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Points Guy Pointers

My Points Procrastination/Last Minute Award Booking Outcome

June 28, 2012

Last week I wrote about my bad habit of waiting until the last minute to book award tickets. Things started to get down to the wire and my friends in Madrid were expecting me to be at a couple of events, so I really pounded the pavement to get something that worked – and was [...]

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My Severe Case of Points Procrastination

June 21, 2012

I’ve recently been dealing with a rough bout of a condition I bet many of you are familiar with: points procrastination, the bad habit of putting off a booking until the last minute in the hopes of creating the perfect award itinerary with the least amount of miles possible. My Situation I am supposed to [...]

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Tuesday Travel Top 10: Mistakes People Make With Their Airline Miles

May 22, 2012

I talk a lot about airline miles and the best ways both to earn and to use them, but today, I’m going to tell you the top ten mistakes people make when it comes to their miles and how you can avoid them. 1. Letting miles expire: Honestly, I die a little inside each time [...]

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And The Winner of the Bose QC15 Headphones is…

March 23, 2012

Before taking off for Singapore, I posted about my top 10 travel products for long-haul flights and asked TPG readers to do the same for a chance to win a set of noise-canceling Bose QC15 headphones. Tons of you commented with great ideas, so we selected a random winner: Steve. Not only is his list [...]

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My Top 10 Travel Products For Long-Haul Flights (And Bose Giveaway)

March 21, 2012

Yesterday I boarded the world’s longest commercial flight: Singapore Airlines Flight 21 from Newark to Singapore, which lasts an astonishing 18 hours and 40 minutes, practically an entire day up in the sky! In fact, due to the flight timing and time zone changes, I spend the entire Tuesday, March 20th in the air! The [...]

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How to Minimize Time Spent on Hold With Airlines: Part 2

March 19, 2012

Last week I wrote about calling airlines’ international customer service centers to avoid long hold times when the US phone lines are jammed. This was topical because United’s phone lines have been swamped since they officially merged with Continental last week. Naively, I thought United’s phone lines wouldn’t be jammed up at midnight last night [...]

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How to Get Around Long Hold Times When Calling Airlines

March 12, 2012

One of the things I like doing least in life is calling up airlines. Even as a top-tier member in several elite status programs, I dread having to pick up the phone and speak with phone agents. However, as much as I don’t like it, it’s a fact of life for a frequent traveler because [...]

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Tips for Traveling with a Mobility-Challenged Person

December 9, 2011

As I mentioned in a previous post, as a special present, I took my grandmother to visit our cousins in Santa Barbara over Thanksgiving weekend. She’s 89 years old, still sharp as a whip, but like most people who get to that age, her mobility has become somewhat limited. She still gets around, but she uses [...]

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Sunday Reader Question on Consolidating Frequent Flyer Accounts

November 13, 2011

TPG reader Jeff writes: “I have points on gazillions of airlines – probably enough for free flights on many – but am wondering if there is a good way to consolidate? Just moved to silver status on US Airways – but no status on others. I registered on points.com but seems like there are high [...]

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Understanding South American Visa and Reciprocity Fees

November 12, 2011

Due to the comments on my master British Airways award clinic post, I know many of you are booking amazing South American awards with your British Airways miles before those redemptions become less valuable on Wednesday. However, before you book you should understand the visa and fees associated with visiting South American countries. If you [...]

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Sunday Reader Question: What Do I Do If an Airline Changes My Itinerary?

October 23, 2011

TPG reader John recently emailed me about his experience with an award being changed and what his options were. While it question is specific to his experience, I’ll give my general advice on what to do when airlines change your awards. “Over a month ago I booked an award ticket with points for my trip [...]

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How to Earn and Maximize the Southwest Companion Pass

October 20, 2011

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the most lucrative benefits of any airline loyalty program. This pass allows you to designate a companion that flies for free (just pay 9/11 taxes) on any flight that you are on – even if you use points for your ticket. This benefit can save you serious amount [...]

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Sunday Reader Question: How Can You Spend Your Way to Airline and Hotel Elite Status?

