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What Is The Best US Airline? Virgin America Apparently (According to Consumer Reports)

On May 23, 2013 · 4 comments

in Airline Industry, Spirit, Virgin America

Virgin America took the top prize for good in-flight entertainment, seats and overall comfort

Yesterday USA Today’s Nancy Trejos (who has been on a roll breaking travel stories) covered Consumer Reports’  annual airline satisfaction survey and to be honest, I wasn’t really surprised with the results given the poll questions. Voters were asked to rate their satisfaction with the airlines’:… Read More

Hotel Review: St. Regis Florence Junior Suite and Premium Deluxe Room

On May 23, 2013 · 1 comment

in Hotel Reviews, Starwood

The exterior of the St. Regis Florence.

After arriving in Milan last week on Delta’s 767-400, my friend and I took the train from Malpensa Airport to Milano Centrale railway station so we could then connect to the high speed train to Florence. Our plan there was to spend two nights before returning to Milan.
The airport train to Milano… Read More

United MileagePlus Explorer Card Removes Foreign Transaction Fees

On May 22, 2013 · 17 comments

in Chase, United

The MileagePlus Explorer Card will no longer charge foreign transaction fees.

Chase just announced that beginning June 1, 2013, the United MileagePlus Explorer Card will no longer charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. This is a nice change and I hope it prompts other issuers to get rid of these fees, especially on travel rewards cards that encourage people to go abroad! I… Read More

Flight Review: Delta BusinessElite JFK-Milan

On May 22, 2013 · 7 comments

in Delta, Trip Reports

Our seats were in the middle section of the very last row of the cabin.

Last week I was planning on flying from JFK to Rome with a layover in Madrid, then traveling to Florence by train and ending up in Milan. After getting several reader recommendations when I posted my top 10 things I was looking forward to on my trip, I didn’t want to have to split my short 4 days… Read More

No Fees On Amex Gift Cards For Graduation and Father’s Day

May 22, 2013

Buying gift cards can be a great way to meet your minimum spend requirements for credit card sign-up bonuses, as well as to keep earning points beyond sign-up bonuses and even meet spending threshold bonuses. Although many gift cards are merchant-specific, American Express gift cardsare great because they are accepted everywhere Amex are excepted, so [...]

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American Airlines Discontinuing Soft Landings for AAdvantage Members

May 22, 2013

Historically some airlines, like American, have given “soft landings” to elite members who didn’t quite re-qualify for their elite status. Instead of dropping these elites to the cold hard world of non-elites, they’d drop them down a level to hopefully keep them engaged and wanted to keep their business with the airline and earn back [...]

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New Perks at Hyatt House – Breakfast, Welcome Amenities and More

May 21, 2013

One of the lesser known Hyatt brands is Hyatt House, which is Hyatt’s extended-stay brand that has studios, one- and two-bedrooms kitchen suites with full kitchens, living rooms, spacious bedrooms and bathrooms. Hyatt House properties also offers complimentary Free WiFi and they are pet-friendly. However, they just announced some new perks when staying with them. New perks at [...]

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Marriott Expands Breakfast Benefits for Gold and Platinum Elites

May 21, 2013

Marriott just officially announced today that starting June 22, Gold and Platinum elites will receive complimentary continental breakfast seven days a week at participating JW Marriott, Autograph Collection , Renaissance and Marriott Hotels in the U.S. and Canada. In the past, breakfast at hotels in the U.S. and Canada was only available during the week, [...]

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Travel Tuesday: Top 13 Car Rental Bonuses For Summer

May 21, 2013

Memorial Day is coming up this weekend, and that means the summer driving season is upon us. If you’re one of the millions of Americans thinking of taking to the open road, chances are you might spare the wear and tear on your own vehicle in favor of renting one – especially since there are [...]

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Last Day to Order Free Amex Bluebird Checks (Update: Extended Until 8/13)

May 21, 2013

Update: Seems like the fine folks at Bluebird have extended this offer until 8/13/13 and waived shipping fees as well! Since its introduction last year, the Amex Bluebird card – a reloadable prepaid card that is hybrid credit card-debit card-checking account – has been one of the most powerful tools in every points collector’s aresenal [...]

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Andaz Wailea Maui Opening Discount Rate: Stay 4 Nights Get 2 Free

May 20, 2013

Ever since I took a hard-hat tour of the Andaz Wailea on Maui last August, I’ve been following the resort’s progress. It was originally supposed to open this spring, but now the opening date has been pushed back to mid-September. On the bright side, though the resort is offering guests 2 nights free on stays [...]

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Bonus on British Airways Avios Purchases Now Through June 13

May 20, 2013

British Airways has announced that Executive Club members who purchase Avios now through June 13, 2013, will receive a bonus of up to 7,000 Avios. The amount of bonus Avios you receive will be based on the amount you purchase. Purchase 2,000 – 6,000 Avios and receive 100 bonus Avios Purchase 7,000 – 12,000 Avios [...]

