- If good things come in pairs, then these two competitors are really making things great for members of their programs. Mileage run or not, it’s hard to ignore “all member” bonuses like this. American Airlines AAdvantage: Fly 10,000 qualifying miles by February 29 and earn double bonus miles on future, eligible, qualifying flights through March 31. Register prior to travel at http://www.aa.com or call (800) 882-8880 using promo code: FLY04. And if you don’t think you can fly the 10,000 miles before Feb. 29, register anyway, because if you fly 10K qualifying miles by March 31, you’ll still receive a 5,000-mile bonus.
United Airlines Mileage Plus: Fly 10,000 paid, qualifying miles by February 29 and earn double miles on future paid qualifying flights; through March 31, 2004. Register prior to travel at http://www.ual.com using promo code: MPW004. United is also offering the same 5,000-mile bonus to those who fly the 10,000 qualifying miles by Mar. 31.
- More pairs of bonuses. American ‘teams’ up with Delta for a one-two punch against new JetBlue service in select city pairs. American AAdvantage: Through Apr 15, fly two roundtrips between Boston and California or Florida and earn one award ticket. Fly four roundtrips and receive two award tickets. Register prior to travel at http://www.aa.com/offers or call (800) 882-8880 and use promo code:AABOS. Delta SkyMiles: Through Apr 15, fly two roundtrip flights between Boston (PC 4091) or New York (PC 4092) and Fort Lauderdale, Fort Meyers, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco or San Jose, CA. Register prior to travel at http://www.delta.com/twoforone and enter the appropriate code.
- Hyatt Gold Passport: Faster Free Nights — one of the more generous of all hotel promotions continues through the month of February. Earn a free night after every two stays at any Hyatt worldwide when you pay for each stay with your MasterCard — tough to beat! Faster Free Nights awards can only be redeemed through April 30, 2004 and are not transferable. To qualify, you must be a Gold Passport member, sign up for the promotion, provide your Gold Passport account number at reservation/check-in, be a registered guest, pay an eligible rate, and make full payment on a valid MasterCard card for each separate stay. Eligible rate is a hotel published rack rate except third-party rates such as priceline.com, hotels.com and expedia.com. To register, visit http://www.goldpassport.com or phone (800) 514-9288. Fine Print: One free night will be awarded for every two (2) stays between October 15, 2003 and February 29, 2004 at participating Hyatt Hotels worldwide as long as your check-in date is on or before February 29, 2004. Stays at Hawthorn Suites do not apply. Only one credit will be given per member, per stay, regardless of the number of rooms. Stay means one or more consecutive nights at any participating hotel, whether or not you check out and back in during such period. Back-to-back stays at a single Hyatt are considered one stay. Award stays do not qualify. There are some tricky rules for award use mid-week, so check those rules out.
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan almost always has at least one award sale going on. But right now, there are two! Through March 16, fly Alaska Air or Horizon Air between Los Angeles and select Horizon destinations for only 13,000 miles — a savings of 7,000 miles off the regular 20,000- mile Mileage Plan Coach Saver awards. Or, until Feb. 13, travel between Los Angeles and Reno for only 13,000 miles. All saver award rules apply. Book your award travel online at http://www.alaskaair.com and receive 1,000 bonus miles.
- Northwest WorldPerks members can now earn up to 25,000 miles with the “Make a Mile” promotion. Register online at http://www.nwa.com/offers/makeamile, successfully apply for a WorldPerks Visa card, then pick a challenge — earn three, five, or 10 partner credits, and earn between 5,000 and 25,000 miles. Promotion ends on Feb. 29. Use code 8309 when registering.
- If pairs work among the big frequent flyer programs, then they work for the little (soon to be big) guys. Here’s another pair of great bonuses:
ATA Travel Awards: Through Mar 31, fly five nonstop roundtrips between Newark or New York Laguardia and San Francisco and earn a free ticket to Hawaii. For more information, visit http://www.ata.com.
JetBlue TrueBlue: Through Jun 30, book your flight online at http://www.jetblue.com and receive double credit.
- Fifteen is the magic number for us (as in 15,000 miles/points). Read and reap the best bonuses among credit cards: Delta SkyMiles: Sign up for the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card by American Express and earn 15,000 bonus miles with your first purchase. To apply, visit http://www.delta.com or call (888) 225-4311 and use promo code:1NK.
Marriott Rewards: Apply for the Platinum Business card and earn 15,000 bonus points upon first purchase. To apply, visit http://www.marriott.com. And if you apply for the Marriott Rewards Visa Signature card, you’ll not only earn the bonus with your first purchase, you’ll also receive a complimentary upgrade to Silver elite status. Call Bank One at (888) 624-9604 for more information.
- We all go to California sooner or later. This just makes it easier to choose where to stay and whose couch to sleep on. Priority Club Rewards: stay at Crowne Plaza hotels in California and earn 5,000 bonus points by staying at a second Crowne Plaza in California.
- We’ve tried to ignore this growing airline but just can’t seem to resist their ongoing marketing effort to convince us to fly them. They offer many bonus miles here and then offer award promotions to redeem them at lower levels (see #4 above). Is this any way to run a frequent flyer program? Ah, yes. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: Through Mar 15 take any qualifying flight on Alaska Air, Horizon Air or American Airlines and earn double miles. Register prior to travel at http://www.alaskaair.com and use promo code:103116.
- There’s a good reason why we’re featuring this bonus. In a day and age when long distance bonuses are declining, this one seems to defy the odds. Imagine getting enough bonus points for signing up to earn yourself a free hotel room — maybe two free rooms/nights if you pay attentnion to their never ending award promotions as well. Priority Club Rewards: Sign up for MCI residential or small business long distance and earn 16,000 bonus points. Call (800) 416-6624.
Best Bets – January, 26 2004
