Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
Mar 13th 2013, 1:12 pm
#286
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
50,000 Virgin Atlantic card offer (Bank of America)
20,000 miles after first purchase, another 25,000 after spending $2,500 and 2,500 for each of 2 authorized users added as reported by View from the Wing this morning.
Of course this isn't quite as lucrative as the 50,000 point AMEX Gold offer I wrote about recently, which requires only $1,000 in spend (AMEX Membership Rewards points transfer 1:1 to Virgin Atlantic - among other carriers - and also have semi-frequent transfer bonuses, e.g. 30%), but there's nothing stopping you for applying for both and really loading up.
Virgin Atlantic miles also transfer to Hilton at a ratio of 1:2, so it's a another good way of stocking up in that programme if you want to.
Beware - Virgin Atlantic levies "fuel surcharges" that are just as ridiculous as BA's, which means that the best value from miles redemption is to fly Upper Class (Virgin's business class product), either by redeeming outright for seats in that cabin or else paying for Premium Economy and then using miles to upgrade (where available).
Of course this isn't quite as lucrative as the 50,000 point AMEX Gold offer I wrote about recently, which requires only $1,000 in spend (AMEX Membership Rewards points transfer 1:1 to Virgin Atlantic - among other carriers - and also have semi-frequent transfer bonuses, e.g. 30%), but there's nothing stopping you for applying for both and really loading up.
Virgin Atlantic miles also transfer to Hilton at a ratio of 1:2, so it's a another good way of stocking up in that programme if you want to.
Beware - Virgin Atlantic levies "fuel surcharges" that are just as ridiculous as BA's, which means that the best value from miles redemption is to fly Upper Class (Virgin's business class product), either by redeeming outright for seats in that cabin or else paying for Premium Economy and then using miles to upgrade (where available).
Mar 15th 2013, 5:56 pm
#287
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Google Town
Posts: 7,532
Re: Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
First things first, here's a general overview of the BA companion voucher from The Points Guy (for you or anyone else who's interested).
As for finding availability - you simply(?!) have to search for (and find) two seats available for award redemption, on the same flight and in your desired cabin of travel (please tell me this is business or first).
While BA miles can be redeemed on all of the various One World airlines, those done in conjunction with a companion voucher must be on BA-operated flights - so for you this means going to (or via) London.
When you search on ba.com, if there is no availability on your chosen date they show a nice calendar as to when other dates in the same month have availability. Availability often (but not always) gets loaded at some point 300+ days in advance, but then they often load additional award seats as the dates get nearer if they think the flight will be undersold. Best availability between US and UK is via routes that have multiple flights per day - especially from the east coast. From the west coast - BA had just announced that one of their first routes for the A380 is one of the LAX-LHR runs (from mid-October) so that might increase capacity on that route and therefore open up availability a bit (although mile-collecting plane geeks have probably wiped out a fair amount of that for the first couple of months).
Moving on from LHR, short haul is easier to find seats on, long-haul less so. A nice short-haul-dressed-as-a-long-haul is the 747 BA uses on one of the London-Moscow runs if you fancied going there. As you are looking to travel outbound before the expiry date of your voucher then this lack of flexibility may work against you.
Mrs tonrob and I will be letting a companion voucher go unused this year because we simply didn't need to use it for anything. We always make sure to get one each year just in case, as I don't see it as a waste as you get miles for your sending anyway - but this is as long as the act of meeting the spend doesn't in any way interfere with our other main mileage earning activities (which it doesn't).
Let me know how you get on.
As for finding availability - you simply(?!) have to search for (and find) two seats available for award redemption, on the same flight and in your desired cabin of travel (please tell me this is business or first).
While BA miles can be redeemed on all of the various One World airlines, those done in conjunction with a companion voucher must be on BA-operated flights - so for you this means going to (or via) London.
When you search on ba.com, if there is no availability on your chosen date they show a nice calendar as to when other dates in the same month have availability. Availability often (but not always) gets loaded at some point 300+ days in advance, but then they often load additional award seats as the dates get nearer if they think the flight will be undersold. Best availability between US and UK is via routes that have multiple flights per day - especially from the east coast. From the west coast - BA had just announced that one of their first routes for the A380 is one of the LAX-LHR runs (from mid-October) so that might increase capacity on that route and therefore open up availability a bit (although mile-collecting plane geeks have probably wiped out a fair amount of that for the first couple of months).
Moving on from LHR, short haul is easier to find seats on, long-haul less so. A nice short-haul-dressed-as-a-long-haul is the 747 BA uses on one of the London-Moscow runs if you fancied going there. As you are looking to travel outbound before the expiry date of your voucher then this lack of flexibility may work against you.
Mrs tonrob and I will be letting a companion voucher go unused this year because we simply didn't need to use it for anything. We always make sure to get one each year just in case, as I don't see it as a waste as you get miles for your sending anyway - but this is as long as the act of meeting the spend doesn't in any way interfere with our other main mileage earning activities (which it doesn't).
Let me know how you get on.
