Category Archives: Miles and Points

Club Carlson – Good While It Lasted

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There are very few hotel programs useful to people who like to get off the beaten path and out into the bush where the birds are.  After a major mass burning of points last year, I was down to 2 useful programs – Club Carlson and IHG.  One day remains on the lucrative benefit of the Club Carlson Visa in which you could redeem one free night for one award night.  Club Carlson did have a few properties that were well located for eco-tourists such as the Summit in Panama,  the Radisson Blu Port Elizabeth and the now defunct Radisson in Tahiti.  I also burned quite a few points to visit Tel Aviv and Nice using the free night benefit while we were in Europe attending the World Parrot Conference in Loro Parque.

I still had ample points for the radisson in San Juan where it would have made a nice base for visits to El Yunque Rainforest but that property has since left the Club Carlson chain.  I managed to use the last few points I had for 2 free nights in Bogota  where we can make a day trip to Chingaza NP and 2 free nights in Minneapolis to visit family next year.  The last few points I have will probably get sent to an airline when I need to bump up the miles.  I’ll be cancelling my Club Carlson Visa when it next comes due.  If they had more properties in places where we will be traveling, I might have kept it but there are just too few Club Carlson hotels in exotic places!

So goodbye Club Carlson, it was nice knowing you for the last few years!

I still have the annual IHG free nights from the Chase card and enough points for some redemptions at airport hotels as required.  IHG is larger and has hotels in more locations I can use.  Otherwise, I will be booking independent hotels and earning airline miles using Pointshound and Rocketmiles from now on!

Just Returned From Thailand & Malaysia, Recap Of Miles & Points News While We Were Gone, 1000 Free AA Miles

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Over the last month it may have looked like business as usual at MTTW because I scheduled a pre-written post to appear each day.  But we spent most of April in Thailand and Malaysia for a relaxed birding trip with plenty of R&R time in Chiang Mai and Koh Samui while maximising a United Airlines award between Australia and South-East Asia.  Then we went to see my husband’s friends & family in the Cook Islands (which also have great birding on some of the islands like Aitutaki & Atiu).

I’ll start blogging about this trip as soon as my series on Africa is finished.  This will be our only overseas trip this year as we have some much needed home renovations to take care of but we will do a short road trip for birding in Outback Queensland later this year.  And there’s no rest for the wicked as I need to get flights for the very extensive trip to Ecuador, Colombia, Caribbean and USA in 2016 booked before AA devalues their program so the race is on!

MILES AND POINTS NEWS FROM APRIL 2015

There have been huge changes that happened in the miles and points world while we were gone.

The Club Carlson Visa devalued by losing the last night free benefit.  You have until 1 June to book an award night that gets the 2nd night free.  This was somewhat expected as the bonus was unsustainable but disappointing still.   I had used this quite a bit in places like Panama, Tahiti, Port Elizabeth, Israel & France.  I also discovered that my planned redemption for next year is no longer available since the San Juan Radisson closed down so I need to figure out what to do with my remaining Club Carlson points.  They just don’t seem to have properties where we plan to travel!  I just paid my annual fee on this card but called in to complain and got 7500 points compensation.  But next year I’ll be saying Adios to Club Carlson and this card.

Chase Ink lost the Lounge Club benefit.  This is not a deal breaker because of the 5x feature on office supply stores, internet, phones, etc but disappointing as we did use these lounges in BKK and PVG to get free internet and snacks in airports we otherwise didn’t have access to lounges as we flew economy this trip.  Our Lounge Club memberships expire end of July and they won’t extend them to end April 2016 so we can use them next year.  Best I can do is reapply and hope they give us new cards but it’s a punt at best.  30 April 2015 is the last date to apply.

British Airways Avios devalued which doesn’t really affect most of us as the best use of Avios – short haul economy redemptions is still the same.

Southwest Airlines devalued in some markets.  This airline was previously just a domestic US carrier so of limited interest to eco-tourists but they are expanding to the Caribbean and Central America.  Since they fly to SJU they are on my radar for the trip next year.  My dummy runs shows scarce availability for award tickets using AA or UA miles between SJU and the mainland USA so I need to have alternatives in mind.

And just to end things on a positive note – AA is giving 1000 free miles just for watching some videos about the program and answering some easy questions.  Experienced miles & pointers will already know the answers and can scroll ahead through the video.  Newbies should watch the videos, it only takes 10 minutes and does give a nice synopsis of the program.

