Do you have a TON of extra miles laying around and want to blow them on something completely strange? Check out these STRANGE ways to redeem miles. As mentioned earlier, you can use miles for about everything. Let's check out some of the weirdest promotions out there...
1. Finnair will let you redeem 4.6 million miles for a facelift.
2. Finnair will also let you redeem 3.2 million miles for hair implant or breast augmentation.
3. United will let you use 1 million miles for a mini grand piano.
4. Delta will let you redeem 4 million miles for a diamond necklace
Those are just some wacky rewards, to name a few. Check out the Wall Street Journal article HERE for more crazy redemption items.
March 9, 2011
March 6, 2011
Air India To Join Star Alliance
More partners means more opportunities to earn and spend miles. Air India recently announced they will be joining the world's already largest alliance, the Star Alliance, making them the 28th member of the network. United, US Airways, and Continental mileage customers will now be able to accrue and redeem miles easily with Air India. The more ways to redeem, the better!
For all my readers over in India, here is a great mileage promotion for you. Try signing up for the Air India American Express Gold Card. The benefits coming with that card are AMAZING. With the Amex card, you get 10% off all business class flights and 15% off all economy class flights. You also get access to the Air India Airport Lounge worldwide. This is a great card if you travel Air India a lot, as the lounge access and discounted tickets are great! CLICK HERE to see the promotion.
For all my readers over in India, here is a great mileage promotion for you. Try signing up for the Air India American Express Gold Card. The benefits coming with that card are AMAZING. With the Amex card, you get 10% off all business class flights and 15% off all economy class flights. You also get access to the Air India Airport Lounge worldwide. This is a great card if you travel Air India a lot, as the lounge access and discounted tickets are great! CLICK HERE to see the promotion.
March 4, 2011
Double Miles When Flying Virgin Partners
The Virgin conglomerate of airlines is having a special promotion where you can earn double miles when flying the other Virgin airlines. So, if you have a Virgin America mileage account, you can earn double miles when flying Virgin Atlantic, V Australia, and Virgin Blue. CLICK HERE to register for the promotion. If you have a Virgin Atlantic mileage account, you can earn double miles when flying Virgin America, V Australia, and Virgin Blue. CLICK HERE to register for that promotion. You have until May 31st to book the double miles. So, if you're planning on flying any of those airlines, why not register for the promotion? Not a bad way to rack up double miles.
March 2, 2011
200 Free Miles On Continental Airlines
This may be the easiest promotion I have ever seen. Simply click the link below, enter both promo codes of TB3M26 and TB3M28, put in your OnePass frequent flyer number, and you gain an extra 200 bonus air miles. Easy and free. If you have a Continental number, sign up! CLICK HERE for the promotion.
March 1, 2011
Delta Dining Promotion
As I have written about before, dining for miles is a great way to grow your mileage account. Right now, if you have a Delta Mileage account, you can earn 1,100 miles for creating a profile online. All you have to do is CLICK HERE, create a profile, dine at a participating restaurant for at least $25, and 1,100 miles will be deposited into your mileage account.
Have a Delta American Express credit card? Earn 1,500 more miles for registering for the Exclusive Signing Bonus HERE. Register for the promotion, create an online profile, and dine at a restaurant for at least $30 and get 1,500 miles into your account.
If you have a Delta Mileage account, there is no reason not to sign up! It is free and easy, so make sure to do it!
Have a Delta American Express credit card? Earn 1,500 more miles for registering for the Exclusive Signing Bonus HERE. Register for the promotion, create an online profile, and dine at a restaurant for at least $30 and get 1,500 miles into your account.
If you have a Delta Mileage account, there is no reason not to sign up! It is free and easy, so make sure to do it!
February 28, 2011
Reader Question Of The Week: Best Time To Buy Tickets?
This week's Reader Question of the Week comes from Avery from DC! Thank you for asking your question, and I hope this helps!
When is the best time to buy airplane tickets? And what is the best search engine to use? Thank you!
The best time to buy airplane tickets is in advance. The further out it is, the better the price you are most likely going to get, and the better seat on the plane you are going to get. However, sometimes fares change and go down, so you need to be aware of that. Check out farecast.com (now BING travel). This site shows whether your plane ticket is likely to go up or down, and whether you should buy it now or wait. It is pretty cool, and gives a fairly accurate description if you should buy now or wait for prices to decrease. As for days, airlines usually have premium pricing on the weekends, so I always wait until midweek (Tuesday - Thursday) to purchase my tickets. Make sure your dates are flexible too, as changing the dates you fly can be helpful in finding good fares too.
In terms of the best search engine, the most popular is probably orbitz.com and expedia.com. Kayak.com is a good site since it accumulates all the ticketing sites out there in one place. Priceline.com is good since you can name your own price, but the downside is you do not know which airline you will be flying. Some airlines you can only book through their own website, such as American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, so you should check each of the carriers own website as well.
I hope this helps, Avery, and please be sure to check in next week for our Reader QOTW! Thanks!
When is the best time to buy airplane tickets? And what is the best search engine to use? Thank you!