Mar 19th 2013, 10:02 am
#288
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
Saving money with hotels' "Best Rate Guarantee"
Everyone likes to shop around, don't they?
Many will book directly with the hotel at which they want to stay, preferring not to deal with "middle men" - whereas others like to shop around for a cheaper deal at the third party sites: Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire or consolidator-sites like Kayak, where sometimes - just sometimes - cheaper deals can be found. Then we pat ourselves on the back that we saved $30.
It's possible though to do a whole lot better under these circumstances, because most hotel chains are so confident that they can line their prices up across the plethora of different sites that sell their property that they put their money where their mouth is and offer a "best rate guarantee".
If you book at one of their properties and find a cheaper rate elsewhere, Marriott, Hyatt or Club Carlson will change your rate to be 25% lower than the competing rate. Hilton gives a $50 gift card. Priority Club and Choice Hotels actually comp your first night (making a one night stay completely free).
Each one has its own terms and conditions which you'll need to read and understand (e.g. type of room must be the same, currency quoted and charged in must be the same, same rate conditions etc.) and the process of finding the cheaper alternative can be time-consuming (and often futile) but when this works you can make a significant saving.
Many will book directly with the hotel at which they want to stay, preferring not to deal with "middle men" - whereas others like to shop around for a cheaper deal at the third party sites: Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire or consolidator-sites like Kayak, where sometimes - just sometimes - cheaper deals can be found. Then we pat ourselves on the back that we saved $30.
It's possible though to do a whole lot better under these circumstances, because most hotel chains are so confident that they can line their prices up across the plethora of different sites that sell their property that they put their money where their mouth is and offer a "best rate guarantee".
If you book at one of their properties and find a cheaper rate elsewhere, Marriott, Hyatt or Club Carlson will change your rate to be 25% lower than the competing rate. Hilton gives a $50 gift card. Priority Club and Choice Hotels actually comp your first night (making a one night stay completely free).
Each one has its own terms and conditions which you'll need to read and understand (e.g. type of room must be the same, currency quoted and charged in must be the same, same rate conditions etc.) and the process of finding the cheaper alternative can be time-consuming (and often futile) but when this works you can make a significant saving.
Mar 22nd 2013, 7:25 pm
#289
Rootbeeraholic
Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Houston, Tx
Posts: 2,280
Re: Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
So I'm not Tonrob and don't have his expertise but thought I'd share a recent miles paid for trip with Y'all to highlight that it's really pretty easy to get the stage where you can go for free.
Went to Vegas for 4 nights/5 days with wife/toddler and inlaws. Got round trip flights for all the adults for 100,000 miles & $20 using United (mostly from a recent credit card that had 50,000 bonus miles) and stayed at the Bellagio (just me/wife/son) for free using circa 80,000 BA miles and going through BA's site.
Flights were $406/pp so a saving of $1,600 and hotel was $1,100 give or take for the dates we were there so total savings of $2,700 ish with the majority of the miles just coming from sign up bonuses (as well as a bit of spending on the cards).
Not quite a round the world trip but actually a very nice little long weekend away with only food/drink/entertainment costs and defintely doable for a couple with sign up bonuses from just a few cards (flights for two would have been 50,000 miles on United and $10 - I got 50,000 miles for signing up to the card) and of the BA miles 50,000 were also from a sign up bonus.
Went to Vegas for 4 nights/5 days with wife/toddler and inlaws. Got round trip flights for all the adults for 100,000 miles & $20 using United (mostly from a recent credit card that had 50,000 bonus miles) and stayed at the Bellagio (just me/wife/son) for free using circa 80,000 BA miles and going through BA's site.
Flights were $406/pp so a saving of $1,600 and hotel was $1,100 give or take for the dates we were there so total savings of $2,700 ish with the majority of the miles just coming from sign up bonuses (as well as a bit of spending on the cards).
Not quite a round the world trip but actually a very nice little long weekend away with only food/drink/entertainment costs and defintely doable for a couple with sign up bonuses from just a few cards (flights for two would have been 50,000 miles on United and $10 - I got 50,000 miles for signing up to the card) and of the BA miles 50,000 were also from a sign up bonus.
Mar 22nd 2013, 8:21 pm
#290
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
Re: Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
Good work Bink! It's always a nice feeling when you know your entire trip (well, less meals, general spends etc.) was funded entirely by miles and points.
There's an art to (and a lot of debate around) miles/points valuation, but I value my BA and United miles at around 1.6 cents each, and based on that the results you got were just about what I'd have expected to get if I used my own miles.
I've never used BA miles to get hotels as often the value you get per mile isn't so good, but you didn't do bad on that deal (and also a mile spent is far better than a mile sitting unused in a frequent flier account for years on end). Vegas is tough too as there aren't many chains (at least in good locations) where you can get free nights using hotel points.
