Tuesdeals

Some good stuff today:

  • Virgin America will let you status match now, even if all you have is the Southwest Companion Pass.
  • Daily Getaways is back next week. Tons of you like these deals so here’s what it looks like this year.
  • A few of you guys said you’re seeing a 75,000-mile American Express Platinum offer.
  • Not even close to the best redemption, but you can use Alaska miles for TSA PreCheck now.
  • 3,000 bonus miles for new RocketMiles users this week. Who knows if I’ll ever actually book one of these.

 

3 From The Weekend

  • From reader Geraud – “Please pass a warning on to your readers not to fall for phony river cruise ‘discounts.’ Many river cruise lines in Europe have the phony 2-for-1 ads. It is completely phony. They have never sold a ticket for the phony ‘original’ price.”
  • From reader J – An interesting little website. “This seems useful and to the point. I fondly recall scrolling Flyertalk posts asking this same question over and over and and over again each year.”
  • From reader Robert – “MileNerd, this is cool. Can save 50% off Air Canada and Southwest flights by being a mystery shopper. Also hotels. Please share on blog. Thanks!!”

shop

It’s The End Of The World Or Maybe It Isn’t

I’m in the middle of writing my longest post ever. It’s about where our miles and points game stands right now. Kind of a “history of” story that shows where we’ve been and how we got here. I don’t want to push you in either direction, but if you have strong opinions about how bad (or good) things have gotten…please let me know. The more specific the reasons for your opinion, the better. This one works best if I have a lot of stories – so let me know your all-time favorite deals, whether alive or dead. Thanks guys!

Last Minute Private Jets

If you have a flexible schedule and want to fly private, don’t forget about options like JetSuite and West Coast Charters. Yeah, you have to figure out how to get home, but that’s what miles are for. And again, you’re flying in a private jet!

jet dog

Free Award Booking For 5 Readers

I’m obviously very picky about who I recommend on the blog. Very, very picky. Like this may well be a medical condition. So when an award booking company reached out last week, I told them I wasn’t comfortable giving a blind recommendation. After a few emails, we finally came up with what should be a win-win solution for everyone…

At my request, they happily agreed to waive 100% of the cost and do free bookings for 5 of my readers. All I need in return is a review of their service. That way, I’ll have more information to use when deciding if I should give a recommendation here.

So, if you have a bunch of miles and need help with an award booking, let me know ASAP. I’ll put you in touch with this company. Again, this is only for 5 readers and all it’s going to cost is a review of their service. Thanks.

**Edit: I have to sort through all the messages, but this has definitely filled up. Will respond to everyone by end-of-day Thursday.**