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My Virgin America Elevate Gold Status Ends – So What?

May 20, 2013

Back in December, Virgin America was offering status matches to the elite flyers of America and United, so I was able to match from my Executive Platinum status on American to Elevate’s highest (of two) status tier, Gold. My new status was good for four months, until April 30, 2013. In order to have extended [...]

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Maximize Monday: Getting The Most Points Out of Double and Triple Dipping When Booking Travel

May 20, 2013

When I checked my Delta SkyMiles and Starwood Preferred Guest accounts the other day, I noticed that my SPG/Delta Crossover Rewards had kicked in and I had started earning Delta miles on my Starwood stays and Starwood points for my Delta flights. At first I was happy to note that I was double dipping in [...]

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Earn 1,000 Bonus United Miles for Joining the Small Business Network

May 20, 2013

United launched their new Small Business Network, where small businesses can earn bonus United miles when shopping at the program’s network partners.  Small business members can now earn award miles for day-to-day spending, like paying utilities, buying office supplies or for shipping packages etc. This program is separate from United’s PerksPlus business frequent flyer program, and is [...]

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Tickets Going On Sale for Star MegaDo 5 – Toronto, Tucson and San Francisco With Air Canada

May 20, 2013

Tickets go on sale today for the Star MegaDo 5 starting at 12:00 PM central time. MegaDo’s are events set up by frequent flyers and the airlines, where we charter a jet and fly around to different cities and the airlines/hotels set up really interesting events that provide access to places few people ever get [...]

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Video SRQ: Does Amex Count Buying Vanilla Reloads as an Eligible Purchase Towards a Spend Bonus

May 19, 2013

Our first question this week is from TPG reader Tony who is looking to meet spend bonuses by purchasing prepaid cards: “Some credit cards, such as the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express, define eligible purchases as ‘Eligible Purchases means purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do [...]

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Video SRQ: Avoiding High British Airways Surcharges and Finding Award Availability

May 19, 2013

TPG Reader Eric is having trouble using Avios for a flight from New York to London: “How is it possible that buying an award ticket from NY to London this summer using Avios in coach costs more than purchasing the ticket outirght in cash? Those surcharges are ridiculous. Also, is there any Anytime option for [...]

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Saturday Recap: Earn Bonus Delta SkyMiles with Hertz, Triple HawaiianMiles with Starwood, Emirates and JetBlue Expand Codesharing, Southwest Double Points from Select Cities, 50% Mileage Bonus with Air Canada

May 18, 2013

Here’s a recap of the interesting points and miles news from this week: Earn Triple HawaiianMiles with Starwood in Hawaii: Hawaiian Airlines and Starwood have teamed up to offer HawaiianMiles members triple miles when staying at Starwood properties in Hawaii from now through December 20, 2013. In addition, customers can also save 30% off their [...]

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Why I’m Going To Pre-Order Meals on American Airlines From Now On

May 17, 2013

Back in February, American Airlines officially launched the ability for first and business class passengers to pre-reserve your meal before a flight. No more running out of that sandwich you want or the cheese plate before the flight attendants get to you. The option was first only available on American Airlines marketed and operated flights within [...]

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The Time Commitment Of Manufacturing Spend on Prepaid and Reloadable Cards Using Green Dot MoneyPaks

May 17, 2013

All this week, TPG contributor Jason Steele will be covering Green Dot MoneyPaks and how you can maximize the points and miles you earn using them. In Part 1 of his series he introduced us to Green Dot and covered the basics of prepaid reloadable cards. In the second post, he compared Green Dot to [...]

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Destination of the Week: Sevilla, Spain

May 17, 2013

For today’s Destination of the Week, we asked Madrid-based expat and TPG contributor Lori Zaino to cover one of her favorite cities in Spain, sultry Sevilla, whose stately tree-shaded streets, massive cathedral, and magnetic nightlife have drawn travelers from far and wide. Sevilla’s rich history has included past rule by the Romans, the Visigoths, the [...]

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Current Buy Miles Promos – 30% United Discount, 30% American Bonus

May 16, 2013

United and American are both currently offering promotions on purchased miles, so I thought I would take a look at each promo and whether they are worth considering. Now through 11:59pm CT on May 20, 2013, United is offering up to a 30% discount on purchased United miles. Here’s how it works, MileagePlus members will save 30% [...]

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American Launches New Boarding Process – Early Boarding With No Overhead Luggage

May 16, 2013

Airplane boarding is a battlefield, where travelers try anything they can to get on first, get to your seat, secure some overhead space and stake out their territory. Adding another skirmish into the process is American Airlines’ announcement today that it has overhauled its entire systemwide boarding process for flights within the US and Canada [...]

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