Educational Posts on Loyalty Programs

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United Award Devaluations and Other Changes

United Airlines recently announced another round of changes to its MileagePlus award program. These include a variety of increases in award prices, a new variable scheme to replace Standard awards and new redeposit fee rules. The award devaluation is not as massive as United’s previous devaluation which became effective at the beginning of 2014.

While the last devaluation may not seem like very long ago for many travelers, by the time the new award chart takes effect on November 1st, 2017 it will have been almost four years so in some ways we should be thankful that these changes aren’t even worse.

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ResDiary: Worldwide Restaurant Reservations

ResDiary gives both consumers and restaurateurs more time to travel. It’s an extremely useful tool, whether you’re on the go looking for the perfect restaurant, or looking to manage your business wherever you are in the world.

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How to Downgrade Premium Credit Cards: Prestige, Reserve, Platinum

Downgrade premium cards

Premium credit cards can be a great value, but they also carry a hefty annual fee. You can enjoy free airport lounges, travel credits, insurance, and other perks and privileges, but at some point, you might decide you don’t want to pay the annual fee anymore or you want to try a different card. Many of the benefits like lounge access, the Global Entry credit are offered by several cards. But if you close the card you lose the credit line attached to it and that may bring down your credit score. There are also other considerations like what to do with the points you’ve accrued. So what’s the best plan to keep your credit line and points? You downgrade the card.

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Types of Frequent Flyer Redemptions Explained: Region, Distance and Revenue Models

Frequent flyer programs have come a long way since American Airlines introduced AAdvantage in 1981. The vast majority of world airlines have frequent flyer programs, and while they differ widely, each of their redemption schemes is based on one of the three underlying principles: region-based, distance-based or revenue-based.

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Clipper Vacations: The Pacific Northwest by Water

From the Olympic Sculpture Park and Pike Place Market to the Space Needle and Seattle Underground, Seattle and the surrounding area offer a wealth of opportunities for sightseeing and relaxation whether you have a weekend or more to explore.

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The Alaska and Virgin America Merger Impact on Partner Airlines

Update on Alaska and Virgin America merger

The recent merger of Alaska and Virgin America has created America’s fifth largest airline. We know that Alaska is going to drop the Virgin America brand, but that was originally supposed to happen in 2019. It’s apparently been moved up. Virgin America’s Elevate program is now scheduled to end on January 1, 2018. Its airline partnerships will begin dissolving even earlier.

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Portfoliobox Offers Creative Tools for Website Builders Worldwide

Are you a creative type looking to design the perfect website to showcase your work? Like to travel, but don’t think you have the time or resources to build something beautiful? Well, look no further than Portfoliobox, a company specifically designed for creative professionals such as photographers, designers, architects, makeup artists, models and more. With a variety of templates and user-friendly tools, even a busy traveler can find time to build their dream online portfolio with just a few clicks from anywhere in the world.

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Saving Miles with Asiana Award Bookings

Asiana Airlines, a Korean carrier, is a diamond in the rough in the points and miles game. It’s a lesser known program that is not often discussed in the travel blogosphere. However, Asiana has an excellent award chart that offers significantly lower award prices for Star Alliance partner flights than most airlines in this alliance. This is especially true relative to United Airlines, the Star Alliance member with whom US travelers have the most familiarity, in large part due to the transferability of Chase Ultimate Rewards to United. In this post, we will discuss how to earn Asiana miles, sweet spots in the award charts, and some tips for booking award tickets.

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Using Etihad Miles and Their Sweet Spots

Etihad booking flights

Etihad Airways is a Abu-Dhabi-based airline that offers worldwide coverage, luxurious premium cabin seats, and a lucrative rewards program. Etihad Guest, the loyalty program for the airline, is a very valuable program, but one that many people in the US are not familiar with. While Etihad is not part of any formal airline alliance, the airline has many partners, including ANA, American Airlines, Air Berlin, Jet Airways and more.

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FatWallet: Hand-Picked Deals on Travel and More

PwC, a leading professional services network, conducted its most comprehensive retail survey to date in 2016, reaching out to nearly 23,000 online shoppers from around the globe to learn more about their interests and habits. Among the findings was the insight that affordability figures heavily into shopping decisions, with 60 percent of those surveyed choosing a favorite retailer because of its prices. Many are increasingly using their mobile devices while shopping as well, with 31 percent accessing coupons or promotional codes on their smartphones.

