A Big Week Coming for Travel Hackers

April 30, 2012 - Rick

This could be a nice week for all of us with aspirations of adding to our points balances. I heard of two interesting plays on the horizon that will be published and go live this week.

1. Frequent Miler is going to post his closest to perfect Perpetual Mileage Machine technique this week and it is a really nice play. Not really perpetual, as there is an annual limit, you’ll all want to read his post when he gets done and posted. Here is a word of caution from the Old Frugal Guy: Don’t Get Greedy or the deal will die. Go slow and steady with this one. Keep it out of the general public blogs (FW and SD) where little to no discretion is shown. As always, mix in regular spin and stay under the radar.

2. Coby sent me an email indicating Suntrust is getting back in the check card game. All the details will be out this week on this one as well. The fee is a little higher and the reward a bit smaller but still a worthwhile deal and the answer of stacking on authorized users has yet to be answered. We’ll watch and report on this one as well.

SunTrust is partnering with Delta to offer – for the first time ever – a checking promotion featuring a limited-time stepped-up bonus SkyMiles offer. Beginning 5/1, prospects will have the opportunity to earn up to 30,000 SkyMiles when they open a NEW Solid Choice, Signature Advantage or Balanced Banking account with direct deposit, and select the Delta SkyMiles World Check Card. In order to earn the full 30,000 SkyMiles bonus, the client needs to make his/her first qualifying purchase (15,000 SkyMiles bonus) and sign up for direct deposit (15,000 SkyMiles bonus awarded after the receipt of his/her first qualifying direct deposit).

A Conversation with the Press

I was interviewed by Dave, who writes for the Huffington Post, last week at the Randy Petersen Executive Summit (thanks again Randy).

Dave is new to travel hacking and at times I could’t tell which questions were for the article and which for his own information. Anyway during the conversation and my answers it became even more evident to me, and now Dave, the body of material in this game is just so vast that we have to work together. When I need help with a complex award booking, I call on a pro like Lucky or Beaubo. When I need help with the US Airways Grand Slam, Mommy Points gets the email. Greg at Frequent Miler is now my go to guy for bonus category spend, and if I flew Delta, I’d be contacting René at DeltaPoints for my answers. In turn, I helped Ben (Lucky) get started with credit card applications and helped him see the value of diversification. Beaubo emails me every so often to ask about the true value of a certain credit card offer or a personal credit related issue. And we spend hours everyday reading and answering reader emails with credit and credit card questions. Its my background and what I can bring to the party.

Hilary once said “It takes a Village”. I’m personally not a big Hilary fan, but she has gained my respect over the years and was absolutely correct with this statement. There is just too much to know for anyone of us to have all the answers.

If it weren’t for all the people in this game, the game would not be nearly as fun or profitable for all us.

Network and build relationships
Find the Pros in each area of the game
Chip in what you can and learn one area of the game extremely well.

The snarky remarks we sometimes see in the forums and blog comments are not productive, don’t belong there or contribute anything worthwhile. Make a positive contribution and we will: See the World at Prices we all can Afford

Deal of the Day

For today’s Deal of the Day American Airlines AAdvantage® has provided 2500 AAdvantage® miles for the best deals, fares, promotions, anything related to American Airlines, their oneworld partners or AAdvantage ® partners. Add it to the comments section of this post or this afternoon’s Deal of the Day post (with your first name, last initial, and home airport) to be eligible to win.

http://twitter.com/milesmomma1 Miles Momma

Hello Rick,
Just wondering. Will the Suntrust accounts still not allow the state of CA? Do you have any ideas around this situation?
http://twitter.com/milesmomma1 Miles Momma

Rick,
Do you know if California residents will still not be allowed to open accounts? Any ideas around this for us west coast people?

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

too early to tell. I’m going to the HHI branch this morning to get more details

rick

Benthelefty

If planning a churn, this won’t interfere because it’s all checking right? Will Frequent Miler’s post include a lot of new cards information? Aka are there new cards other than suntrust being released this week? Thanks!

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

it is not new cards that FM is talking about

Ariel K.

Use AA’s new partner search function to book award reservations online for AS, HA, BA flights…opens up a whole new slew of searchable options through HA in the Pacific.

