One card approval can get you to Central or South America! This is the best offer I have seen on this card in a while so if you have a good credit score and can manage credit responsibly, go for it!
I do not have an affiliate relationship with Chase, I found this link on FlyerTalk.
Offer
More information click on image
It’s that time of year where we honor our Mothers! Mother’s Day is only 2 weeks away so it’s a great time to decide what you are going to do to make your Mother feel special, even if you happen to live far away from her such as I do. No woman can resist a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the good news is that flowers can easily be ordered online and sent to your Mother anywhere in the world……………………and by using the right links you can get miles for them!
Usually Chase’s Ultimate Rewards is my first port of call for click thru portals so I had a look here to see what was on offer. Always check ALL portals before making a decision as you will see later on.
Best offer here is FTD for 15 extra points. During the year, this is probably your best bet but around Mother’s Day, most airlines will put on special offers through their own portals.
I’ll use United as an example but the same principle applies to all airlines with shopping partners.
From the airline’s main website, go to the tab with the frequent flyer program, then look for the retail shopping partners. I don’t mean United’s online shopping mall (though they will also have flower offers) but the partner section.
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You will see lots of offers and the one we want is right at the top.
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30 miles per dollar is pretty good! Before you take that offer, it’s a good idea to check all the airlines you are collecting miles in such as American, Delta, British Airways or whatever to see if they have better offers. Since I am actively collecting United’s miles for a goal, I basically just need to compare Ultimate Rewards and what is on United’s website.
You will know you are in the right place if you see the United Airlines welcome message at the top.
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After you have chosen your flowers, there is still one last step to insure you get your miles. On the very last screen where you put the payment information, there is a place to fill in your United Mileage Plus number (or whatever airline’s program you used to click through). Don’t forget this step or you won’t get any miles!
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Miles usually post about 2 weeks after delivery. Enjoy your flowers and more importantly, appreciate your Mother, you only get one!
Remember, you should only use these kinds of promos if you are close to a goal and just need a few thousand miles to top off. Don’t buy miles on spec or if you won’t be using them within a few months as they do depreciate in value. Click for promo.
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Sometimes birding is laid back and easy!
Sometimes it takes a bit of work!
If you have some challenging hikes ahead of you, this is a great chance to lose weight, get fit and earn miles at the same time! United Mileage Plus Shopping has a deal to earn 15 miles per dollar on 28 day Nutrisystem plans! Be sure you are logged into your Mileage Plus account and have cookies enabled so the promo tracks. You must click from your account to Nutrisystem so I won’t provide a link here.
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NutriSystem: Not eligible on purchases made with coupon or discount codes that are not found on this site. Eligible only on new 28-day auto-delivery plans. Not eligible on gift cards or for recurring shipments. One-time only/per customer. Monthly charges not eligible. †See site for details.
SORRY, THIS DEAL IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN USA & CANADA
The women’s programs start at $229 for 28 days.
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Copa Airlines is a member of Star Alliance and a very good member to know if you are headed to Central or South America for your eco-tourism adventure. Copa is a member of United’s Mileage Plus program and can be easily booked online using United miles and Avianca-Tava Lifemiles.
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Some gateway cities I’d like you to take note of are Las Vegas (LAS), Toronto (YYZ), Mexico City (MEX) and Bogota (BOG). If you are either originating or transiting the USA to/from Central/South America, Las Vegas’ airport is a much less painful place to go through the formalities. We were on a full 737 in economy so no special privileges but we were through Customs and out to the car rental shuttles in less than 10 minutes (we didn’t check bags). People who are originating in Europe and don’t want to bother with a ESTA for the USA might want to fly to Toronto, Mexico City or Bogota to hook up with other Copa flights to their final destination.
This is a list of all their destinations.
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Seats in economy are in a 3 x 3 configuration, not my favourite. When I made the booking, I reserved an A & C seat for us and luckily no one took the middle seat. Entertainment is the old-fashioned over-head viewers, no AVOD at individual seats so you may want to bring your own entertainment. Business class seats are like US domestic first class seats.
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The service was very good, I found the flight attendants friendly and competent. The flight was right on time. Although we were in economy, we had access to the Copa Club in Panama City (PTY) airport via a United Club pass from the Chase credit card; so got a free continental breakfast (cereal, toast, fruit, yogurt, coffee, juice, tea). They wouldn’t let me take photos inside.
