Sale Stuff

There are rare events in the world…

Getting struck by lightning.

Going to McDonalds and declaring, “That was a truly spectacular meal.”

Watching Tiger Woods tell a beautiful woman, “I think we should just be friends.”

And then there are the events you can depend on…

Like sales from Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska.

(Here’s one from Accor hotels for good measure)

 

Avios Issues

I’ve heard from so many readers over the last month having issues using Avios points for American Airlines flights. Typically, you should be able to do it like this:

  1. Go to aa.com and find saver award availability.
  2. With that quick bit of research done, head to the British Airways website to see if the flights pop up there.
  3. If those flights aren’t showing up on the shit-tastic British Airways website…call and ask them to waive the phone booking fee. Why? Because their website sucks and isn’t showing what it’s supposed to show.

For the last month, things have sounded worse. Certain tricks have helped show availability, including:

  • Refreshing the website until you see flights pop up. This seems incredibly stupid (but it has worked).
  • Clicking on other dates and then clicking back on the original one. This also seems ridiculous. But, yes, it often brought up availability.
  • Sometimes attempting either/both of the above “tricks” 10 to 15 times. Sigh.

In the last week, we reached new lows:

  • Some readers were seeing a message from British Airways on the website:
    “Sorry, we can’t show you American Airlines flights at the moment. There is a technical problem with American Airlines’ reward flight availability which American Airlines is currently working to identify and resolve.”
  • Even when calling British Airways, many readers have been unable to book ANY flights on American Airlines with Avios points. Nothing shows up. Not on the website. Not even with the help of phone reps.
  • A couple of readers found Alaska Airlines availability BUT the wrong number of Avios points was deducted to book the flights. I can vouch for this because it happened to me 3 days ago.

The point? Recently, trying to use Avios points has been a complete mess. Attempt the tricks above, call to see if that makes a difference, and make sure they don’t take too many points out of your account.

Kimpton Phrase

If you’re saying at Kimpton, this summer’s secret phrase to tell the front desk through September 3rd is, “Out of office.” Unknown benefits will follow.

Or you can try a MileNerd-friendly phrase that will get you absolutely nothing…

Walk up to any employee, stare into their eyes for 10 seconds, and whisper “Devaluations make me sad. It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

Then quietly begin humming “Stairway To Heaven” as you slowly back away.

Never break eye contact.

End Of Week Stuff

  • Another Frontier sale today.
    The good news? Fares start at a penny.
    The bad news? This airline still blows.
  • It may sound familiar, but here’s a devaluation for those who travel internationally in premium cabins. Which is, y’know, the main reason many of you collect miles and points at all. Devaluations keep coming aggressively. If you want to book something with your Cathay Pacific miles, you might want to do it before the 22nd.
  • Hertz now gives you the option to trade points in for miles. Only worth doing if you have no other potential plans for this currency. I didn’t see anything as poor as this exchange rate yesterday. Other than Kevin Durant’s ability to pass the ball, of course.

Have a great weekend, nerds!

 

Alaska Award Discount

I’m a big fan of earning Alaska miles.

Spending them is significantly less fun.

Through Thursday, that process gets a little easier with this award sale.