Joel Giefer

I like their shopping mall; easier to navigate than UAL and fun to look around (and make miles).
Gary G – PIT

Did you know AA.com has a free “Hold” option that allows you to place most reservations on hold for up to 24 hours? If your fare qualifies for this feature, you will see the ”FREE 24 Hour Hold” option at the bottom of the “Review and Pay” page during your booking process.

The “Hold” option will allow you to:
Hold your reservation on AA.com and we will reserve it for you for up to 24 hours*Coordinate your travel plansRetrieve the reservation through AA.com and purchase it via the site using a credit cardPurchase your ticket at an American Airlines ticket counter using another form of payment, including cash, check or a previously unused ticket
Mike1625

Mike S TPA
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/deltapoints/ DeltaPoints.com

And we thank you Rick, so much, for all you have done and do for us all!
Larry D

Larry D. from PHL loves collecting American Airline miles through FINANCE. Since banks pay little to no interest on money these days, I have money invested at Fidelity Investments which will pay American Airline miles at either sign up with funding or if an existing customer, by adding money or stock to your brokerage account (this last feature used to be only Delta, but now American has been added). FlyerTalk has great posts about collecting miles even if you don’t have the full amount of value to fund the account the way Fidelity hopes you would fund it. Also, Bank Direct pays American Airline miles on checking accounts, money market accounts and others, but due to monthly charges, it appears only worthwhile if you have substantial balances (over $50,000 minimum).
http://twitter.com/jcbFTW Jeff B

A nice (and fast!) way to earn 1761 miles is to subscribe to The New York Times home delivery through the AAdvantage shopping portal. While prices vary by delivery location, the cheapest subscription rate for me was $3.85 week for the Monday-Friday paper. NYT charges 4 weeks at a time, so you can pay less than $16 for the first four weeks, collect your miles, then cancel! I ordered on 4/12/12 and the miles are already posted to my account.

http://twitter.com/jcbFTW Jeff B

Forgot to mention that my home airport is PHL. Thanks!

Diana Arpey

Diana A-CID
Pattonroberta

The best way to fly american is using their One World Partner British Airways. With BA you can fly routes for as low as 9,000 miles round trip and have priority access on their flights if you carry the BA Visa
Joe F.

Joe F. based out of Boston – If you switch your power company to Energy Plus to supply electricity to your home, you can earn unlimited American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

You get 7,500 bonus miles when you sign up for electric service.Plus, you’ll automatically earn 2 miles for every $1 you spend on the supply portion of your energy bills.No hidden fees and no long-term commitments.
worldtraveller2

If you’re a Premier member on United (Silver, Gold, Platinum, 1K) and would like to experience the benefits of status on American, now is your chance. While American usually offers status matching through challenges that require flying a certain number of points (combination of fare class and distance) in 90 days, they’re now offering a direct status match for UA fliers discontent after the merger and the problems it brought.
Gary72-SAN

Now that American has added BA to its website, be sure you check AA only when researching AAdvantage flights or you will be getting BA flights with the enormous fuel surcharges…
http://www.passportplaylist.com/ David

Not sure why, but you definitely should’ve done the Credit Cards session at FTU this year. I attended both this year’s session and last year’s, and you seem the most qualified.

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

thank you David. I was not asked to participate this year

Silvia

I was just about to pull the trigger on the Citi AA credit card for 50,000 miles that expires today? Should I wait?
Tracertoo

AA miles can be used for car and hotel reservations. I recently had a $450 dollar one night stay in NYC for 9500 miles. Used strategically, this can be a great value per mile.
Scott M. — TUL

This deal ends TODAY [4/30/2012] and only works if you have
both of some sort of an American Express card, and also a Twitter account.
Unlike most mileage offers with online florists, you usually can’t combine a
discount code/coupon code with a mileage offer— you can usually do one or the
other— get miles or get a discount. But the following method below lets you
do both—netting both a discount and AAdvantage Miles using FTD.com, by using an
American Express card synced with Twitter:

1.
If you don’t have a Twitter account, go to http://www.twitter.com and set up an account.

2.
Then be sure to follow @AmericanExpress as well
as @AmexSync

3.
Next, go to https://sync.americanexpress.com/twitter/
and sync your desired American Express Card to your Twitter account.