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The airport has a nice variety of gift shops if you have time to spend in transit here. The lines at immigration are extremely long, it took us almost an hour to clear as we were staying a few days. Think twice if you are in transit as the time to get out of the airport, then braving the traffic to get downtown to sightsee might take longer than you expect causing you to miss your flight. I wouldn’t try it unless I had at least 6 hours between flights.
Use United Airlines’ tool for best display options.
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Getting award space is pretty easy, especially if you book in advance. United charges 17,500 miles in economy, Avianca Lifemiles charges 15,000 miles for the same.
Lima to Las Vegas is a very reasonable 20,000 miles in economy. A round trip at 40,000 miles would be an excellent use of either Ultimate Rewards points or United miles if you have gotten in on any of the credit card deals. Not quite a free trip, taxes add $50 each way but quite a bargain! You could also take a stop-over in Panama to extend your trip for the same price, well worth it for the superb birding!
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My Feedly has erupted with blogs announcing the massive devaluation of United Airlines’ premium cabin awards, especially for partner awards. There is a massive thread on FlyerTalk as well. Since different blogs write for different types of travellers (luxury travel, domestic USA, backpacker travel, etc), I am only going to give my view on how this devaluation affects eco-travelers who want to go to the top birding hotspots in the world. So far, I have looked at travel ex-Australia and ex-USA. SInce I am planning a trip to Africa in 2015, I also looked at intra-African awards.
United Airlines has arguably the world’s best rates for business & first class travel of all the major carriers. True, US Airways may be cheaper but they are far less flexible. Most miles & points collectors prefer to use them for business & first class awards on some of the world’s top rated airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Lufthansa & Swiss.
If you live outside the USA, you may or may not be aware that it is very easy for Americans with good credit scores to get 1000’s of miles from signing up for Chase credit cards to get the huge 40-50,000 miles sign up bonuses. I have done this myself although to a lesser extent. It has also been fairly easy for people resident in the USA to “manufacture spend” by purchasing Vanilla Reloads at CVS drugstores, loading them onto a Bluebird card and using the Bluebird to either withdraw cash at an ATM or pay the credit card online. This has resulted in millions of United Mileage Plus miles floating around and it was inevitable there would be a devaluation. What is really frustrating is that people who can’t manufacture miles (don’t live in the USA or near a CVS) have also been caught up in this devaluation. This is the award chart as it is now.
This is what it will be in 3 months’ time. I must say, at least they had the courtesy to give us 3 months warning! Unlike Club Carlson who devalued their miles redemptions without warning.
The good news is that MOST destinations remained the same price if you travel in economy. This blog is geared towards destination orientated travelers not journey orientated travelers so I will assume that my readers would rather travel in economy with the possible exception of long-haul overnight flights when having a flat bed to sleep in can be a big advantage. Honestly, we all know economy sucks but it’s bearable for flights during the day and less than 6 hours. The most popular destinations for birders are Central/South America, Australia, South-East Asia, Central Asia & Africa.
EX-USA
Economy awards remain the same with the following exceptions: Central Asia increases by 5000 miles round trip. South-east Asia increases by 15,000 miles round trip.
Business class awards have gone up across the board with Southern South America taking the smallest hit at 10,000 extra miles round trip. Australia will cost an extra 25,000 miles, Oceania will cost an extra 30,000 miles round trip & all Asian destinations have increased by 40,000 miles round trip.
EX-AUSTRALIA
Economy awards remain the same except for Oceania & Central Asia which increases by 10,000 round trip.
South-east Asia appears to be going DOWN by 25,000 miles which is surprisingly good news!
Business class (round trips) have gone up by 25,000 to USA, 40,000 to Central America,Northern South America, 25,000 to Southern South America, 30,000 to Central Asia & 20,000 to Africa.
South-east Asia has gone DOWN by 30,000 miles round trip!
I am planning to use my United miles to go to Africa in 2015. My 2014 travel plans have been allocated to US Airways and all but one trip are booked. I can’t bring this trip forward as I won’t have the cash to pay for the safaris and everything else that can’t be paid for with miles & points until I have been saving for a couple years. Since I plan to use Ethiopian and they have been stingy with business class awards, I was already budgeting for economy awards which have not changed. There is one flight between Mauritius & Port Elizabeth via Johannesburg which has gone up by 5000 for the one-way in economy or 10,000 in business. Test-runs show that this route is difficult to get in economy so we may have to redeem business which won’t be all bad since it is South African Airways.