Getting To Tanzania & Other East African Countries With Airline Miles

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East Africa is probably the most popular option for people wanting to go on a safari.  Unlike South Africa where it is easy to drive yourself around the game parks, the experience here will be in 4WD safari trucks with a driver either on you own or shared with others.

There are several airports you can use to visit East Africa and the one you choose will depend on what you want to see, safari prices and birdlife you are targeting.  I will be using Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro International Airport as an example because that is where I went and also because Tanzania is in my opinion the best country in East Africa for a general bird and mammal safari experience.

The first step is to identify which airlines that participate in one of the 3 alliances serve the airport in question.  You can do this by looking the airport up in Wikipedia and making a note of which airlines fly there and cross referencing with my guides on Star Alliance, OneWorld Alliance and SkyTeam.  Other East African airports of interest to birders will be Nairobi for Kenya, Addis Ababa, for Ethiopia, Entebbe for Uganda & Dar es Salaam for southern Tanzania & Zanzibar.

This is what you are looking for and I have highlighted all alliance members in yellow.

JRO Airport

STAR ALLIANCE

Star Alliance rules Africa in general and for most people, these are the miles you want if you are going anywhere in East Africa.  Ethiopian Airlines and Turkish Airlines fly here.  Most people will be using United Airlines miles for their trip although Australians may be using Singapore Krisflyer miles.  I advise using United or possibly Avianca Lifemiles to avoid YQ fuel surcharges.  Here are some typical routes and costs with United, all are quoted as one-ways so double it for a round trip.

Traveling from the USA or Canada will cost 40k economy or 80k business class.  Beware of mixed classes in the business class column, sometimes the long flight is in economy!

JRO UA1

From the UK or Europe you will pay 30k economy or 55k business class.  Watch the high airport tax from the UK!

JRO UA2From Australia or New Zealand you will pay 50k economy or 85k business class.

JRO UA3

If you need intra-Africa flights, these are a bargain at  17.5k economy and 35k business class.  Notice how the 2nd itinerary gets you a free overnight in Addis Ababa!

JRO UA4

If you are using Singapore Krisflyer, the miles are reasonable but the YQ surcharge is insane!

SQ AfricaThe website only quotes for SQ redemptions but this gives you an idea because SQ flies to JNB.  They also charge YQ on partner awards.

Seriously?  Over $500 AUD for the YQ surcharge!!!

SQ Africa1

ONEWORLD

Only 1 OneWorld Airline serves Kilimanjaro – Qatar Airways.   Beware of YQ surcharges when using Avios or Qantas miles.   Due to routing restrictions, you will need to redeem 2 awards if you are coming from Australia/New Zealand – Singapore/Bangkok – East Africa.  Americans can use Qatar all the way from the gateway to Kilimanjaro but they may need to pay extra for a positioning flight if Qatar doesn’t offer a through-fare from the originating city.

AA Ghana

If you are flush with Avios from a credit card bonus, they are an option but please beware of the YQ surcharges!  I couldn’t find any availability online using Avios on Qatar but this might mean the system is down so it’s worth calling in.  Here is what you are looking at.

JRO Avios1

LHR-DOH is 3261 miles and falls into Zone 5.

DOH-JRO is 2201 miles and falls into Zone 4.

JRO BA Chart1

So add the figure for your preferred class of service in Zone 5 & Zone 4 as per below to find out how many Avios you need.  Partner awards use the peak chart so you need 46,000 Avios for one way economy and 81,250 for business.  When you call in, you will find out the YQ surcharges.

JRO BA Chart

 

SKYTEAM

Accra is served by 2 Skyteam partners – Kenya Airways & KLM.

Delta has annoyingly removed their award charts so I tried to quote IAD-JRO and couldn’t find anything.  I did find a quote for a sample IAD-NBO route using Delta and KLM.   However their website doesn’t see Kenya Airways flights so you may better these examples by calling in.  Also see the West Africa post for an example where Delta serves the airport – Accra.

I have to admit that I have no use for Delta’s Skypesos which seem to devalue at an alarming rate so if I need SkyTeam partner flights I use the Flying Blue program with miles transferred in from Amex or SPG.

DL NBODL NBO2

Using Flying Blue miles on Kenya Airways can be good for hopping around Africa and they do add certain destinations like Madagascar that Star Alliance can’t provide.  For more information on using Kenya Airways, see my Madagascar post.

BOTTOM LINE

You can’t beat the Star Alliance coverage which at time of writing has no fuel surcharges, so collect United Mileage Plus!  Chase is your friend!

