Flyertalk Keeps Chugging Along

Flyertalk is far from the friendliest place on earth, but it has been a useful tool for a loooong time. I can’t remember a single week passing by without people sending me links to posts there. And, as miles become more of a pain in the ass, the most popular Flyertalk forum right now seems to be Premium Fare Deals.  Here are some recent examples of links readers have sent from there:

  • Cape Town to Dubai in Business Class for under $1000.
  • Business Class to China for under $1500.
  • Amsterdam to New York in Upper Class cabin on Virgin Atlantic.

Other than the Premium Fare Deals forum, it seems like the other reader favorites are:

Personally, I don’t have the time to navigate the deep, dark reaches of Flyertalk very often. The only thread I tend to visit anymore is this one to get an idea of what cars to expect at specific National aisles.  But Flyeralk is still very much a popular resource. If I missed one of the most-used forums there, let me know and I’ll write a follow-up post at some point.

IHG Option

Nope, IHG points aren’t what they used to be. They’re not exactly garbage, but let’s put it this way…

On a scale of Pauly Shore to Al Pacino…IHG lives in Keanu Reeves territory.

For some, that makes this transfer option to United worth looking at.

(10,000 IHG points = 3,000 United miles)

For others, the current promo to buy discounted IHG points might even be worth doing for this one.

Personally? I’d rather burn my points on a Kimpton stay.

Have a great weekend, nerds!

Lawn Days

Thanks to reader Jack for sharing an interesting new use for Hilton points. The Lawn Days concerts this summer (Rascal Flats, 30 Second To Mars, Foreigner, Chicago, Brad Paisley, etc) are going for a fixed 10,000 points per pair. Tons of different locations and dates are available. If you prefer more valuable tickets, as always, there are plenty of other music auctions available to bid on.

Wednesday Stuff

  • Fewer Delta SkyDongs are currently needed for trips to Canada and Alaska. Also for travel to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
  • Log in to see a 25% bonus on American Express point transfers to Hawaiian Airlines.
  • Another week, another Southwest sale. And, of course, there’s one from Alaska too.
  • American Express has been increasingly inconsistent giving bonuses out to people. Depending how you look at it…they’ve either been clever or fraudulent while “enforcing” language that doesn’t exist. I think it’s total bullshit. You can’t invent new bonus terms when people have already submitted an application. Well, at least they’re being more upfront about punching us on the chin now. As of yesterday, readers are starting to notice a new message pop up:
    “Based on your history with American Express welcome offers, introductory APR offers, or the number of cards you have opened and closed, you are not eligible to receive this welcome offer. We have not yet performed a credit check. Would you still like to proceed?”

United Club Passes

I have a bunch of United Club one-time passes to give away. Expiration dates vary (between July 31st and November 30th).

If you have a specific use in mind,  please email the address below. The subject should be “United Club” and the body should be the date you will potentially use one of the passes.

As always, I won’t read any messages there other than those from the randomly selected winners. Please only use that inbox for contest entries. I’ll reach out to the winners on Thursday night.