Welcome back to our Sunday Summary Series where we review the stories that were covered throughout the week.
Make sure you check my post from the other day on the Guide to Annual Free Nights with Credit Cards for a thorough overview of the free night benefits!
Sunday Summary
Mattress Running vs. Mileage Running
Having recently applied for the Hyatt Diamond Challenge, I have been doing a little mattress running to reach the required nights. This is the first time I have done mattress running for status, though I have done my share of mileage running for airline status in the past. Here is my perception of the two and which I prefer.
Earn 5X Points On Southwest Flights
When it comes to earning points on airfare, there are several ways to go about doing that. Of course, from a straight points earning perspective, the American Express Premier Rewards Gold/Business Gold Rewards cards are best with a solid 3x points per dollar spent on airfare. The Chase Sapphire Preferred gives a 2x earning (plus the 7% dividend on those points at the end of the year) on airfare. Earn 5X Points On Southwest Airlines But, the chance to earn 5x points is always a great thing. When it comes to purchasing Southwest flights, there are many…
United Devaluation From The Other End
United Airlines has gone and done it again – they have pushed out another devaluation. The big one came in February of this year when they revamped their redemption chart to drastically hike the amount of miles required for premium cabins, especially on partner airlines. United Devaluation … from the other end Today, United Airlines has continued to go down the road of devaluation their mileage program and has followed in the steps of the Delta’s devaluation.
The United Devaluation Equalizer
With the announcement this morning that United Airlines will be devaluing their mileage earning this coming March, many flyers who collect miles by flying on cheap tickets are left scrambling to figure out the best way of accruing award miles going forward. The truth is that mileage running for the sake of earning award miles (not elite miles) has not been very cost effective for quite a while. The best and easiest way to accrue miles is through credit card bonuses and spending for sure. Hopefully, most of you who are racking up award miles are already doing it from your local store/computer than doing it in an airplane seat. If you are not, time to reevaluate!
Do These Airline Earning Changes Affect You?
With United’s (unsurprising) announcement yesterday that they will following Delta down the limited earning path come 2015, many travelers are wondering how these changes affect them. Here are some things to look at as you answer that question. Do These Airline Earning Changes Affect You? It is amazing at the level of “outrage” and “shock” that so many in the media and frequent flyer communities exhibited yesterday about the United changes. I am not sure if it was just to let United know that they were unwelcome or if these individuals really did not see this coming.
Could You Be a Referee at the World Cup?
The World Cup is about to kick off in Brazil. Even those who are not football/soccer fans will be watching to see how well Brazil pulls off this world event ahead of Rio hosting the 2016 Olympics. It should be interesting for those sport fans as well as logistical fans! Could You Be a Referee at the World Cup? But, while all of the attention is on the teams, there is a group of people who will be extremely important in this world famous sporting event. Those people are the World Cup referees.
Let Google Pick Your Next Destination
One of the joys of miles and points is the ability to be able to pick a city to go to without thought of the cost of getting there. Thanks to award charts that are divided up by region, it costs the same miles (in most programs) to go to New York City as it does to go to Bismarck, ND. This holds true for most regions around the world as well (North Asia, Europe, Oceania, etc). It gives us a great opportunity to visit a place that we may never have thought of given the cost of a ticket.
Save 20% – 60% On Gift Cards From Sam’s Club For Hotels
So, you buy cards of certain value and then use them through the method listed above. These cards are available at Sam’s Club for $79.99 (for two $50 cards) and in some stores for $39.99 – a savings of at least 20% and up to 60%! These cards can only be used through the website, but many of their hotel prices compare favorably with Orbitz.
Guide To Annual Free Nights With Credit Cards
Hotel-branded credit cards have a unique offering – they give generous sign-up bonuses but inherently have very little to offer for the user to keep the card. Some of them offer category bonuses but most of the bonus categories are covered by other cards that have better transfer opportunities. To combat this and to persuade cardholders to keep the card (and pay the annual fee), they counter their comparatively weak card bonuses by offering some form of a free night with the annual anniversary of having the card.
Weekend Giveaway!
First of all, Happy Father’s Day (weekend!) to all the other fathers out there! I am the blessed father of three wonderful children and it has been quite a ride! I love all three of them and really enjoy being a father – if only they would not grow up so fast! Anyway, I thought it should be time for another giveaway! This giveaway will run through tomorrow afternoon (6PM) and I will be drawing 5 winners from the comments!
Travel Deals Through The Generations
I thought today would be a good to reflect on what I have learned through the years from both my father and grandfather when it comes to travel deals. You know how people say that a person gets this or that from his father or is just like his father in some way. When it comes to travel deals, I truly did get these things from my father and he from his father. Grandfather Obviously, my grandfather did not get travel deals with the points earned from credit cards or from travel. In fact, almost all of his travel took place for the USA in his role as a sergeant in the US Army.
