You may be getting the kids ready to go back to school, but you can also get ready for your next getaway. Pump up your frequent flyer miles or points with back-to-school shopping offers from United MileagePlus, American Airlines AAdvantage and Southwest Rapid Rewards.
Discount ticketing website ScoreBig.com has teamed up with United, Southwest, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines to offer frequent flyer miles to people who buy event tickets through its service. ScoreBig’s deals with the airlines are similar, giving ticket-buyers a bonus with their first purchase and miles or points for future ticket sales as well.
Spirit Airlines is offering several ways for loyalty program members to earn miles and save money this summer and beyond.
Thanks to partnerships between airlines and charities, you have the opportunity to reap reward miles for your generosity. Call it aviation altruism, if you will.
Whether you’re in the mood for native bratwurst and sauerkraut, or Oktoberfest just isn’t coming soon enough, it might be time for a trip to Germany. There are many ways to earn bonus miles while you’re there, so you’ll be that much closer to your next excursion by the time you get home. So don your lederhosen and say danke schön for bonus miles.
You’re probably already planning your annual summer vacation. Have you considered going someplace you can’t drive to? It might be time to think outside the box and visit a far-flung destination.
Memorial Day is here and people are packing up and taking off. If you are planning a road trip this summer and would like to pump up your miles in the process, there are several deals to be had.
If you’re considering a new cell phone service provider, be sure to take advantage of the wide variety of offers available now at the frequent flyer virtual malls. There are thousands of miles up for grabs for new customers.
Frequent flyer virtual malls are all abuzz with pollen-filled bonus miles and many other Mother’s Day deals. Although flower purchases offer the most miles per dollar and significant flat-rate bonuses, there are plenty of options for earning extra miles. It’s a win-win situation–a gift for mom and some miles for you.
JetBlue is often credited with raising the bar for the in-flight experience on board a low-cost airline. In addition to comfort advances and customer service innovations, the airline was one of the first to offer personalized in-flight entertainment for all passengers.
Chip credit cards—also known as EMV, for Europay, MasterCard and Visa—have recently become the standard in the U.S. Just about every credit and debit card now comes with a chip, which improves security.
However, U.S. cards typically use chip-and-signature technology, not chip-and-PIN. Chip-and-PIN is the standard in most of the rest of the world. Having a card with chip-and-PIN technology can make traveling abroad much easier. So what’s the difference and where can you get one?
If you’re collecting miles and playing the frequent flyer awards game, you’re probably already familiar with the airport taxes, fuel surcharges and other fees that often get added to your ticket. So when you finally earn that “free” flight you’ve been saving up for, you don’t expect it to be completely free.
In our series on points and miles terminology, you’ve learned about the lingo used by airlines, frequent flyer programs and for award bookings. Here are the words you need to know to maximize your points and miles earning through credit cards.
Air travel is, by necessity, a jargon-filled industry. There are countless technical abbreviations used by pilots, airline officials and aviation geeks, but the lingo used in frequent flyer programs can be equally overwhelming. The dozens and dozens of programs out there tend to each have their own way of approaching these terms.
Here’s some lingo you should know when booking an award flight using points or miles. These 25 booking terms can help you sort through the jargon like a pro.
One of the most common gripes about frequent flyer programs is that the miles you earn are hard to redeem when you need them. It’s not that airlines want to upset you; it’s just that they don’t want to give away seats they hope to sell. They want to let go only those seats that according to their calculations are going to fly empty anyway. An airline is a commercial enterprise that would rather make money than fly us for free no matter how much we think we deserve it. But if you are flexible, you can make the most of your miles.
Earlier this fall, it looked like we had seen the last of the really high credit card sign-on bonuses for the year. Lufthansa offered 50,000 miles on its co-branded credit card, and Chase finished a big 70,000 point push on its business card, the Chase Ink.
But oneworld alliance airlines or at least the ones most relevant to North American travelers seem to have gotten together and decided that they really like the business that credit cards bring them. British Airways, American Airlines and US Airways have all thrown out 50,000 mile sign-on bonuses.
Despite its distance, Asia is remarkably reasonable on miles. If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest option, American Airlines offers off-peak awards to Japan and Korea that require just 50,000 AAdvantage miles round-trip.
When you rent a car, you may have a vague worry in the back of your mind that little nagging feeling you get when you don’t quite understand the rules of the game. Rental car companies have tons of terms and conditions, and many of them can leave the consumer holding the bag in case of an accident or damage to the car. Paying for your rental car with the right credit card can offer you some additional protection and peace of mind.
Similar to Starwood and Deltas Crossover partnership, United and Marriott teamed up last year for RewardsPlus, a joint venture aimed at offering elite members of both programs reciprocal benefits.