First, don’t panic! If you were planning to use your miles for an economy ticket, in most cases you won’t be affected. If you were planning to book business class (if you want FIRST class you are probably in the wrong blog), make sure you book your 2014 travel before the increases on 1 Feb, 2014. With the 331 booking window, this will cover travel up to the end of 2014.
If you are an Australian wishing to travel to South-east Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) which has excellent birding, then WAIT until after 1 Feb 2014 to book your trip.
If you are a Chase customer, keep your miles in Ultimate Rewards as long as possible to retain flexibility. Avios are also an option and may work out to be a better deal so compare both before you transfer your miles.
Yes it is true, very few economy awards have increased in price. This also means that people who would have booked business class but can’t afford it now will downgrade to economy. It will be harder to find availability as more people will be trying for these tickets so book as soon as you know your plans are solid.
Even though the swapping rate is terrible, it at least provides something to do with orphaned points. I’d rather have 153 AA or UA miles than 1001 useless Frontier miles when I don’t collect in that program. So I went onto Points.com and saw that the trade and exchange sections have been greyed out on both United Airlines and US Airways. It should look like the American Airlines account with trade & exchange in blue with a hyperlink. Not wanting to get stuck with orphaned miles, I requested the exchange of 300 Best Buy & 1001 Frontier miles to AA before that program also drops out of the swapping options. If you have any points or miles accounts with small balances you can’t use, you might as well swap them into an account you plan to use!
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This is one of those bonuses many of us wait for to get rid of those extra hotel points we may have accumulated but can’t use. Since most of our travel is staying in eco-lodges where you can’t pay with points, we value airline miles more as we still need to get to the place! So here’s the deal:
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Here’s the link to register if you didn’t get the email. Make sure your transferred points earn at least 5000 miles or you won’t get the bonus. The normal 5000 miles becomes 6250 miles with the 25% bonus. This is a complete table of conversion rates.
So is it a good value to make these conversions? This is where you need to have an idea of how many hotel point redemptions you will be making in the next couple years or so and if you have enough points to do them with anything left over. You may have a surplus of hotel points if you got the affiliate credit card or bought some on special during a promo.
Wyndham is currently selling their points with a 20% bonus. This can work well if you need to top up your United account for an award. For example:
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Buy 20,000 Wyndham points for $220 and get 4000 points as a bonus for 24,000 all up. These 24,000 points convert in 3 x batches of 8000 (3 x 3200) so you end up with 9600 United miles. Add on the 25% bonus and the final total is 12,000 United miles for your outlay of $220.
If you wanted to buy 12,000 United miles at the regular price, it would cost you $451.50 so you are buying them at less than half price. I don’t advise buying miles on speculation as they could devalue before you get a chance to redeem them but this is a good way to top up for an award you will be redeeming soon.
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This was a pretty complicated itinerary that required several different air mile programs to complete. You can find my guide to using miles to get to Central America here. I used miles from my Top 8 recommended programs. Simply put, we flew from Brisbane to Belize, overland to Flores, flew Flores via Guatemala City to San Jose, Costa Rica; and another short hop to Panama. From there we flew Panama to Las Vegas, rental car to LAX, flew to Maui, then a short hop to Honolulu. The final return was Honolulu-Brisbane. Now let’s break it down into individual airline awards.
1. US AIRWAYS – South Pacific-Central America award in business class – 120,000 each. This was the hardest one to get as it was in August when availability trans-Pacific is at a premium. The other challenge I had to deal with was that US was starting to enforce maximum permitted mileage though there were still some agents who didn’t seem to have a clue. My first suggested itinerary used ANA via Tokyo on a 787 to Seattle but for some reason US agents couldn’t see that space even though I could see it easily on UA’s tool. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as there were problems with 787 aircraft leading to many cancellations. We finally booked the open jaw using Thai from Brisbane – Bangkok – Seoul, Air Canada from Seoul – Vancouver, then United (only had economy seats available) from Vancouver – Houston – Belize. BNE-BKK-ICN-YVR-IAH-BZE. The return was easier, a simple Honolulu – Seoul – Bangkok on Asiana, then a tight connection to Thai for the final flight to Brisbane. HNL-ICN-BKK-BNE. We used miles earned from the Grand Slam promo held annually from 2008-2011.
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2. UNITED AIRLINES – Central America award Flores – Guatemala City – San Jose, Costa Rica. Easily booked online at United for 7500 miles each using flights operated by Aviateca and Lacsa as part of TACA. Miles earned from credit card sign-ups.