The best time to buy airplane tickets is in advance. The further out it is, the better the price you are most likely going to get, and the better seat on the plane you are going to get. However, sometimes fares change and go down, so you need to be aware of that. Check out farecast.com (now BING travel). This site shows whether your plane ticket is likely to go up or down, and whether you should buy it now or wait. It is pretty cool, and gives a fairly accurate description if you should buy now or wait for prices to decrease. As for days, airlines usually have premium pricing on the weekends, so I always wait until midweek (Tuesday - Thursday) to purchase my tickets. Make sure your dates are flexible too, as changing the dates you fly can be helpful in finding good fares too.
In terms of the best search engine, the most popular is probably orbitz.com and expedia.com. Kayak.com is a good site since it accumulates all the ticketing sites out there in one place. Priceline.com is good since you can name your own price, but the downside is you do not know which airline you will be flying. Some airlines you can only book through their own website, such as American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, so you should check each of the carriers own website as well.
I hope this helps, Avery, and please be sure to check in next week for our Reader QOTW! Thanks!
February 23, 2011
"Like" American Airlines on Facebook and Earn Mystery Miles (100 mile minimum)
American Airlines is running a promotion using social media! Simply "Like" American's facebook page, follow the instructions, and gain anywhere from 100 air miles to 100,000 miles. How cool would that be to get 100,000 miles just for liking them?? While that isn't likely, gaining AT MINIMUM 100 miles is pretty sweet. For the promotion, please CLICK HERE. Check back here, in the comments section, and let me know how many miles you win! Good luck!
February 22, 2011
Gain Miles For Great Dining Promotions
Want to bolster your mileage account to help pay for that free flight you want? Dining programs are free and easy ways to earn miles. All you have to do is register for your airline's dining program, sign up your credit card, and take a survey after you eat at the participating restaurant. Depending on the restaurant, you can earn 3-5 miles per each $1 spent. Dine 12 times in a year and earn VIP status where you get at least 5 miles per every $1 spent. (TIP: Buy like 12 sodas from one of the vendors, have them ring it up separately, and you've got VIP status). To get you started on this program, right now, there are 5 great promotions going on to help you earn miles as you dine! Below is a link to each promotion:
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members can earn 1,000 bonus miles by completing three qualifying dines, totaling at least $20 each, by March 16. Registration is required.
- American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn double miles for up to five dines through March 31 by registering for the promotion and filling out a review within 30 days of visiting the restaurant.
- United Airlines Mileage Plus members can earn double miles for all dines through February 28 by registering for the promotion and filling out a review within 30 days of visiting the restaurant.
- US Airways Dividend Miles members can create profile for a 1,000 mile bonus by March 31. Register for the bonus, create a profile and gain 1,000 miles into your account.
- InterContinental Priority Club Rewards members can earn 1,000 bonus points for every $100 spent on qualifying dines through March 31, up to a maximum of 5,000 bonus points after spending $500. Registration is required.
February 17, 2011
Earn 750 UA Miles Just For Signing Up With Mypoints.com
Have a United Airlines mileage plus account? Get 750 miles for joining mypoints.com. Just fill out your information and give your mileage plus number and have the points credited to your account. No reason not to sign up! You don't have to pay for anything, and it is free miles. Click HERE for the promotion!
February 16, 2011
Redeem Miles For Cash
Do you have frequent flyer miles you would like cashed in for some money? Take advantage of a special offer from points.com. Beginning this week, you can redeem some of your miles for cash, and that cash will be deposited right into your paypal account. American Airlines, US Airways, and Aeroplan all teamed up with paypal and points.com to give you cash for your miles.
On American, redeem 24,118 miles for $100. On Aeroplan, redeem 17,734 miles for $100. On US Airways, redeem 120,000 miles (not a typo) for $100. This begs the question, however, is it worth it? My answer is NO. My reasoning for it is this: a domestic roundtrip flight can cost as low as 25,000 miles. Since the average market price for a domestic ticket is $350, you might as well use those miles for a free flight. But, if you are hard up and in need of cash, this is a quick way to put $100 in your pocket.
This is a cool concept though, and just shows how airlines are starting to get creative for ways to redeem points. Now I pose this question to you: Do you think you will ever redeem miles for cash (assuming the price is better), or will you use them on travel related items!? Hit the comments section below for your answers.
On American, redeem 24,118 miles for $100. On Aeroplan, redeem 17,734 miles for $100. On US Airways, redeem 120,000 miles (not a typo) for $100. This begs the question, however, is it worth it? My answer is NO. My reasoning for it is this: a domestic roundtrip flight can cost as low as 25,000 miles. Since the average market price for a domestic ticket is $350, you might as well use those miles for a free flight. But, if you are hard up and in need of cash, this is a quick way to put $100 in your pocket.
This is a cool concept though, and just shows how airlines are starting to get creative for ways to redeem points. Now I pose this question to you: Do you think you will ever redeem miles for cash (assuming the price is better), or will you use them on travel related items!? Hit the comments section below for your answers.
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