Saturday Recap: United, Aeroplan and Club Carlson Bonuses, 25,000 American Miles, BMI Closing, Fairmont Airline Partner Bonuses
Here’s a quick recap of the interesting points and miles news from the week.
40% Discount on Purchased United Miles: Like last week’s discount on purchased United miles, the airline is offering up to an extended 40% discount on purchased miles now through October 31. You save 20% on purchases up to 30,000 miles and 40% off the regular price of miles when you buy 30,000 or more. That breaks down to 2.8 cents per mile when buying less than 30,000 miles, and 2.1 cents per mile when purchasing 30,000 or more. There is also a 7.5% excise tax. You can buy up to 100,000 miles for yourself or Give Miles (for others) per account per calendar year. Miles normally cost 3.5 cents each, so a 40% discount is significant, although still not an amazing deal. However, it might make sense for you to buy them to top up an account, or so that you can save Chase Ultimate Rewards points for redemptions with that program’s other partners such as British Airways or Hyatt. To learn more about how I value United miles and my thoughts on this discount from when United ran it back in April, have a look at this post.
500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles: In addition to two recent 75% bonus promos, Aeroplan is also offering customers 500 bonus Aeroplan miles each time they use the Air Canada iPhone app to purchase tickets to any Air Canada destination between now and December 31 for travel until January 31. To qualify, you must be an Aeroplan member and include your number at the time of booking, and you must also be traveling in one of the following classes of published fares that are eligible for mileage accumulation: Tango (N,G,P,E,A), Tango Plus (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T), Latitude (Y,B), Executive Class Lowest (D,Z), and Executive Class Flexible (J,C). The bonus is awarded per reservation, not per passenger, so book separately if you are traveling with others and each want your own bonus. Find out more about the iPhone app here.
25,000 Bonus American Miles For DirecTV Subscription: When you sign up for DirecTV via this link before December 15, 2012, you can earn 25,000 bonus American Airlines AAdvantage miles. The bonus requires a 24-month agreement and is only valid for new DirecTV customers who provide their AAdvantage number when ordering. The DirecTV account must be kept current and in good standing for a minimum of 60 days before the miles will be awarded and they may take up to 6-8 weeks to post after the 60-day period is up. Packages start at $29.99 a month. A two-year contract is a pretty big commitment, but if you know you’re staying put and were thinking about getting DirecTV, you might as well get the bonus miles in the meantime.
50% Bonus on Club Carlson Points Purchases: Now through November 10, Club Carlson members can get a 50% bonus on purchased points. Members can purchase points in increments of $7 for 1,000 up to 40,000 per account per calendar year, equating to a value of 0.7 cents each normally, and down to 0.47 cents with this promo. So let’s say you wanted to buy 50,000 points to redeem for an award night at one of Carlson’s highest category hotels like the Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago or the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Copenhagen where I stayed in July. You’d need to purchase 34,000 points for $238 to end up with 51,000 points. Rooms at the Aqua sometimes go for under that amount, so it might not be such a good deal, but rooms at the Copenhagen hotel regularly cost upwards of $400, so that redemption might be worth it. As always, do the math!
BMI Diamond Club Ending For non-UK and Southwest Pacific Residents: We all knew this day was coming after the sale of BMI to British Airways’ parent company, but now we have an actual date. From October 27 on, members of BMI’s Diamond Club will no longer be able to earn or spend miles on BMI flights or on partners British Airways, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and Transaero Airlines; nor earn destination miles on BMI hotel partners, WorldPoints or Amex Membership Rewards. They won’t be able to buy miles, upgrade flights with miles or earn status miles. Then, from October 27-December 31, they’ll need to apply for matching status with British Airways’ Executive Club and transfer destination miles into Avios. On December 31, BMI accounts will be closed and any miles not transferred will expire, so be sure to do so before then! You can find all the terms and conditions here.
Earn Double Airline Miles With Fairmont: This week, Fairmont launched a promo called “Everyone’s An Original” where Fairmont President’s Club members can pay rates at up to a 25% discount, get complimentary room upgrades based on availability and earn double miles with American Airlines, United, Aeroplan and Miles & More. Members will earn the usual per-stay 500 miles and 500 bonus miles on the special rates when they stay at a participating hotel between now and April 30, 2013. Just be sure to include your frequent flyer number when you make your reservation and in your President’s Club profile. Reservations must booked by October 3. Participating resorts include the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui, the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver, the Fairmont Mayakoba near Cancun and the Fairmont Royal Pavilion on Barbados, the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, the Fairmont Monte Carlo, the Fairmont Dubai and the Fairmont Zimbali Lodge in South Africa among many others. You can find the full list and starting rates on the promo page. However, there are blackout dates and further terms and conditions here.
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