Getting To Ghana & Other West African Countries With Airline Miles

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I will be using Accra’s Kotoka International Airport as an example because that is where I went and also because Ghana is in my opinion the best country in West Africa to go birding.

The first step is to identify which airlines that participate in one of the 3 alliances serve the airport in question.  You can do this by looking the airport up in Wikipedia and making a note of which airlines fly there and cross referencing with my guides on Star Alliance, OneWorld Alliance and SkyTeam.  The main airports of interest to birders will be Accra, Dakar, Banjul, Abidjan & Freetown (if ebola crisis is over).  Lagos, Nigeria and Douala, Cameroun could also open up to birders if the security situation improves.

This is what you are looking for and I have highlighted all alliance members in yellow.

KotokaSTAR ALLIANCE

Star Alliance rules Africa in general and for most people, these are the miles you want if you are going anywhere in West Africa.  Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, TAP Portugal, Turkish (which the Wiki forgot) and South African Airways all fly here.  Most people will be using United Airlines miles for their trip although Australians may be using Singapore Krisflyer miles.  I advise using United or possibly Avianca Lifemiles to avoid YQ fuel surcharges.  Here are some typical routes and costs with United, all are quoted as one-ways so double it for a round trip.

Traveling from the USA or Canada will cost 40k economy or 80k business class.

UA Ghana1

From the UK or Europe you will pay 30k economy or 55k business class.  Watch the high airport tax from the UK!

UA Ghana2

From Australia or New Zealand you will pay 50k economy or 85k business class.

UA Ghana3

If you need intra-Africa flights, these are a bargain at  17.5k economy and 35k business class.

UA Ghana4If you are using Singapore Krisflyer, the miles are reasonable but the YQ surcharge is insane!

SQ Africa

Seriously?  Over $500 AUD for the YQ surcharge!!!

SQ Africa1ONEWORLD

Only 2 OneWorld Airlines serve Accra – British Airways and Iberia.  Both attract YQ surcharges (BA is higher than IB) so these routes will not be most people’s first choice.  Due to routing restrictions, you will need to redeem 2 awards if you are coming from Australia/New Zealand – Singapore/Bangkok – West Africa.

AA Ghana

If you are flush with Avios from a credit card bonus, they are an option but please note the YQ surcharges!

Avios Ghana1 Avios Ghana2SKYTEAM

Accra is served by 4 Skyteam partners – Delta, Kenya Airways, KLM and Middle East Airlines.

Delta has surprisingly good availability.  They no longer publish an award chart so I did a few examples.  From the USA/Canada mileage starts at 40k economy & 90k business class and goes up depending on saver availability.

Delta1 Delta2 Delta3

Notice how much higher the YQ surcharges are for these examples for Sydney and London!

Delta4 Delta5 Delta6

 

Using Flying Blue miles on Kenya Airways can be good for hopping around Africa and they do add certain destinations like Madagascar that Star Alliance can’t provide.  For more information on using Kenya Airways, see my Madagascar post.

BOTTOM LINE

If you want to go to West Africa, collect United Mileage Plus!  Chase is your friend!

A Nostalgic Look Back At US Airways Dividend Miles

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Today is the day the programs merge.  It’s the 28th of March in Australia and now also in around half of the USA.  Soon we will wake up with increased AAdvantage balances and the US Airways Dividend Miles (USDM) program will be history.   I can’t help but think back fondly on all the opportunities we never would have had without it.  USDM was the game-changer that put extravagant premium class awards within reach of the ordinary person who had little money but was willing to put in some time and effort.

I never was a big player in the miles and points games until 2008.  It always seemed to me that the best benefits were always for those who traveled a lot – actual FREQUENT flyers and were elites.  I booked our trips on the cheapest routes although trying to use Star Alliance programs as much as possible as we were collecting United Miles.  If we managed a free trip from BNE to RAR or PPT every 2 or 3 years we were happy.

GAMING THE GAME-CHANGER

Then United started blocking partner awards – Starnet – and I had to look for an alternative.  Right around this time, one of the best ways for people to earn miles without spending money was playing Live Search Club games.  I was already playing for our AAdvantage accounts so it was a natural step to add a few more accounts and start playing for US Dividend Miles.  Anyone remember Chicktionary?

US-lsc chick US-lsc

LSC was a great little earner while it lasted.  An anagram-solver and a desk in front of the tv was all I needed to rake in around 4000 miles in 4 accounts (mine & husbands – US & AA) roughly every 2 weeks. It was a pretty hot topic on FlyerTalk while it lasted.  LSC later morphed into Club Bing and by using a never ending supply of new accounts I was able to keep the miles rolling in for around 18 months until they finally shut down in 2010.  But the best was yet to come!