October 9, 2011

Savvy TPG reader thegasguru asks: “I’d like to see a post on how to “spend” your way to status in various programs. Can the very top tier status be obtained without ever stepping foot on the plane or in the hotel? If not, what’s the highest you can go via spend only” These days, its [...]

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Using ExpertFlyer.com for Award Availability

October 6, 2011

Airline websites are notoriously horrible for award searches – especially when it comes to partner availability. Even ANA’s site, which is revered as possibly the most accurate search engine for Star Alliance availability, has a frustrating and time-consuming interface that only searches simple routes day-by-day. While not perfect, I religiously use Expertflyer.com to identify accurate [...]

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Why I Love Chase Ultimate Rewards

September 23, 2011

Update: Sapphire Preferred sign-up bonus offer is now reduced to 40,000 points. Update: As of April 2013, Chase Ultimate Rewards has added Virgin Atlantic as a new airline transfer partner. As I wrote about last week, I recently got my Chase Sapphire Preferred card and I have to say I love it. Yes, it does get a little bit [...]

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Reminder: Get Global Entry!

September 9, 2011

My experience on this week’s Star Mega Do 3 has been a whirlwind – a one day trip to Munich, which ended up being filled with airline delays and rushing through airports to events – but overall it’s been a great experience. I’ll write a summary post once I have time to breathe next week. We [...]

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My Year End Elite Status Sprint Begins

September 8, 2011

As of today I have roughly 75,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles on Delta and I’m hell-bent on requalifying for Diamond (125,000 miles). What this means is that I will have to rack up at least 50,000 elite miles by now and December 31, 2011. To do this by flying, it means I’d have to do 2.5 [...]

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TPG’s Guide to Airport Lounge Etiquette

September 1, 2011

Airport lounges can be a jungle. You’ve got an interesting cross section of people, whether it’s business travelers closing deals or fanny-pack toting leisure travelers calling every single person in their cell phones before their big voyage. In my travels, I’ve seen a lot. In fact, I’m writing this post from the Miami SkyClub (which [...]

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Getting Points for a Car Purchase

August 27, 2011

A friend of mine was in the market to purchase his first car recently and asked me to help maximize the amount of points he could get from the purchase. Originally he was going to pay cash, but after talking through the benefits he decided it would make sense to put as much on a [...]

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Maximizing Stopovers, Transfers and Open Jaw Ticketing on United/Continental Awards

July 27, 2011

This post is focused on maximizing Continental and United awards. The Continental Onepass program will cease to exist after 12/31/11, but until then you can transfer United and Continental miles back and forth (see this post for more information). For other posts in the “Maximizing Awards” series, check out American, Delta, US Airways, Air Canada [...]

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Which American Express 50% Transfer Bonus is Better: British Airways or Delta?

July 20, 2011

Until July 31, 2011, you can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards Points to British Airways for a 50% bonus (see my original post for more details). Delta also has a 50% bonus for first time transferees that includes a 25,000 elite mile bonus when you transfer 100,000 or more miles, which is valid until September [...]

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United 1K Status Challenge Information

July 15, 2011

This week I’ve been talking about airline status matches and challenges. While most airlines have published programs that generally prohibit top status matches/challenges, there are some current programs out there that will, like United’s 1k Challenge. I emailed [email protected] the following email: “Hello, I am a NYC based Delta Diamond and I am considering a [...]

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Airline Status Match and Challenge Information

July 14, 2011

A frequent flyer can mean a lot of revenue for an airline. Not only do frequent flyers often have the co-branded credit card, but they are often influential in bringing more business to the airline. What many frequent flyers don’t know, is that you can leverage your current elite status to get comped elite status [...]

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Reminder: Always Double Check Your Reservations Before Traveling (Especially With Hertz)

July 12, 2011

I have to admit, I am not the most organized traveler. I often don’t make reservations until the last minute and when I do, I rarely print out the confirmation. Perhaps I trust electronic travel booking way too much or I don’t like wasting paper – I never print confirmations (which has gotten me in [...]

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