Friendship

Here’s a few deals that were sent my way. Sorry for the blah introduction. My heart isn’t in it today…

  • Points for referring friends to American Express and Chase cards.
  • Still alive…10 Gogo internet passes for some American Express cardholders.
  • Free gift for Alaska MVP Gold members.
  • Register for double points on Hilton stays.

 

Man, I live in a weird city.

There was a line in a movie I saw years ago that summed it up perfectly…

Something like:

“It’s almost as if someone picked America up by the coasts and shook it. All the normal people hung on. Everyone else landed in Los Angeles.”

I messed up the quote, but that’s the general idea…it’s a weird place.

And I interact with a lot of people in it.

I can hardly remember names and faces half the time.

But I have a tiny group of human beings who matter deeply to me.

One of them is a friend I’ve mentioned. He’s like a brother.

A few years ago, he married a lovely girl.

I was so happy for him.

And, man, this girl was a powerhouse…

She wouldn’t just hug you…

She charged up, grabbed you, and rocked you back and forth.

Wouldn’t let go until she was ready.

As if she wanted to say, “I’m so happy to know you.”

And she needed you to hear it too.

I’m (surprisingly) more shy than that.

But there was nothing shy about this girl.

I liked her immediately.

For whatever reason, some people are just special.

You know the type…

She made everyone feel more alive.

It was impossible to be in a bad mood.

I felt genuine relief she found such a wonderful man.

Because when you see a person like this…

You need them to be ok.

It’s like a unique puppy.

You’ve seen the ones, right?

They have a certain magic. It’s just…different than the other dogs.

A life force. A spirit. An energy.

It would break your heart to see anything bad happen to that puppy.

Well…

Today my heart breaks.

This special girl…

My great friend…

Has been dealt a very bad hand.

A terrible disease.

But I know she’ll be ok.

I’m sure of it.

Because my brother…

And those of us who care…

We need this rare gift in our world.

We need the light to shine…

Because the world would be too dark without it.

Keep shining your light.

I’m so happy to know you.

Wednesday Triple

  • Earn SPG points on Uber rides. I like Uber, but man, I love Starwood like an old man loves his hairy ears.
  • Do you have the US Airways card? If so, log into your account and look for a bonus on miles you earn from March to June. Maybe 50% more miles (a bonus up to 10,000) is worth dusting off this card?
  • IHG’s Pointbreaks list is out. As always, you can find some killer bargains at 5,000 points a night. The trick is finding them in a town you want to visit.

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5,000 US Airways Miles From Rocketmiles

I’ve never seen all these 5,000-mile offers from Rocketmiles before. No guarantee they’ll keep popping up like this. Here’s the US Airways link. And you can still get the same offer from American. It’s a pretty good haul for staying a night in a hotel.

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Free Etihad Gold Status?

I think it’s always worth giving these a shot. Why the hell not? The worst thing that can happen is…well, nothing. Spend a couple minutes and you’re either in the same no-status position or you’re gold with Etihad.

If you’re “gold equivalent” with an airline, click the link and follow the steps. If you don’t have status anywhere (but do have the Southwest Companion Pass), you’re still in business…

Luckily, status matching to Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K is still working. Email your Companion Pass status and recent Southwest statement to elite.flyer@alaskaair.com.

A simple 2 steps and you can turn a Southwest Companion Pass into status with Alaska and Etihad.

 

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Deals & Friends Of Blog Updates

So many deals to close out the week…

  • 1,000 free Hilton points for changing your password. Only Hilton would still use 4-digit pins. And only Hilton is dumb enough to screw up something as simple as changing passwords.
  • 500 Air Berlin miles for getting a newsletter. And another 500 here.
  • Delta is offering 2,500 of their craptastic miles if your bag takes longer than 20 minutes to arrive.
  • A bonus 5,000 American miles if you’re new to Rocketmiles. Remember, you have the same offer with Southwest points here. More on Rocketmiles in a second…
  • Get a bonus 1,000 American miles on National rentals of 2 days or more with Contract ID 5031007. If you’re a regular reader, you have Executive status like I do. With status, National is my favorite car rental company right now.
  • Delta’s 50,000-mile offer is still alive here. Have I mentioned what I think of Delta?

And now to friends…

  • Old buddy (and one of the nicest human beings around) “Perry Platypus” has done something VERY impressive for his fellow man. When he gives me the go-ahead to post specifics, I’ll do it that same day. But in the meantime, I just want him to know that I’m proud of him.
  • And now to Rocketmiles. Gigantic congratulations to the good people over there. No, I still haven’t booked a stay. But in an industry full of people I can’t stand, it’s a pleasure (and relief) to interact with a person of integrity. Jay Hoffman, their CEO, is someone I like and respect. And it looks like he’s about to have a very good day.
  • Finally, reader Dan would like to “build a community of fellow travelers, average Joes, consumer watchdogs, etc to protest Southwest’s devaluation. It’s a long shot, but with enough noise hopefully we can create enough buzz for it to hit news outlets and force SWA to rethink their plans, and stay true to who they say they are. We often gripe amongst ourselves about these type of changes, but rarely do anything proactive to change it. No more.” If you want to support this, follow Dan’s new Facebook and Twitter pages.

Have a great weekend, nerds!

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