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3. AVIANCA-TACA LIFEMILES award San Jose – Panama in economy for 7000 miles each. Original flight was on Lacsa but when this flight was cancelled I got them to put us on Copa. Miles sourced from Lifemiles Visa sign-up.
4. LIFEMILES award on Copa, Panama – Las Vegas, 15,000 miles each. I specifically chose Vegas as our point of entry to the USA after research showed there were very few international flights to LAS so customs would be easier. I was right, it was a breeze! Miles sourced from Lifemiles Visa sign-up, the shopping promo from Oct 2012 and needed to top up some miles & cash.
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5. AVIOS redemption on American Airlines, LAX – Maui, 12,500 Avios each. Easily booked online for the morning flight 10 months in advance. Miles sourced from Chase BA Visa sign-up.
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6. HAWAIIAN AIRLINES cash ticket from Maui – Honolulu. I found a cheap deal for $60 each so decided not to waste miles on this one.
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I had been planning this trip several years in advance and knew which credit cards to get and which promos to use to make it happen. I have no idea how much cash we would have needed for 2 people to actually pay for all these flights but my total outlay for taxes and cash components was somewhere around $1000-1200 max. Without strategic use of miles, we never would have been able to do this trip!
Tomorrow, I will discuss how hotel points saved us more money which made us able to spend more on the independent eco-lodges. I will also give reviews on the airlines involved and airports we visited.
This was emailed to me yesterday, nice little bonus if you like to eat out! Sorry I can’t give the link as it is personal to me but check your emails for a similar offer!
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Terms and conditions:
*This bonus offer is open to new MileagePlus Dining members or existing members without a dining profile at the time of registration. A dining profile includes creating a web login and opting in and remaining opted in to receive emails from MileagePlus Dining with a valid, deliverable email address. To qualify, your profile must originate through one of the links on this page. You must register by October 31, 2013 to qualify for this bonus. You must continue to satisfy other Online and/or VIP Member level criteria to earn this bonus.
To earn this bonus, you must spend at least $40 (including tax and tip) in one dine at a participating restaurant, bar or club within 40 days of registering for the bonus, but no later than October 31, 2013. You must also complete your post-dine review within 30 days of your dine. Please note that activity that occurred prior to registration will not be eligible for this bonus. In addition, the dine must occur during a valid reward period and be paid for with a credit or debit card registered in MileagePlus Dining. Member may earn the 3,000 Reasons to Dine Bonus up to two times for a total reward amount of 3,000 bonus miles (consisting of two $40 dines) per member. Offer is not combinable with other MileagePlus Dining bonuses. Please allow 6-8 weeks from the date of your qualifying dine for any bonus miles to post to your MileagePlus® account. All account inquiries related to this bonus must be received by December 31, 2013.
Please note that some restaurants offer rewards only on certain days of the week or up to a maximum spending amount per month. For complete program Terms and Conditions, guidelines and restrictions, and the latest rewards calendar, visit united.com/dining. Other limitations may apply.
Advanced registration is required. Please note that activity that occurred prior to registration will not be eligible for this bonus. Other terms and conditions apply. See Web site for details.
Miles accrued, awards, and benefits issued are subject to change and are subject to the rules of the United MileagePlus program, including without limitation the Premier® program (the “MileagePlus Program”), which are expressly incorporated herein. Please allow 6-8 weeks after completed qualifying activity for miles to post to your account. United may change the MileagePlus Program including, but not limited to, rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers or terminate the MileagePlus Program at any time and without notice. United and its subsidiaries, affiliates and agents are not responsible for any products or services of other participating companies and partners. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the member. Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count toward qualification for Premier status unless expressly stated otherwise. The accumulation of mileage or Premier status or any other status does not entitle members to any vested rights with respect to the MileagePlus Program. All calculations made in connection with the MileagePlus Program, including without limitation with respect to the accumulation of mileage and the satisfaction of the qualification requirements for Premier status, will be made by United Airlines and MileagePlus in their discretion and such calculations will be considered final. Information in this communication that relates to the MileagePlus Program does not purport to be complete or comprehensive and may not include all of the information that a member may believe is important, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to all of the information on the united.com website and the MileagePlus Program rules. United and MileagePlus are registered service marks. For complete details about the MileagePlus Program, go to united.com.
See additional MileagePlus terms and conditions.