Best Bets – May, 21 2003

by Randy Petersen

Best Bets – May, 21 2003
  1. Hyatt Gold Passport members will be happy to hear that Hyatt has brought back their Faster Free Nights promotion. From the first of June until Aug. 31, all you have to do to earn a free award night is make two qualifying stays at any Hyatt and pay with your MasterCard. Register for this promotion by visiting http://www.goldpassport.com or call (800) 51 HYATT.
  2. You can still earn double credit when you book your flight at http://www.southwest.com and fly by Dec. 31, 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. It’s a good time to apply for that Delta SkyMiles Gold Card from American Express. New card members rack up a full 10,000 miles for their first purchase. But that’s not all: Through July 15, members will earn double miles for every purchase made on their Card. This is in addition to the year-round “always double miles” feature on the card, which earns two SkyMiles for every eligible dollar charged for purchases at stand-alone supermarkets, gas stations, drugstores, home improvement and hardware stores, the U.S. Postal Service, wireless phone bills and Delta Air Lines. To apply for the card, call (800) 223-2670 or visit http://www.delta.com. The 10,000 mile bonus has no official end date, but that can change! To enroll in the double miles promotion, register online at http://www.americanexpress.com/deltaenroll.
  4. Diners Club Club Rewards is reintroducing its 2:1 Diners Club/British Airways promotion, effectively yielding a 1:1 conversion ratio of Diners points for BA Executive Club miles. The offer will be available on the Diners Club Web site and is offered June 1 to Aug. 31.
  5. Northwest’s Fly Free Faster is back. To earn 10,000 WorldPerks bonus miles, register online between May 15 and Aug. 31, and perform one of the following activities between June 1 and Aug. 31:
    • Take a qualifying flight
    • Successfully apply for and pay the annual fee for a new WorldPerks Visa
    • Sign up for MCI, Nextel, EarthLink or AT&T Worldnet Service
    • Purchase a new Worldclubs membership
    • Purchase a minimum of 5,000 miles through WorldPerks Buy & Gift Miles at nwa.com

    Then earn five partner credits from non-air WorldPerks partners.
    Visit http://www.nwa.com/offers/fff3 to register.

  6. Premier United Mileage Plus members can earn as many as 29,000 elite qualifying miles with United’s latest offer. Premier members can earn 3,000 elite qualifying miles just for faxing Mileage Plus one of their frequent flyer statements from a competing program. Members will earn 2,000 bonus miles that qualify toward elite status for every incremental United segment they fly between May 15 and Aug. 15. And members will receive two free personalized luggage tags just for registering for this promotion. The 3,000 elite qualifying miles will not count for award redemption, they will only count towards elite qualification. This offer is only available to Premier members. Check out http://www.unitedgreatoffer.com for the low-down.
  7. 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: no over-the-credit-limit fee. 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!
  8. Through Aug. 31, Hilton HHonors members who book online at hiltonhhonors.com earn double base points if they pay with a Visa card. That’s three months to earn double points with a card just about everyone has. Check it out online at http://www.hiltonhhonors.com.
  9. Best Western continues to astound. Gold Crown Club International members who stay two times at any Best Western hotel in the world between April 16 and June 20 and pay for their stay in full with a MasterCard will receive a 1,200 point global free room night voucher. This voucher qualifies for a free night at more than 1,200 properties. GCCI members must register for this promotion in advance of their stay at http://www.goldcrownclub.com or by calling Customer Service at (800) 237-8483.
  10. Do the math: Two free nights for five stays. That’s what Marriott Rewards members get when they stay five separate times at any of more than 2,300 Marriott hotels from March 15 through June 15. To become eligible, members must register for the Marriott Rewards Free Weekend offer via http://www.marriott.com, or by calling 1-888-MARRIOTT. The certificate for a free two-weekend-night stay may be redeemed any Thursday, Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday through Dec. 30.

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