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How to Use Delta Upgrade Certificates

Delta Upgrade Certificates

Delta upgrade certificates are one of the best benefits of elite status offered by any major US airline. There are two varieties – regional upgrade certificates (RUCs) and global upgrade certificates (GUCs). These instruments allow fliers to skip to the front of the pecking order for upgrades when booking paid flights.

For travelers seeking to fly in a premium cabin, upgrade certificates can save an enormous number of miles relative to booking an award ticket. In addition, upgrade availability is often in greater supply than low-level award availability, meaning you have a better chance of being able to work your way into a premium cabin in the first place.

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SeatGeek: Find Tickets to Live Events Wherever Your Travels Take You

Once you’ve set your strategy using RewardExpert’s service, it’s a good time to start to research your lodging and sightseeing options. But what about last-minute entertainment? Whether you decide to take a spontaneous weekend vacation or find yourself with a spare evening while away on business, SeatGeek can help you find and buy tickets to the hottest sporting events, concerts and plays in any city you visit.

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How the Annual Travel Credit on Premium Credit Cards Can Pay Off

You might be taken aback by the $450-$550 price tag on a premium credit card, but you need to weigh the benefits to see if the fee is worth it. One of the biggest payoffs beyond the sign-up bonus the first year is the annual travel credit one gets with a premium card. When you put that together with lounge access and the other benefits these cards offer you might find the card not only pays for itself but gives you extra funds for travel.

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How Premium Credit Cards Can Help You Access Airport Lounges

How a Premium Credit Card Can Get You a Lounge Access

Now that there are a number of new premium cards in the market it’s time to revisit the benefit of airport lounge access. It is one of the most popular ones for frequent travelers.  The lounge is a sanctuary where you can unwind in a comfortable chair, work or play on your computer with free Wi-Fi, grab a complimentary latte or beer, watch some news and sometimes even take a shower.

Some lounges even provide more than basic comfort, with upscale décor, delicious light meals and inventive cocktails.  You might even want to arrive at the airport early just to enjoy the lounge. There are a number of ways you can get access to this valuable perk including having a premium credit card. Let’s run through the options.

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CheapOair: Find the Best Flight at the Best Price Worldwide

More Americans are choosing to travel internationally these days. In fact, according to CheapOair’s recent travel trends report, international air travel has increased by nearly 170 percent since 2013—with a 30 percent increase since last year alone.

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U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards and UBS Visa Infinite Cards Hit the Market

Altitude-Reserve-Visa-Infinite-and-UBS-Visa-Infinite-Cards

The premium travel credit card market has turned into a competitive battlefield where the largest banks are fighting for customers’ loyalty and attention. U.S. Bank and UBS are the two latest banks to offer new potentially lucrative cards to the market: the Altitude Reserve and Visa Infinite credit cards. Let’s take a closer look at them.

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Taking the Anxiety out of Your Travel and Life

Realizing you need to go to therapy is not easy. Then, finding a good therapist is a whole other challenge. Noah Rubinstein, founder and CEO of GoodTherapy.org, recognized these concerns and created the organization to serve as a place for anyone, anywhere, anytime to search for help. There are thousands of therapists from over 30 countries listed on GoodTherapy.org. “As we heal ourselves, we help to heal our world,” he stated.

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9 Things To Do If You Have Points/Miles That Are Going To Expire

So now that you’ve put in time and effort to earn a bunch of frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points, you definitely don’t want to let those miles expire. Each program has it’s own expiration policy so check with your program to find the exact rules. In this post we’ll share some strategies for keeping your miles from expiring when that deadline appears on the horizon.

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The Complete Guide to Earning Delta SkyMiles

The Complete Guide to Earning Delta SkyMiles image

There are plenty of ways to earn miles with airline partners on the ground through shopping, dining, staying in hotels, renting cars and taking advantage of a variety of promotions.

But there is one method that allows travelers to get a huge amount of miles in a short period of time. Getting a welcome bonus for a credit card can get you a nice head start on your next vacation using Delta SkyMiles. Then you can top off the balance by taking advantage of other type of offers.

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Hot Southern Destinations for Foodies

People Eating Food in a Restaurant

The southern United States has always had something of a reputation when it comes to food.

A region long synonymous with such comfort food as pan-fried chicken, black-eyed peas and collard greens, as well as hushpuppies and beignets, its hard to talk (or even think for that matter) about the states south of the Mason-Dixon line without considering their vast contribution to gastronomy.

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