Category Archives: British Airways

News You Can Use – British Airways 35% Transfer & More…

Posted on June 6, 2013 by | 3 Comments

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1.   Last Chance to Transfer American Express Points to British Airways at a 35% Bonus

You can transfer Membership Rewards points to British Airways at a 35% bonus, up to Friday, June 7, 2013.  This means that 1 Membership Rewards point will get you 1.35 British Airways Avios points.

British Airways Transfer Bonus

Membership Rewards 35% Transfer Bonus

Avios points are great for short-distance travel within the US on American Airlines, and there are no  fuel surcharges for travel to South America. Continue reading →

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Posted in Airlines, American Express, British Airways, Credit Cards, Marriott, Priority Club

News You Can Use – 10,000 Club Carlson Points & More…

Posted on May 14, 2013 by | 5 Comments

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1.  Earn 10,000 Club Carlson Per Two-Night Reservation

Loyalty Lobby reports that Club Carlson has a 10,000 points bonus for each stay of 2 or more consecutive nights, from May 13, 2013 to July 21, 2013.  Registration is required before the stay, and can be done here.

Club Carlson 10,000 Points Promotion

Club Carlson Two Nights 10,000 Points Promotion

Per the Terms and Conditions, the rate booked must be eligible for earning points, so reservations made through third-party sites like Priceline or Orbitz may not be eligible.

Club Carlson is the hotel loyalty program for Country Inns and Suites, Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson,  and Park Plaza, so points you earn can be redeemed at any of these hotels.

2.  Rental Car Promotions

Deals We Like highlights a boatload carload of current rental promotions for Avis, Budget, Enterprise, and Hertz. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Express, Avis, British Airways, Budget, Credit Cards, Enterprise, Rental Cars, Starwood (SPG)

News You Can Use: Hyatt Has 2 New Hotels in France, 300 Priority Club Points & More…

Posted on April 25, 2013 by | 22 Comments

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1. Hyatt Adds Two New French Hotels

Dan’s Deals reports that Hyatt has added two new French hotels which can be booked using points, the Hotel du Louvre, in Paris, and the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez overlooking the Mediterranean.

New Hyatt Paris Hotels

Paris Hotel du Louvre

New Hyatt Paris Hotels

Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez

In addition, the Concorde Lafayette, Paris and Palais de la Mediterranee, Nice will soon be added to this list. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, British Airways, Hyatt, Priority Club

May Not Last: 50,000 Points (~$500+ Travel) AMEX Premier Rewards Gold [Expired]

Posted on February 21, 2013 by | 110 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I may receive a commission if you're approved for a credit card using the links to creditcards.com.  Thanks for using our links!]

I wrote about the American Express Delta 45,000 mile card, via the CardMatch tool from creditcards.com, but there is also a 50,000 point American Express Premier Rewards Gold card available!

American Express Premier Rewards Gold

50,000 Points American Express Premier Rewards Gold

I’ve always thought that the regular Premier Rewards Gold card which offers 25,000 points was a low offer, but 50,000 points after spending $1,000 within 3 months is a much better deal! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Express, British Airways, Delta Skymiles

Mother-In-Law’s First Trip to India: British Airways First Class from London to Mumbai (Bombay)

Posted on February 10, 2013 by | 9 Comments

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Emily:   Since our flight was delayed and we had to circle London’s Heathrow airport for a landing spot, we were going to have a tight connection in Heathrow. We got an orange express pass, and then were able to go into all of the Fast Track lines.  This seemed to save a lot of time, but we got held up at security.

British Airways First Class Review

Emily & Daraius in the British Airways First Class Cabin

Daraius:  I’m not sure if the orange colored express connection saved us any time because we were among the first out of the plane and could use the shorter lines in any case since we had a connecting flight which was leaving in first class. Continue reading →

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Posted in British Airways, Trip Reports

Mother-In-Law’s First Trip to India: Introduction & Planning

Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 61 Comments

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Emily’s mom, Connie, wanted to visit India to visit my family, so we used our miles and points to take her with us in December.  She has briefly visited Canada and a resort in Mexico before, so India was going to be very different.  Emily’s step-dad doesn’t like traveling and didn’t want to come – even in First Class! – so Connie brought along her childhood friend Judi instead.  They’ve been friends for almost 55 years!

Mother-in-Law's First Trip to India

Connie, Emily, and Judi by the Taj Mahal

Trip Report Index

In this post, I’ll explain how Emily, her mom Connie, and her mom’s friend Judi and I visited India using miles & points.  We went to 5 cities in 2 weeks:  Bombay, Pune, Goa, Delhi & Agra.  Later, I’ll post a more detailed account of the different airline, hotel, food, transport, and activity options so you can plan a trip to India.

Keep in mind that the chart below covers only the cost for hotels and airfare, and not for dining, activities and other travel expenses.  And we stayed with family in Bombay and Pune, so we didn’t have to pay for hotels there! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, British Airways, British Airways, Chase, Club Carlson, Hyatt, United Airlines

What to do with 75,000 to 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards Points? [Expired]

Posted on January 25, 2013 by | 40 Comments

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Readers have been asking what they can do with 75,000 to 100,000 Membership Rewards points.  A few weeks ago there was a 100,000 point American Express Platinum card and up to January 28th there is a 75,000 point Business Gold card available.

