Deal of the Day: ExpertFlyer – April 3, 2012

April 3, 2012 - FrugalTravelGuy

ExpertFlyer.com is a unique service that allows you to search in-depth flight information such as Award & Upgrade inventory with Alerts, Flight Availability, Flight Details and Status, published Fare Information with fare routing and rules, and live Seat Maps with Seat Alerts

Today we’re sponsored by ExpertFlyer. We’ve put up some of our finds, but you now have the opportunity to win One Year of Premium service for the best overall travel deal submitted. A great mileage run, mistake fare, partner promo, new card sign-up offer, or the special twist you figured out on a deal today. Add it to the comments section of the post to be eligible to win. Just add your “find” (along with your first name, last initial, and airport) to the comments tonight by 11:59pm EST. Good Luck and Good Hunting.

Daily Getaways is back for 2012 starting Monday, April 9th. (Sponsored by American Express and the U.S. Travel Association)

Deals We Like has a breakdown of the first two weeks of AMEX’s Daily Getaways deal promotion.

Free 90 days of Hyatt Platinum Status with a Visa Signature card (Free Internet, 15% on points, late checkout if available)

If you have a Chase Freedom card, you can get up to 20% off some gift cards, including Amazon.

You may be able to get the new United Club card, which gives you access to the United Club, with the first-year fee waived! That’s a $395 value for the card.

There is a 30,000 point bonus offer for the Chase Freedom card, which is more than the usual 20,000 point offer.

Yesterday’s Winner of the 2500 AAdvantage® miles is Aaron Reese with his tip “Deal of the day submission: until noon CDT on April 5, American has miles available for purchase (actually for gifting) for as low as 1.99 cpm. They are offering a 15% on the cost of purchased miles over 20,000 miles, and a 30% mileage bonus for purchases between 20,000-40,000. Because there is a 30$ service charge per purchase, the more you buy the lower the cpm”. Please contact me at rick@frugaltravelguy.com so we can get you your prize.

Thanks to everyone that submitted a deal / tip, keep them coming.

I’m Confused

Monday afternoon there was a flurry of blog posts about a new 30K AA offer with their credit cards. The cards are offering expanded benefits like a ten percent rebate which is valuable up to 10,000 miles per year. But isn’t the currently available 50,000 point offer (FT thread) and 50k points (posted by MommyPoints) a better offer for all of us? The link is still live and people are reporting on FlyerTalk they are still getting approvals with confirmation of the 50K? So why all the press for 30K? Do we have confirmation yet that this card is a NEW card and previous card holders may apply without fear of rejection as a previous card holder?

Can somebody tell me what I’m missing here?

Lindsay

I think the posts about the AA card are for highlighting the new features of the card, like priority boarding.

My travel tip: We just earned the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass via two credit card signups, buying and transferring some Marriott points, and a little bit of actual Southwest flying. Now my husband will travel with me for free through December 2013! If we can still rock this in 2014, we’ll repeat with his credit, definitely. We live in a Southwest hub city (BWI), so this is extremely valuable. He can even book flights for me using his points, then I can add him as my free companion. Awesome!
CG

My tip is
just an overall travel/ points hacking tip. While we all love free travel,
sometimes you have to pay for things: yq, resort tax, airport parking, food,
tours, etc. Or maybe there’s a great mistake fare that isn’t in your budget,
but it’s too good to pass up. For that, it’s helpful to have a separate savings
account earmarked just for those things. Mine is with ING Direct, so there are
no fees and a slightly higher interest rate than brick-and-mortar banks (if
anyone wants a $25 bonus for signing up, I can send a referral). When my
partner and I get little bonuses at work, we send it to that account. I also
have a few bucks automatically deducted from my main checking account into my
travel savings account; it’s a small amount that I won’t miss every two weeks,
but adds up over time. Also, during last year’s US Grand Slam, I set up a
Sharebuilder account (also ING) for 3000 US miles plus a GS hit, and it was
easy to fund $25 from my ING savings account.

We have a
few big trips coming up (Paris,
Hawaii, and one other big one),
and – especially since it costs a fortune to have two toddlers in daycare – we try
to be somewhat frugal. Knowing we have that account set up to use for travel is
a relief.

Cindy G PHL
http://zzdouggo.blogspot.com/ zzd

I believe the AA offer gives a free baggage benefit and “priority boarding”, which the 50k cards don’t.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/beyondTravel/creditDebit/citiCards.jsp#!citi-plat-visa

Terry

The offer for most of the new benefits is extended to existing cardholders as of 4/2/12.