4.
Send a tweet of
#AmexFTDflowers to @AmericanExpress
and@AmexSync to automatically receive a $15 statement credit. When you send the
tweet to @AmexSync you’ll get an error message that confirms that you’ve
already enrolled— this should provide relief to show that you’re doing the
sync-ing correctly. J

5.
Go to http://www.aa.com/viewPromotionDetails.do?fN=ADDFTDSpring.xml
and click on the “Shop Now” to earn 30 AAdvantage Miles per dollar spent from
FTD.com

6.
Spend $50 or more on most items from FTD.com
using the combined methods of the American Express Twitter Promo and FTD 30 AA
Miles per dollar spent and double dip when you use your Twitter synced Amex
card and FTD using the link on AA.com for the Mothers Day 30 miles per dollar
spent **IMPORTANT NOTE: PER THE LINK ON
FTD.COM, THE FOLLOW ITEMS WILL NOT EARN ANY MILES: a) any products
featured under “Add Special Gifts,” (b) FTD Gold Membership fees, (c)
other fees such as service fees, shipping and handling fees or applicable
taxes, or (d) the following collections: Steuben, Nambé, Baccarat, USO and
Ultimate Roses, and any other special collection added by FTD.COM in its sole
discretion***   Be VERY aware of this,
and be sure to read the fine print on the link on AA.com to make sure you don’t
miss out on miles because of a restricted item!!

7.
After making your purchase
on FTD.com using your synced American Express, you’ll receive an email in about
5-15 minutes after your FTD.com purchase confirming that your $15 statement
credit is on its way.

Since the $15 shows up as a statement credit on your
American Express card, you’ll still earn 30 AAdvantage Miles per dollar spent
on FTD.com, and that will basically make your delivery charge/service charge
paid for/free [FTD’s service charge is roughly $14.99 for most items] Again since this is a *STATEMENT CREDIT* and
not a coupon, you can get the best of both worlds— a discount on flowers and
AAdvantage Miles to boot— something you normally can’t do! Hurry, you must
complete your purchase on FTD.com before
11:59PM Eastern Time on April 30, 2012!

-Scott M. TUL
chodabear

Rick:

American is offering 7500 AAdvantage miles as a bonus when a Massachusetts resident signs to select EnergyPlus as their electric supplier. Offer also includes 2 miles per dollar of expenditure on residential electricity. The link is:http://www.energypluscompany.com/combined/aadvantage/ma/?apptype=EM&cellcode=01&campaign=5736&pc=071&pcb=071

Ray A-BOS
Jojokuflik

Joanna K JFK/LGA/EWR

an awesome deal for AA is that you can reactivate your Expired AAmiles that expired on or after 12/31/2002

only $200 to activate 50,000 old expired miles – not a bad deal in my book!
you can contact their customer service at 1-800-882-8880 and they will assist.
Adrian

Register for the AAdvantage dining program and use living social/groupon deals on restaurants in the program, and pay using my citi AAdvantage card. Not really a super deal or anything, but a pretty easy and cheap way to get miles if you plan on eating out anyway and use any of the group deal sites.

Adrian R. SMF
http://twitter.com/Peachfront Peach Front

A little concerned, Larry, because I thought the last time I used the “hold” feature, AA let me “hold” the tickets for several days. Not a pea-picking 24 hours. Did they change this? I thought I used the feature in the fall of 2011…
Chitown Travel Gal

Tammy T / ORD

If you book travel for your company, open an AA business extra account and link it to your account. You can earn discounts, lounge passes, gold status, upgrades, etc for yourself for just doing your job. It only takes a moment to sign up.
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SC6589

My first and therefore favorite award so far on AA is when I redeemed 40,000 miles for BDL-RDU-LHR and DUB-ORD-DFW-BDL. It wasn’t the most direct route but I was excited to use off peak awards and visit my friends studying abroad. AA made a great trip happen and it was my first award redemption!
Alextock

If you have the AA card and go to https://creditcards.citi.com/reward-programs/american-airlines-aadvantage-reward-program/ you can redeem flights for as low as 17,500. If your home city is listed, then you can fly anywhere in the US from there. That with the 10% points refund is a great deal. Only caveat. You have to call the number. You can’t search the fares online. Still, I flew HSV to LGA round trip for 17,500. Can’t beat that!
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hobo13

I recall you recommending Gary Leff’s award booking service in the past. Was that just an omission this time around?
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A Big Week Coming for Travel Hackers

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