GRAND SLAM PROMO

I was too late for the 2008 Grand Slam but ready and waiting for the 2009 version.  There was a whole thread in FlyerTalk dedicated to this killer promo where you could earn 50,000 miles by using USDM’s partners.  The game was to use as many free hits as possible or to use purchases you were already making at certain hotels or car rentals to create hits.  Then find the cheapest item to buy from partners such as Biscoff spread (yummy!), batteries from SkyMall, screen-wipes from some telephone company, sandwiches from dining partners, GAIAM trees from the mall, churned Netflix accounts and stickers from Track-it-Back.  We opened brokerage accounts for $5 with Sharebuilder, bought the cheapest Lifelock packages, swapped miles for magazines.  Since I live in Australia, my Mom in California was the lucky recipient for several bouquets of flowers and assorted junk.

In 2010, the Grand Slam upped their game to 100,000 miles and in 2011 they upped it again to 110,000 though the last 4 hits were too hard for me so I had to settle for 100,000.

Grand Slam 2011In the latter years, I would prep for the upcoming Grand Slam by getting hotel points for free by doing Foursquare check-ins, Facebook promos and E-Rewards.  The Daily Getaways promos which used to be so much better were also a source for cheap hotel points and Grand Slam hits.  I estimate that I paid around $600 between both our accounts that I wouldn’t have spent otherwise to get 200,000 miles between us those last 2 years.

TRACK-IT-BACK TAKES IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Remember those Track-it-back (TIB) stickers I mentioned?  They became another game-changer in the 2009 Holiday promo.  You had to spend a certain amount with various shopping partners and there were tiers to multiplying the bonus.

TIB promoIn a nutshell, you made the cheapest possible purchases for the first 4 transactions, then the 5th you bought as many TIB stickers as possible and got 100 miles per $!  I don’t remember how much I spent, I got as many as I could manage the cash flow for.  Some people on FlyerTalk spent $1000’s and got LOTS of miles!

CHURNING THE CREDIT CARD

I only managed to do this twice – once in 2011 and once in 2013.  Each time I got 40,000 miles and on the 2nd one it comes with a 10,000 miles anniversary bonus so I’ve kept it.  Barclays Bank has since cracked down on churners.

BUY/SHARE MILES PROMOS – UP TO 100% SHARE

The last great way to get USDM relatively cheaply (although not as cheap as Grand Slam & TIB) was to share miles back and forth between two accounts.  Obviously this works better for couples than single people unless they knew someone very trustworthy.  When the Grand Slam promo didn’t return in 2012 much to everyone’s disappointment, this became the best way to get USDM and on the bright side it worked equally well for people all over the world.  You shared miles to your partner, they got double, then they shared back to you and you got double.  USDM kept this promo up until last year, then they scaled it back to 50% bonuses.

IMG_9789

The best seat I ever got for free from USDM – Turkish Airline’s wetleased Jet Airways plane used the first class suites as business class so if you were clever with your seating assignments you could sit in a suite for the price of a J award!

SO WHAT DID I DO WITH ALL THOSE MILES?

USDM’s fantastic promos allowed us to go places we otherwise had no chance of affording – usually in business class (bolded)!

2011 – BNE-BKK-ICN-LAX-PHX-MEX /-LAX-ICN-BKK-BNE

2011 – BNE-SIN-KTM /-BOM-SIN-BNE

2012 – BNE-AKL-RAR-AKL-BNE

2013 – BNE-BKK-ICN-YVR-IAH-BZE /-HNL-ICN-BKK-BNE

2013 – BNE-BKK-BLR /- CMB-SIN-BNE

2014 – BNE-BKK-IST-TLV /-BCN-ZRH-FCO-PEK-SIN-BNE

And I still have some USDM left to transfer to AA!

In no alternate universe could someone of my economic level even dream of trips like those!  USDM and their crazy promos made it all possible!  We visited some of the world’s finest eco-tourism locations and saw some amazing birds that we could only dream about before.

IMG_2462So here’s to you, US Airways!  It’s been a wild ride the past few years and I am sad that it’s over but really happy and grateful that it happened it all.  From the bottom of my heart (and my champagne glass) thanks for the memories!

 

 

Any Value In Daily Getaways For Eco-Tourists?

