Those Miles Are MINE! Reward Currencies That Don’t Expire

The worst thing you could ever do with your miles is let them expire. This won’t happen to those of you who are constantly earning points and miles by traveling or having a co-branded credit card. It also won’t happen if you’re participating in a program that has a no-expiration policy. You can step away […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2014/12/those-miles-are-mine-reward-currencies-that-dont-expire.html

AirAsia Flight 8501 Located

On the fourth day of a multinational search operation, Indonesian officials said that they had found the missing Airbus A320 in the Java Sea.



from Travel Feedly http://www.ibtimes.com/search-airasia-flight-8501-sonar-detects-planes-wreckage-shallow-waters-java-sea-1770522

Thank YOU for 2014!

Thanks! Thank YOU for joining me in 2014! If it wasn’t for you, this blog would not exist… we’re in this thing together! And I appreciate all your views, you telling your friends, your comments – everything! See you in 2015! Here are some of my favorite images from 2014!



from Stuck in Customs http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2014/12/31/thank-you-for-2014/

What does “making it better for everyone” really mean?

from Elliott http://elliott.org/blog/making-better-everyone-really-mean/

American Express Campus Edition Eliminates Load Options

American Express Campus Edition – the prepaid product marketed to college students in conjunction with Barnes & Noble campus bookstores — allowed you to load at the bookstore cash register with a credit card or gift card. The card allowed a maximum balance of $1000, and charged $3.95 to reload at register. You could then […]

The post American Express Campus Edition Eliminates Load Options appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/american-express-campus-edition-eliminates-load-options/

First Review Of Etihad’s A380 The Residence

Over the weekend I had the chance to be on Etihad's inaugural A380 flight from Abu Dhabi to London, where I flew in one of their First Apartments. I was absolutely blown away by the product.

In theory the most exciting thing about Etihad's new A380 was The Residence, which is the three room suite with butler service that Etihad will sell you for the low price of $20,000+ on a one-way flight.

The first passenger to book The Residence was Gino Bertuccio, who's a really cool guy that I know from some past inaugural flights.

The post First Review Of Etihad’s A380 The Residence appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/first-review-etihads-a380-residence/

IHG Rewards Club Sneaks a Big Change Into Their Terms and Conditions

IHG Rewards Club has made a big change in their terms and conditions with no advance notice, or even any notice, to members: they will no longer award points even for incidentals on stays booked through third party website. Hotel loyalty programs have spent years trying to gain control over the distribution of rooms. Years […]

The post IHG Rewards Club Sneaks a Big Change Into Their Terms and Conditions appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/ihg-rewards-club-sneaks-big-change-terms-conditions/

Sierra Leone Journal: Ebola Ravages Economies in West Africa

In Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, Ebola is not just affecting immune systems but also the bottom lines of businesses and governments.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/41e4ed95/sc/14/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A140C120C310Cworld0Cafrica0Cebola0Eravages0Eeconomies0Ein0Ewest0Eafrica0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

Alaska Mileage Plan Winter Award Sale

Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan is offering a winter award sale for bookings made through January 8, 2015.

The promotion is valid for economy award redemptions on Alaska Airlines flights between January 6 and March 5, 2015. You can find the full listing of eligible markets on the Alaska winter award sale webpage, where the sale is organized by city.

For example, out of Seattle you can book awards for just 5,000 miles one-way to Bend, Boise, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose.

The post Alaska Mileage Plan Winter Award Sale appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/alaska-mileage-plan-winter-award-sale/

Q1 2015 Hilton HHonors Hotel Category Changes

As of April of this year, Hilton HHonors has shifted how they make award category changes. Rather than having massive award chart changes every so often, they’re doing quarterly hotel category adjustments. That’s to say that they’re not changing the number of points required for each category every quarter, but rather are shifting which hotels belong in which categories.

Ultimately I favor anything which isn’t an award chart massacre like what we saw with HHonors early last year, though I don’t really buy that this is being done to increase transparency.

Basically, rather than emailing members when there’s a big award chart change, they now have a website where Hilton lists the category changes. That sounds great in theory, except I’m not sure how a vast majority of members are expected to know when these changes happen.

The post Q1 2015 Hilton HHonors Hotel Category Changes appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/q1-2015-hilton-hhonors-hotel-category-changes/

Hilton HHonors Announces Hotel Award Category Changes — Find Out Which Hotels Will Cost You More (or Fewer) Points to Redeem

After Hilton’s dramatic award chart gutting of nearly two years ago, there weren’t huge changes again this year. And Hilton decided to change the way they made changes to how they re-assign hotels to award categories. Instead of an annual change to tons of hotels (a schedule they really weren’t wedded to in the past […]

The post Hilton HHonors Announces Hotel Award Category Changes — Find Out Which Hotels Will Cost You More (or Fewer) Points to Redeem appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/hilton-hhonors-announces-hotel-award-category-changes-find-hotels-will-cost-fewer-points-redeem/

In Transit Blog: Dressing for the New Year in Brazil

Guests at the Ponta dos Ganchos resort in Brazil will celebrate the arrival of 2015 by wearing white (there will be fireworks too).

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/41e3f478/sc/10/l/0Lintransit0Bblogs0Bnytimes0N0C20A140C120C30A0Cdressing0Efor0Ethe0Enew0Eyear0Ein0Ebrazil0C0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

Air France KLM 50% Off Flying Blue Promo Awards March/April

Flying Blue, the mileage program of SkyTeam partners Air France, KLM and Air Europa, offer Promo Awards each month, which let you book award flights for as little as 50% of the miles normally needed on certain routes and in specific cabins. While these awards used to be released every two months, Flying Blue now […]



from The Points Guy http://thepointsguy.com/2014/12/air-france-klm-50-off-flying-blue-promo-awards-marchapril/

Scary Thought: Someone Spent $230,000+ On Delta Last Year

The past few years Starwood has published a "Year In Review," whereby they share some fun statistics with member highlights.

There are the facts that seem believable. For example, the Sheraton New York Times Square was the most popular hotel that members redeemed Starpoints at in 2014.

And 86 is the most number of SPG properties visited by one member this year.

The post Scary Thought: Someone Spent $230,000+ On Delta Last Year appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/12/30/scary-thought-someone-spent-230000-delta-last-year/

New 2015 Starwood Promotion Announced: Double Play

It’s almost the end of the year, which means we should be hearing about new hotel promotions for the first quarter or two of 2015. Leading the pack is Starwood Preferred Guest, which just posted today about its new “Double Play” promo for Q1. Per the terms of the promotion, SPG members must register at […]



from The Points Guy http://thepointsguy.com/2014/12/new-2015-starwood-promotion-announced-double-play/