I'm off to Florida for a fortnight in a couple of weeks, to visit family and also have some pool and beach time (if the weather plays ball). Got 3 return flights on Southwest covered mostly (apart from around $50) by points earned from the Chase Southwest sign-up bonus. One week is in a villa with a pool for $500 via a back-door deal with the owner (avoiding the management company) and the other is in a 2-bedroom villa at a Hyatt Vacation Club funded using 160,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Could have used Hertz points for the rental car, but opted to pay cash instead with a competitor as a good rate was available. Thought I'd save the Hertz points until I couold use them to avoid a larger rental cost sometime.
There's an art to (and a lot of debate around) miles/points valuation, but I value my BA and United miles at around 1.6 cents each, and based on that the results you got were just about what I'd have expected to get if I used my own miles.
I've never used BA miles to get hotels as often the value you get per mile isn't so good, but you didn't do bad on that deal (and also a mile spent is far better than a mile sitting unused in a frequent flier account for years on end). Vegas is tough too as there aren't many chains (at least in good locations) where you can get free nights using hotel points.
I'm off to Florida for a fortnight in a couple of weeks, to visit family and also have some pool and beach time (if the weather plays ball). Got 3 return flights on Southwest covered mostly (apart from around $50) by points earned from the Chase Southwest sign-up bonus. One week is in a villa with a pool for $500 via a back-door deal with the owner (avoiding the management company) and the other is in a 2-bedroom villa at a Hyatt Vacation Club funded using 160,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Could have used Hertz points for the rental car, but opted to pay cash instead with a competitor as a good rate was available. Thought I'd save the Hertz points until I couold use them to avoid a larger rental cost sometime.
Mar 23rd 2013, 5:21 am
#291
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Mendocino, California
Posts: 954
Re: Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned this site....
http://evreward.com/store .
Just type in the name of a store and it will display all the various points earning options, ( plus current coupons ).
http://evreward.com/store .
Just type in the name of a store and it will display all the various points earning options, ( plus current coupons ).
Mar 23rd 2013, 5:23 pm
#292
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
Re: Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned this site....
http://evreward.com/store .
Just type in the name of a store and it will display all the various points earning options, ( plus current coupons ).
http://evreward.com/store .
Just type in the name of a store and it will display all the various points earning options, ( plus current coupons ).
Frequent Miler updates his recommendations on portal finders, showing which ones are the most up-to-date and correct in a mix of mileage and cashback earning transactions. Here's his latest one from January this year.
Mar 29th 2013, 6:30 pm
#293
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
New delta.com feature to upgrade using miles
Values each mile at a cent, so probably a little bit meh but given how free and easy they are to come by I thought I'd post.
Loyalty Lobby reports here.
Loyalty Lobby reports here.
Mar 29th 2013, 6:32 pm
#294
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
Free Le Club Accor Platinum status
Crops up now and again - I've posted about it before. You can use this to get a status match from other programmes, incluing Priority Club and Club Carlson.
Loyalty Lobby reports here.
Loyalty Lobby reports here.
What happens to your miles when you die?
Apr 10th 2013, 12:49 pm
#297
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
Cheapy trans-con fares for Sept/Oct HURRY
Apr 12th 2013, 11:10 am
#298
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
Half-price (miles) business class to Europe May/June
Air France Flying Blue - who are a 1:1 transfer partner with AMEX Membership Rewards. On sale April 29.
http://thepointsguy.com/2013/04/flyi...les-roundtrip/
http://thepointsguy.com/2013/04/flyi...les-roundtrip/
Apr 12th 2013, 11:13 am
#299
Septic Sprout
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 7,993
AMEX transfer bonuses - a recent history
Membership Rewards transfer bonuses have dried up a bit lately. The Points Guy has just done a summary of recent bonuses in an attempt to help speculate what might come next.
http://thepointsguy.com/2013/04/a-br...-2010-present/
http://thepointsguy.com/2013/04/a-br...-2010-present/
Apr 12th 2013, 12:42 pm
#300
Rootbeeraholic
Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Houston, Tx
Posts: 2,280
Re: Traveling cheaply and well using miles and points
It's company money but its an internal cost rather than being on a project where the cost is passed on so I do need to watch the cost.
I've done a bit more checking and managed to find a United fare for $3,500 which is 35% of the BA fare and less than the AA fare too so I'll stick with United even though I'm no longer their biggest fan. Their business product is fine and I'd find it hard to justify a fare for BA that's 2.5x more expensive.
I've done a bit more checking and managed to find a United fare for $3,500 which is 35% of the BA fare and less than the AA fare too so I'll stick with United even though I'm no longer their biggest fan. Their business product is fine and I'd find it hard to justify a fare for BA that's 2.5x more expensive.
This puts me in a real conundrum and I'd appreciate your thoughts Tonrob...
I've stuck with Continental/United as it's relatively easy to collect their FF miles and they're one of the easier/cheaper ones to use. IAH is also a hub for United and so there's a decent amount of flight choice and I can fly United internally within the States to get where I need to go.
Is there a better option in terms of other FF plans? Bearing in mind that I would want direct flights back to the UK? It's a real shame as I always liked Continental but it's just gone so far downhill since the takeover (I mean merger - no wait, I don't!
)