offer. Through April 15, 2011, AAdvantage members can earn a one-time award of 250 AAdvantage bonus miles for a minimum $50 donation, or 500 AAdvantage bonus miles for a donation of $100 or more to the American Red Cross.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and support.

https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ntld_corpmicrosite&s_company=americanairlines-pub&JServSessionIdr004=2faeg1alg1.app294a