Best Bets – February, 26 2003

by Randy Petersen

Best Bets – February, 26 2003
  1. Pick a card, any card. Well, in this case, go ahead and pick your American Express. Through March, Best Western’s Gold Crown Club International is offering a complimentary companion airfare after two stays at any Best Western when the American Express Card is used to pay for the stay. The offer is good for residents of the continental U.S. Gold Crown Club International members can register for the promotion at http://www.bestwestern.com/amexoffer.asp or via the telephone at 800) 237-8483. Please request promotion code AECFEM.
  2. You can still earn double credit when you book your flight at http://www.southwest.com and fly by Apr. 4, 2003. With double credit you can earn a free flight in as few as four roundtrips. This one is headed to the frequent flyer marketing Hall of Fame. What is amazing is how long they have extended this bonus. Keep clicking and keep flying.
  3. Now through March 31, book a Best Western BestRates stay in the U.S., Canada or the Caribbean and you can earn up to quadruple airline miles with Aeroplan, Mileage Plan, FlightFund, AAdvantage, SkyMiles, WorldPerks, Mileage Plus or Dividend Miles. You must register in advance of your stay for this promotion and be a member of the Best Western Gold Crown Club International program. Members earn 250 base miles with each qualifying stay, plus 250 bonus miles with your second stay, 500 bonus miles with your third stay and 750 bonus miles with your fourth stay. That’s 2,500 total miles. To register, call (800) 237-8483 and mention promotion code BW4MLS.
  4. Triple miles are always a good thing. But Choice Hotels has made them even better. Why? Because the Choice brands — Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Sleep Inn, MainStay Suites, Econolodge and Rodeway Inns — are everywhere. From Dallas to Detroit, from Waukesha to Walla Walla, you’re bound to find one of their 3,500 hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Through April 30, AAdvantage, SkyMiles, WorldPerks, Mileage Plus and Dividend Miles members will get triple miles when they stay. Members of Rapid Rewards will receive triple credits. Reservations at any Choice brand hotel are available at http://www.choicehotels.com or by calling 1-800-4CHOICE.
  5. Double up with Priority Club. Through March 31, you can earn double points or miles for every qualifying stay at a Six Continents hotel, beginning with your second. We’ll take double-stuff where we can find it, but what makes this promotion particularly intriguing is the wealth of property choices at your disposal. At last count, Six Continents had 3,300 locations at which to earn and redeem — not too shabby! Register at http://www.priorityclubpromotion.com/double, and start staying.
  6. A Continental feast. You just can’t beat a 25-percent bonus on points-to-miles transfers. And that’s what you’ll get through March 15 when you transfer a minimum of 10,000 American Express Membership Rewards points into Continental OnePass miles. To sweeten the deal, the first 2,500 customers to make the move will net an additional 2,500 bonus miles. Register at http://www.continental.com/onepass quickly.
  7. Continental strikes again. Continental has extended its triple segments/points promotion that allows OnePass members traveling on unrestricted fares to earn up to six segments/points per roundtrip toward 2004 Elite status. Through the promotion, a traveler could potentially achieve Silver Elite status with just five segments, or Platinum Elite status with just 15. See Inside Edition for more information, or hop on to http://www.continental.onepass. The promotion ends March 31.
  8. Fifteen thousand miles is the bounty for those who successfully apply for the United Mileage Plus Signature Visa Card. This is by far the largest sign-up bonus that the Mileage Plus program has ever offered (we should know, our same card only earned a 5,000-mile bonus). New cardholders will earn one mile for every dollar charged. A free first-class upgrade and a $25 discount certificate are also included in the deal. The card is offered by First USA Bank. You can apply from the homepage of the United Web site at http://www.ual.com. The card costs $60 annually. While sign-up bonuses don’t get much better, this is real cool: over-the-credit-limit fee: none. Only one little catch — the maximum number of miles you can earn with the United Mileage Plus Visa card is 10,000 miles in any single billing period, with a maximum of 60,000 miles per year unless you are a Premier member — then the sky is the limit. We asked them again about an ending date and they would simply smile and say — it is a promotion. We think that means that it could end at any time but then again, it could keep going and going and going!
  9. Seeing double. OK, we think these two programs are both grand. Marriott and Hilton both have new PointSaver and PointExtender promotions lasting through May and June which allow members to save 33-40 percent off normal award redemption. If you really must know, Marriott’s PointSavers are 33 percent off while Hilton Point Stretchers are 40 percent off. These aren’t hotels in out of the way places either. We highly recommend them if you have some idea where you want to go for Spring Break this year.
  10. Northwest Airlines has teamed up with renowned ski resorts in North America to offer you great deals this ski season. With just 10,000 miles, you can purchase a roundtrip coach ticket from the lower 48 to select ski destinations for just $128; or pay $178 and 5,000 miles. Offer is valid between select origins in the 48 contiguous United States and Albuquerque, Anchorage, Aspen, Billings, Boise, Bozeman, Burlington, Calgary, Colorado Springs, Denver, Edmonton, Jackson Hole, Kalispell, Missoula, Reno, Salt Lake City, Steamboat Springs, Vail or Vancouver. Travel must be completed between Dec. 3 and April 4.

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