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Longtime miles & points junkies will be familiar with the annual US Daily Getaways Program.  In the golden days, it was once possible to leverage cheap Wyndham Rewards points to cheap airline miles and I must admit to taking full advantage in years past.  That all came to a halt last year when Wyndham devalued their transfer ratio and the Daily Getaways put up their price.

This year the promo will run 23 March to 24 April and the first 3 weeks have already been posted.  Since there is no longer any value in airline transfers unless you just need a couple 1000 as a top up, the best reason to buy these points is to use them for hotels.  I know all the miles/points/travel blogs will be covering the best deals in a general sense so I will only address the best deals specifically for eco-tourists who want to use points to stay cheaply some place within a day trip of a good bird watching location.

In all of the examples below, you need to determine if it represents a good value to you.  You need to check if the chain hotel is where you really want to be or would you prefer to just pay for a night in a non-chain hotel.  For myself, I have decided that I will not pay money to stay in chain hotels but I will stay in them if I get an extremely good deal from a credit card.  The only credit cards I deem useful to me are the IHG Rewards & Club Carlson Visa.  I have no interest in any other hotel chain credit cards.

Daily Getaways 1

Daily Getaways Week 1

 

WEEK 1

3 major chains have points on offer, – IHG, Club Carlson & Hilton

IHG does have some good properties in places like Accra, Ghana (day trip to Shai Hills, my review coming soon), Tahiti (between hops to Rimatara & the Marquesas), Panama (day trip to Soberania NP) & Puerto Rico (day trip to El Yunque).  Historically these points won’t sell out quickly as you can buy IHG Rewards using the book & cancel method.

Club Carlson also has a property in Puerto Rico and Panama suitable as above.  I also used the Radisson Blu to good advantage for a day trip to Birds of Eden, Tahiti on a layover and a pre-flight stay in San Jose, Costa Rica.  These points will go moderately fast as they are very useful to anyone who has the Club Carlson Visa card and gets a free night for at least one night booked on points.

The Hilton packages don’t seem to be that great of a value and I don’t see them selling out.  While we did enjoy our stay in Mauritius last year which cost 80,000 points for 2 nights, there is no way I would have spent $500 to purchase 100,000 points for those 2 nights.  We got those points by doing social media games which are no longer running for free.  If we hadn’t had the points, we would have used Pointshound to book something cheap and earn miles.

Daily Getaways 2

Daily Getaways Week 2

 

WEEK 2

Nothing here to interest eco-tourists.  The Choice points on Friday are excellent value when used in Europe but that’s out of scope for this blog.  Here is a good example of a blogger who is making excellent use of this promo for his trip to Europe.  Last year, we used 10,000 Choice Rewards to stay in Venice at a hotel that would have cost over $300!  They are the only thing I see going fast so if you want some you will have to be ready to go right at 1:00 pm ET.  (US time zone as in New York if you need a converter).

Daily Getaways 3

Daily Getaways Week 3

WEEK 3

Once again, nothing of interest to eco-tourists.  The Hyatt packages will go extremely fast because people who want to stay in luxury hotels will snap them up but Hyatt doesn’t have any properties in places that also have good birding.

WHAT AM I DOING?

Sitting out this year!  Since I am a good advance planner, I have already determined that I have enough hotel points for our needs for the next 3 years.  Most of our stays will be at independent properties, I just like them much better and I like having more choice.  Nothing worse than being stuck in a bad location because that’s where your points hotel is!

AA & US Mileage Accounts Will Be Merged In April

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Here’s the latest as per the email sent by US Airways about the merger.  In addition to the below, I would like to point out that if you have an award trip planned that is within the 330 day booking window that is more advantageous to book with US miles than AA miles, you have about 3-4 weeks to do it.

  • Trips that require crossing a 3rd zone.  Example LAX – HKG – SYD – HKG – LAX.   AA will charge you for 2 awards, LAX – HKG &  HKG – SYD.
  • Trips that require using a stopover.  Example LAX – SYD – BNE – HKG – LAX with BNE or SYD being the stopover.  While AA will allow open jaws and one ways, you would pay extra to add BNE in addition to SYD as a stopover.

Moving to the AAdvantage program

Once we combine programs, we’ll begin transferring your Dividend Miles mileage balance, Preferred-qualifying activity and million mile balance into your AAdvantage account on a one-to-one ratio. We’ll determine your elite status level by looking at your combined elite-qualifying activity for 2014, and separately, your combined 2015 year-to-date elite-qualifying activity. It may take a few days to transfer everything, but we’ll email you once it’s completed.

