U P F R O N T
Shop, Don't Drop
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As we do every year during the run-up to Christmas, we begin this issue with a reminder to the mileage oriented that the great majority of your holiday purchases can -- and should -- generate miles 2 ways.
First, charge those gifts and other Yuletide purchases to a credit card linked to your preferred airline or hotel program, or to an Amex or Diners card which awards multi-program points. Generally such purchases earn an easy 1 mile per $1 charged, and sometimes more. (Qualifying charges on the Chase/Continental and Amex/Delta cards earn 2 miles per $1, for example.)
Second, shop for gifts at an online mileage mall. These are typically networks of e-tailers, accessed through a single online entryway, which award miles for purchases. The larger such malls comprise more than 150 e-stores, covering most product categories, so there's no need to sacrifice variety in pursuit of miles. Nor do participating e-tailers charge extra for miles.
Earning rates vary among e-tailers, ranging from 1 mile per $1 spent to as many as 10 miles per $1.
It's not just about the miles. Because the malls are online, you'll avoid the crowds and craziness of bricks-and-mortar shopping. Plus, online retailers typically have better selections and inventory availability than their offline counterparts.
With the exceptions of American and Midwest, all major airline programs have affiliated malls. In addition to the airline-specific malls, there are independent retailer networks which reward shoppers with proprietary points, which can be redeemed for airline miles or hotel points.
For example, ClickRewards (http://clickrewards.com), awards ClickMiles for purchases at a long list of e-tailers. And the ClickMiles are redeemable for miles in the programs of American or US Airways. GoldPoints (http://goldpoints.com) is similar, allowing its points to be redeemed for Delta, Northwest and US Airways miles.
So whatever's on your shopping list, refer to this list of airline mileage malls first:
O N S I T E
FrequentFlier Forum Topics
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As always, there's plenty of activity on the FrequentFlier Forum.
Ronald has the lowdown on free Hawaii Bowl tickets from Aloha Airlines (airline ticket purchase required). Plus a link to a Hilton HHonors 500-point bonus offer for Avis rentals. Plus info on a Las Vegas sweepstakes. And much more...
Do you have questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!
> More...
M I L E S & P O I N T S
Chicago Flights Earn AA Bonus
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AAdvantage members will earn 500 bonus miles for roundtrip flights on American or American Eagle between Chicago O'Hare and Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Kansas City, Memphis, Minneapolis, Nashville and St. Louis between Dec. 2 and Feb. 15, 2004.
Fares beginning with L or N are not eligible. Bonus may be earned a maximum of 3 times.
Register using promo code ORD08.
> More...
BA Flights Earn Diners Bonus
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Through Jan. 31, 2004, Diners cardholders will earn 10,000 Club Rewards bonus points by charging a full-fare roundtrip transatlantic first- or business-class ticket on British Airways to a Diners Club card.
Limit: 1 bonus per cardholder. Travel may take place anytime.
> More...
BA Cuts Back on Hotel Partners
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Effective Dec. 31, the following hotels will no longer participate in British Airways' Executive Club: Savoy Hotels, Small Luxury Hotels, New Otani, and Orient Express.
Frontier Discounts Mexico Awards
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Through Feb. 2004, EarlyReturns members may redeem fewer miles for Frontier award tickets to Mexico.
During the promotion, restricted Mexico awards are offered for 15,000 miles (vs. 25,000 normally), and unrestricted awards are reduced from 45,000 to 25,000 miles.
> More...
Midwest Sells Miles for Less
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Through Dec. 31, Midwest miles may be purchased at a 20% discount.
Midwest Gift Miles are sold in 1,000-mile increments, up to 15,000 miles per account.
Normally, prices start at $29.38 for 1,000 miles, including Federal Excise Tax and processing fee. Discount applies only to the $0.025 per-mile cost, not to the tax or fees.
Enter GIFTMILES in the promotion code field on the purchase form.
> More...
100 Years of Flight, 100 Midwest Miles
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Every member of Midwest Miles who flies on Dec. 17 -- the 100th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wright's Kitty Hawk flight -- will receive 100 bonus miles.
More (and Fewer) Miles for Northwest Vacations
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Effective Dec. 1, 2003, WorldPerks members may both earn more miles and use fewer miles when booking vacations through Northwest's WorldVacations.
On the earning side, earn 2,500 bonus miles per person when purchasing an air and hotel package to WorldVacations destinations in the U.S. 48, Alaska or Canada, or 5,000 bonus miles for packages in Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, Europe or Asia.
Packages must be purchased between Dec. 1, 2003 and Dec. 1, 2004, for travel between Dec. 8, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2004.
WorldPerks members may also redeem miles for the air portion of WorldVacations packages at discounted rates.
Florida or Las Vegas packages are discounted from 25,000 to 22,000 miles. And Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, or the Caribbean are reduced from 35,000 to 28,000 miles.
Award travel must be booked by May 31, 2004 and completed by Dec. 31, 2004.
Bookings must be made directly through WorldVacations.
> More...
Priority Club Bonus for 3rd Night
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Priority Club Rewards members will earn 3,000 bonus points for every 3rd night at InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites hotels between Jan. 19 and Apr. 30, 2004.
There's a maximum of 30,000 bonus points for the promotion. Registration is required.
> More...
S T E A L S & D E A L S
Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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This week's hot deals from SmarterLiving.com...
Fares to Mexico and the Caribbean from $158
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Get out of the cold and save with winter fare sales to warm destinations from 2 airlines. Fly to The Bahamas on US Airways from $158 roundtrip, or take Delta to Los Cabos, Mexico, from $318.
Travel dates and booking deadlines vary by airline.
> More...
Grand Cayman Island Sale Fares from $338
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Save on a trip to the Caribbean with United's introductory sale fares to Grand Cayman Island, BWI. Travel is valid on Saturdays from Jan. 3, 2004, through Apr. 3, 2004. Book tickets at least 7 days in advance for most departures, and by Tuesday, Dec. 16.
> More...
S W E E P S & F R E E B I E S
Win a BMW X3 from JetBlue
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Through Dec. 30, members of JetBlue's TrueBlue program may register to win a new BMW X3 by filling out the online entry form (link below).
Sweepstakes is open to U.S. residents 18 years or older.
> More...
[Visit http://frequentflier.com/sweeps.htm for more travel sweepstakes.]
S I T E 2 S E E
The New York Times' "Flight"
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We mentioned the Forbes commemoration of the first 100 years of aviation in last week's Crier. This week it's the New York Times' special section, "Flight."
In contrast to Forbes' focus on commercial aviation, the Times views the Wright brothers' legacy from a more scientific perspective, deploying nifty interactive graphics to illustrate how they broke the problem of flight into sub-parts -- lift, thrust and control. There's a tutorial on building paper airplanes.
Also noteworthy: an intriguing piece on the physics of flight, which concludes -- ominously -- that conventional wisdom on the subject is flawed.
For those who, like myself, thought that the Bernoulli Principle was the end-all explanation, the article poses this conundrum: if Bernoulli explains an airplane's lift, what accounts for an airplane's ability to fly upside down?
That's a question I plan to remember to forget before I board my next flight.
> More...
Until next week...
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