Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for May 2007.

Looking forward to paying my mortgage by credit card

The Wall Street Journal reports that mortgage payments by credit card may be on the way — for a fee.Details are still sketchy, and your financial position/amount of your mortgage payment/choice of rewards program will determine whether it’s worthwhile… I wouldn’t mind picking up 35,000 Starwood points at a cost of a penny a point in the first year, and no incremental cost in future years, should that be how this shakes out. Developing…

Continue Reading »

$300 off $300 – Northwest Last Minute Packages

nwa-planes
May 23 2007

Northwest’s Last Minute Packages (formerly ‘CyberSavers’) are offering a fantastic deal — promo code LMP2007 is taking $300 off a trip of $300 or more. Per Northwest’s promotional email, it’s only supposed to be taking off $25. One Flyertalker writes I just snagged a trip for Fri. night – Sun. night to the Chicago vicinity with two nights at a Radisson for $5.91 all-in. So if you’re still looking for something to do Memorial Day Weekend (or the following weekend), this may be the deal you’ve been waiting for.

Continue Reading »

United Ends Mileage Conversion of Expiring 500-Mile Upgrades

united-plane
May 20 2007

United awards elite flyers (4) 500-mile upgrade certificates for every 10,000 miles flown on United (and United Express and Ted.. rar!.. planes). They also sell ’em. And they can be used to upgrade domestic flights a few days in advance of travel subject to availability, the specific length of time governed by your particular status with United. Currently, if those upgrade certificates expire unused, they each convert to 500 frequent flyer miles. June 1 this practice is no more. I knew about the change back in January when it was posted on Flyertalk and didn’t see it as an especially big deal. It used to be that the old paper 500s converted just to 250 miles, and you had to mail them in to boot. Then when they went electronic it actually improved to the…

Continue Reading »

Alaska Makes it Harder to Upgrade with Miles, and Other Annoyances

alaska airlines
May 17 2007

It’s been reported on Flyertalk that when Alaska says “Award Levels to Increase”, what they mean is that the 20,000 mile domestic coach award is going to be available only for online redemption. If you have to call to make the booking it will be 25,000 miles. No big deal in my view, 20,000 is already better than almost all other competitors (cf. Frontier Early Returns and their 15,000 mile awards). So Alaska’s gone from the model of rewarding website bookings to making off-line bookings more expensive. I’m naturally not a fan of the change, but I can live with it. But their other change really hits me where it hurts: Effective August 1, 2007, First Class Mileage Redemptive Upgrade award rules will be changing. Redemptive Upgrades awards booked after this date will be available…

Continue Reading »

40% Off Bedding at W Hotel Store

Via Slickdeals.net, the W Hotels Store is offering 40% on their beds and bedding through May 31 with promo code WE4XT.I got in on a similar offer back in March, and am very pleased with my purchase. My understanding is that W properties use the plush top mattress with a featherbed, rather than the softer pillowtop that’s also on sale here. But preferences will vary.

Continue Reading »

Orbitz Hotel Coupons

TripAdvisor is offering a $50 off Orbitz coupon good on a 3+ night hotel stay or vacation package. In addition, Orbitz promo code PRIDE100 offers $100 off on a 5 or more night hotel stay or $40 off on a 3-4 night stay.These presumably work only on ‘OrbitzSaver’ hotel rates, though I haven’t ploughed through the relevant terms and conditions to verify. The Pride offer is part of their Gay and Lesbian travel deals, but anyone can use the savings (the booking engine lacks appropriate gaydar).

Continue Reading »

Fly JetBlue Get $50 Off JetBlue

JetBlue is offering $50 off travel between September 5, 2007 and October 31, 2007 after you book a roundtrip by June 1 for travel commencing by June 15. Registration required. Thanks to reader Sloan for the pointer. Pair this with $10 off each way when buying your qualifying roundtrip. (Here’s the link via American Express.)Purchases need to be made with an American Express card by May 31 for travel by June 13, and Friday and Sunday travel are excluded.While the promo rules say the offer is good on transcontinental flights, that doesn’t appear to be true — the special fare comes up from Dulles to Orlando, for instance, and becomes as low as $39+tax one way.

Continue Reading »