As a member of the most rewarding airline loyalty program, you’ll continue earning miles when you fly on American, US Airways, oneworld® and other participating airlines, as well as with over 1,000 partners. And, you’ll still be able to redeem miles for flights, upgrades on American and US Airways, car rentals, hotel stays and more.
Benefits of the AAdvantage program »

Booking award travel

Dividend Miles award bookings and mileage upgrade requests will be disabled a few days before we combine programs to allow us to integrate your accounts. If you plan to redeem Dividend Miles for an upcoming trip, we encourage you to book now. Once our programs are combined, Dividend Miles will be converted into AAdvantage miles, and you’ll be able to redeem AAdvantage miles with American.

Upgrading your experience

Once we combine programs, your elite benefits will initially work differently for American and US Airways flights, as we’ll still operate as two separate airlines. We’ll adopt the American upgrade process for all flights when we have a single reservation system later this year.
How upgrades will work »

To upgrade, you should book flights that are marketed and operated by the same airline – either American or US Airways. If you’re booked on a codeshare flight, you’ll only be able to upgrade when you check in based on availability.
What is a codeshare? »

Soon after we combine programs, qualifying Dividend Miles Preferred members will receive 500-mile upgrades to use on American flights.
How to calculate 500 mile-upgrades »

Benefiting with your card

** I happen to be a cardmember.  If you aren’t, now is a good time to apply as Barclays will not be allowed to issue new cards once the programs are merged.

As a US Airways Dividend Miles MasterCard® cardmember, you’ll begin enjoying your first eligible checked bag free and Group 1 boarding on domestic American flights once we combine programs. This is in addition to the current benefits you’re already receiving on US Airways.

Flying Blue Bargain Redemptions To Madagascar

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Are you reading this blog wishing you could go to Madagascar?

Are you based in Europe?

If not, can you easily get to Europe?

Then you are in luck!  Flying Blue has announced their promo redemptions for the next few months and Antananarivo is on the list!  You must book your trip before 31 March and travel between 1 May – 30 June 2015.  Most people transfer either SPG points or Amex MR to get Flying Blue miles if they need them.

FB TNRMake sure you are happy with the weather, it will be winter in Madagascar during May & June.  They will be coming out of the rainy season and some roads will be in bad condition, however the 2 places I am blogging about – Andasibe & Ankarafantsika are reachable by good paved roads.

Free 5000 Singapore KrisFlyer Miles For Australians, Posts Within A Day

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For once Aussies are getting a really good deal!  Singapore Airlines is giving 5000 miles free to new accounts who register between 4 – 31 March 2015, insert the promotional code “KFACQPU” in the communication preferences area of the form, and you will earn 5,000 Bonus KrisFlyer miles to count towards your next trip.

Double your rewards and earn an additional 5,000 bonus miles when you book and complete your first return journey within six months of your enrolment date.

SQ 5000My previous account had been deleted several months ago for non-activity within 18 months so I re-registered myself and also signed up my husband yesterday around 6pm-ish.  This morning I woke up and found the 5000 miles already posted to both accounts.  I still haven’t decided whether to keep the SQ miles or convert them to 3403 Virgin Velocity points, that will depend on what trips I need to book but the options are there.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Loses Major Travel Partners

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One of the biggest incentives to pay with a Chase credit card is the opportunity to earn bonus points by using their “Shop through Chase” online mall (formerly called Ultimate Rewards Mall).  Although I don’t buy a lot of consumer goods, I have used them primarily for Expedia and Hotels.com.

I am currently chasing United miles for next year’s travel plans so I would make Rocketmiles my first port of call.  But in this case, the hotel options on Rocketmiles were too expensive.  I only want a mid-range guesthouse in Chiang Mai and Hotels.com has several in the $25-30 range.  Who goes to Chiang Mai to sit around a hotel?

Anyway, I logged into Chase about to use the portal as usual and saw that Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline, Hotwire and all their travel partners are gone.  The travel category has disappeared from the drop-down menu.

Shop thru ChaseA quick look at Flyertalk confirmed it.  The only thing I have to fall back on is TopCashBack as a portal since Hotels.com don’t partner with any of the airlines.  If you are in the same position and want to go for the cashback option, you and I both get $10 bonus by clicking my link.  I must admit that I rarely use cashback instead of portals that earn miles as I get more value from the miles but sometimes there isn’t any other option.

Anyway, now I am feeling better about my decision to cancel my formerly prized CSP.  It was once my go-to card but I don’t think its worth the $95 fee anymore.  I will be using a combination of the Freedom and Ink to maximize the 5x bonus categories.