Jack

In honor of National Backup Day, I decided to get a subscription to Carbonite online backup. I used the Ultimate Rewards link and got a whopping 12 pts/dollar for my $59 basic year subscription. I plan to convert this to Southwest miles at 1.6 cents per mile, essentially giving me $11.32 in Southwest credit. That’s almost 20% off, far better than any online coupon or rebate for this invaluable service!
Daniel ‘DJ’ Jones

Flying to Vegas from LAX TO LAS was free on Spirit the other day for the weekend of April 13th, except for government fees and of course their bag fees, with a promo code they no longer offer. Then it went up to $140+, wahhh. TODAY however they are doing some sort of free fuel bit on some random legs, with a spring sale, no promo code no required. So in other words, they got cheap again, at least temporarily. –Daniel DJ Jones from Los Angeles, CA
Worthless

So your blog is now just about other people contributing the content? Interesting. I think my frequent travelers blogs bookmarks just decreased by 1.
dbeach

AA have confirmed on their facebook page that existing cardholders get the new benefits. I seriously doubt Citi consider it a new card. From AA FB:

Introducing the new Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature®
card with free first checked bag, priority boarding, and more! Learn
more at http://bit.ly/GCLGmD

Cardmembers that currently have the Citi® Platinum Select® /
AAdvantage® Visa Signature, Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World
MasterCard, Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World Elite MasterCard
and Citi® Select® / AAdvantage® American Express will start enjoying
these new benefits today!
Theo

Roughly 18 months (I think) ago, most blogs didn’t offer all these credit card referral links. Since then, almost all of them do, and obviously logic says whenever there’s a chance to promote a product for more income, you do so!

Despite a decline in mega-bonuses offered recently, posts relating to credit cards didn’t go down much. Of course, obtaining credit cards is certainly part of the miles/travel game we play, and with airfare rising discouraging mileage runs, probably the “cheapest” way too, but credit cards seems to be the main talk nowadays across the blogs.

I used to visit FTG blog for its credit card churning specialty posts, TPG blog for its Delta specialty and award booking tutorials, One Mile at a Time blog for its Star Alliance specialty and mileage run stories, View from the Wing blog for its aspirational awards specialty and industry news, MP blog for family-oriented perspective. Nowadays, the blog specialties remain, but also mixed in with at least 50% of the same credit card talk. How many bloggers pushed their own 50,000-point Chase Sapphire Preferred links last week? Not to mention how many times in the last week….

Now that Citi AA Platinum Select card got new features, most bloggers went back to the rule of “whenever there’s a chance to promote a product for more income, you do so.” More news in the credit card industry means more reasons to write about their referral links, which will get more exposure, which will result in more $$$. But since there are more and more bloggers and more and more bloggers offering these referral links, maybe that’s why they are fighting so hard to get theirs out there?

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

I agree 100%. I’ve been talking about credit cards as a great source of miles for four years now, Brian joined in about April and the landslide of others last fall. It is discouraging, but in all reality there is no other “hot mileage opportunities” out there right now.

I have tried and will continue to try to diversify content with Rookie Posts, Faces of Flyertalk and Deal of the Day post. and I promise I won’t manufacture posts so I can put up affiliate links. I think I talk less about credit cards now than almost all of them.

Theo

I think you certainly do, and I appreciate the diversity of topics. Your experience in the how-to for applying for credit cards (and doing it right) is the most valuable content on this blog.

Yong

The new AA posts were highlighting new benefits, but I think some bloggers confused it as being a different product altogether, which it is not.

For this quarter, I think you can effectively buy up to 7500 Ultimate Rewards points at a rate of 1000 pts/$6.95 by buying a $200 Visa gift card at a grocery store and putting it on your Chase Freedom card, since its rotating categories this quarter are grocery stores and movie theaters. The card comes with a $6.95 fee, and assuming you use all the value on the card, that should be your only cost.

Yong C. (ORD)
Kristina

I needed a car rental for my vacation to California next week. Unfortunately I’m still 24 and get charged terrible under-25 surcharges. I found several workarounds to get the fee waived.

1) Get a USAA membership and get the surcharge waived at Hertz, Avis, Budget and Enterprise.

2) Use PC #144314 for Hertz through June 30.

3) I believe I can also get this waived with CDP 107844 because I have the free Hertz #1 Club Gold membership.

Ted

Or you can use National with many contract IDs that waive under 25 fees, but be cautious of course. Can’t wait till I’m 25 this Oct!

whendoublewidesfly

You can fly LAX-ORD-LHR-IST-LHR-NYC-LAX for 758 on AA/BA for 5 CPM @ 14,700 miles! However, the Miles from LAX to ORD are DOUBLE EQM so you’ll actually get 16440 EQM or 4.6cpm!