1.   Travel Using Pay With Points

The simplest way to use Membership Rewards points is to use the “Pay with Points” feature and get 1 cent per point towards air travel booked through the Membership Rewards portal.  You get less than 1 cent per point if you book hotels and car rentals through the portal, so best to use Pay with Points for air travel.

This means that 75,000 membership Rewards points will get you $750 and 100,000 Membership Rewards points will get you $1,000 towards air travel expenses.

Membership Rewards Points Value 2

Using Pay With Points For 1 Cent Per Point

The advantage of using Pay with Points is that you get lots of flexibility with booking your travel because you don’t have to search for only low availability flights.  If there is a flight for sale, you can use points to book it.  You will also earn miles on the flight you book.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Express, ANA, British Airways, Delta Skymiles, Lufthansa, United Airlines, US Air, Virgin Atlantic

Which Credit Cards Do NOT Charge a Foreign Transaction Fee?

Posted on January 10, 2013 by | 55 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a referral for all cards in the post except for the Southwest Premier, Chase Priority Club, Chase Fairmont, Chase United Club, Citi Thank You Premier (better than my affiliate link), Citi American Airlines Executive, and the American Express Mercedes-Benz Platinum]

No Foreign Transaction Fee CArds

Readers often ask which credit cards do not charge the 1% to 3% foreign transaction fee for using the card for transactions in foreign currency.  Most credit cards will charge you a fee for purchases in a foreign currency.

So I’ve made a new page on the Travel Credit Cards tab for No Foreign Transaction Fee cards!

No-Foreign-Transaction-Fee-Cards

No Foreign Transaction Fee Tab!

The cards listed on that page do NOT charge a foreign transaction fee if you use them for transactions in foreign currencies.

My favorite no-foreign transaction fee card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred which offers double points for travel (airfare, hotel, car rental, parking etc.) and dining.  And you almost certainly are spending most of your money on travel and dining when you’re on vacation! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, American Express, British Airways, Business Credit Cards, Chase, Citibank, Credit Cards, Delta Skymiles, Foreign Transaction Fees, Foreign Transaction Fees, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Ritz-Carlton, Southwest, Uncategorized, United Airlines

How To Keep your Airline Miles From Expiring Without Flying!

Posted on January 3, 2013 by | 53 Comments

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airline miles expiration

Readers often ask how to keep their airline miles active if they don’t fly on a particular airline.  Miles expire in most US based airline program after 18 months of no earning or redemption activity.  Award Wallet is a good tool to track your miles and points balances and expiration dates.

Airline
Expiration Policy
Alaska Airlines24 months of no earning or spending miles
American Airlines18 months of no earning or spending miles
British Airways36 months of no earning or spending miles
DeltaMiles Never Expire
Frontier Airlines18 months of no earning miles
Southwest24 months of no earning or spending miles
United18 months of no earning or spending miles
US Airways18 months of no earning or spending miles

But it is really, really easy to keep your miles active WITHOUT flying!

Sometimes, all you need to do is earn or redeem 1 mile to reset the mile expiration clock.  You can easily do this by buying a $1 iTune, making a $1 donation from the airline’s online shopping mall, downloading the airlines’ shopping toolbar and making a few searches, or using a credit card to keep your miles active!

1.   Alaska Airlines Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Skymiles, Frontier, Southwest, United Airlines, US Air

Don’t Pay 27% More to Convert Dollars to Euros at the Airport!

Posted on January 2, 2013 by | 61 Comments

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I’ve always known that changing money at airports is a terrible deal.  But I was curious to see just how much I would be ripped off, so I converted $100.50 into 60 euros at the Travelex Currency Services in Newark airport.

This was a terrible deal, because I would have received 16 more euros, for a total of 76 euros, if I had converted $100.50 at the official inter-bank rate.

I paid ~27% more (16 extra euros/60 euros) because of the fees involved at the Travelex store!

Don’t expect Travelex to tell you just how much extra you’re paying.  In my experience, the representatives are either themselves clueless about the fees or intentionally understate the fees to make a sale.  My receipt labels the representative as a “Sales Consultant” so I suspect a significant portion of the representatives’ salary is based on the volume of foreign currency sales.

This means that there is a significant incentive for the representative to generate sales and divert attention from the high fees charged by Travelex.  I specifically asked about fees, and was told that no fees were charged.  Which is technically correct because the receipt labels them as “Service Charges.”

Currency Conversion Airport-1

A $9.95 Service Charge is a Fee to Me!

The colorful marketing chart at the Travelex booth has the audacity to state “Discounted Exchange Rate on Today’s Transaction” when the foreign currency fee is 14% MORE, for converting US dollars to euros, than the inter-bank rate!

No Value For You!

And the “savings” mentioned are fictitious savings likely generated by comparing to inflated base rates.

Foreign Currency Conversion Fees

You pay two fees when you change currency at an airport.  This is in spite of the sales consultant (& the Travelex receipt) telling you that there are no fees.  That’s because there is a “Service Charge” so Travelex can honestly say that you weren’t charged a “fee” when in-fact the service charge has the same effect as a fee! Continue reading →

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Posted in British Airways, Chase, Credit Cards, Foreign Transaction Fees, Foreign Transaction Fees, Hyatt, Save Money