Also DELTA has a lax-jfk-ist-jfk-lax for 747 for 5cpm or throw lax-jfk-ist-jfk-atl-lax of 4.9 cpm! for over 15000 EQM!
Agerald

The link to the $300 Chase Freedom card is not working for me
Silvia Prieto

Tip:
If you are planning on getting the Chase Hyatt credit card and have a any Visa Signature card, first get the Free 90 days of Hyatt platinum using the above link. If you are approved for the Hyatt credit card, you will automatically get 2 Free nights in a Suite at any Hyatt. That means 2 nights in a Suite in Paris or Istanbul or any other very nice Hyatt property.
Jmw2323

not quite the PenFed deal (any gas station) but works well if you have Marathon Gas Stations in your area and don’t want to deal with PenFeds sign up rules.

spend $1,000/month on anything and get 25 cents per gallon rebate in form of a marathon cash card.

http://www.marathonpetroleum.com/brand//Credit_Gift_Fuel_Cards/Marathon_Visa_Card/
John H

Have extra foreign currency? Before you leave the country stop at a Starbucks and load up your Starbucks card with all your left over currency. That converts at rate to your home currency without bank fees.
John H (SBP)

Have extra foreign currency? Before you leave the country stop at a Starbucks and load up your Starbucks card with all your left over currency. That converts at rate to your home currency without bank fees.
Cmtrepp

Your site is “buggie”. I hate to click on a link that I expect to be NON-COMMERCIAL, only to get an ad for QuiBids! This really will drive me away from your wonderful site. and I’ve been a reader for over 5 years.
e.g. If you have a Chase Freedom card, you can get up to 20% off some gift cards, including Amazon. Just click on the words gift cards and all you get are QuiBid Ads. Yuck!

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

I commented above and will have it checked out.We are not associated with Quibids at all. Im passing your note onto the tech guys. Sorry

mattolo

My tip:

A way to earn more Chase UR points to complement Sapphire and Ink Bold. Get the Chase Amazon.com card. You’ll earn 3X points on Amazon.com, and 2X points on gas, dinging, drugstores, and office supply stores. These points can then be transferred to your Ultimate Rewards account by sending a secure message to Chase. It can’t be done automatically, but I just send them a message and it gets done quickly.

Matt B LAX
http://www.facebook.com/getgowing Chris G

Getting an upgrade using the Delta Amex Companion Certificate (as a Medallion)-

Even though the terms say that complimentary Medallion upgrades are ineligible using the free companion certificate, I have received one as a Medallion if you are the primary ticket holder and are accruing miles on the ticket. After making your reservation, call Delta and ask for the reservation to be split. This was a workaround to the terms. However, if you get the upgrade, then one person is still in coach. Now who gets to sit up there is a whole other story.

Chris G
EWR
Silvia Prieto

I made a comment but do not see it.
Tuscanyx

My tip is for families who wants to save some money once they get to their destination. I check the local groupon site a month or two ahead of time for restaurant deals. That could save Hundreds of $ in a place like Scandinavia where a sandwich is $25. Also, ask your hotel if they have any free/discounted tickets to museums/attractions or local transportation. the savings can add up quickly.
Val L from lax
Aaron R

I don’t think you’re missing anything…from AA’s facebook page today:

Click “like” if you’re excited for a free first checked bag with your Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® card!Introducing the new Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature® card with free first checked bag, priority boarding, and more! Learn more at http://bit.ly/GCLGmDCardmembers that currently have the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature, Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard, Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World Elite MasterCard and Citi® Select® / AAdvantage® American Express will start enjoying these new benefits today!The important line is that last one…where the benefits apply retroactively to all other cards (which would include the 50k offers!)
Joel

AA DEQM non-targeted offer for DFW-BOS/BOS-DFW

To earn double elite qualifying miles, simply:

Book round-trip travel on American Airlines between Dallas/Fort Worth and Boston. Register prior to travel using promotion code BOSEQ. Book and complete travel now through June 30, 2012
Mark Texeira

Ingy, what happened to the quarterly charity activity? I’m still waiting for the April 1st idea! Warm regards.

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

Hey Mark. This Saturday we are calling for Dream Foundation again. Thanks for reminding everyone it never hurts to give back a little

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

That is really confusing as we have no relationship at all with Quibids. I thnk the site is still buggy as well while all 1980+ posts migrate over from Blogger to WordPress.

Sorry you are having problems
http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

Worthless: Sorry to see you go. I still post every week, but as we have in the last year or so, added different perspectives to the blog.
Thurman Horne

Priceline is adding $ 5/night (up to 10 nights) to hotel bids for all categories at all hotels thru midnight 4/4/12. Go to link and enter email address. It may be targeted (received offer by email. When you go to link, enter your email and, if the offer applies to you, you should see the offer code appear on the next page.

Link: http://travela.priceline.com/promo/cash/HOTEL24HOURSALE_1050NIGHT?refid=PMNYOP_24HR_GOLD_HOTEL_TEST&sendId=32689805&ea=C457E41C65C87EB3A6D1ABC1C60C7EFAE677416D47445BBF2E447298BC42B0F3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=promotional&utm_campaign=NYOP_24HR_GOLD_HOTEL_TEST|32689805
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