Earlier this month American Airlines and Klout teamed up to offer people with a Klout score of 55 or higher a free Admirals Club day pass. If you went to American’s special promotion website and didn’t score a pass there’s still hope: if you increase your... Read more

Oman Air is slowly building its fleet up of Airbus A330 aircraft, with the airline ordering three Airbus A330-300′s. This will push Oman Air’s fleet of Airbus A330 to 10 aircraft, split between: - 3 Airbus A330-300′s (owned) - 2 Airbus A330-200′s (onwed)... Read more

By my rough calculations I should be about 500 miles off the western coast of Chile right now, happily ensconced in a LAN business class seat next to my wife as we wend our way to Easter Island for the Memorial Day Weekend holiday. Alas, instead I’m sitting on my couch at... Read more

I know, this is heresy. Writing a blog about driving? I mean, you don’t earn miles or points by just driving so who cares? Well, I thought I would pass this along because: (a) many business travelers actually do drive for their work; (b) many leisure travelers pack up their... Read more

This started May 15th and I seemed to have missed it but there is a 20% transfer bonus offer for Canadian RBC Avion Platinum and Infinite cardholders to transfer their Avion to American Aadvantage miles, until June 30, 2013. The minimum transfer amount is 5,000 and after that in... Read more

I had a conversation with someone yesterday about how to earn miles and points during the super popular summer wedding season.  Much of it isn’t substantially different than the ways we earn points in everyday life, but sometimes the large amount of money that people have... Read more

Last night I had a coworker with some time to kill before a redeye at LAX. Since I haven’t found it to be the best place for landside options and since neither of us had been to Encounter, the restaurant in the X I suggested we dine there. As many have said before me, it... Read more

Chase announced today that starting June 1, 2013, the MileagePlus Explorer Card will no longer have a 3% foreign transaction fee. Chase is very much an industry leader when it comes to foreign transaction fees, far ahead of American Express, Barclaycard, and Citi, all of which... Read more

The deadline to get FREE Bluebird checks was yesterday, but luckily it looks like they extended that deadline to August 13th (thanks to those readers who commented and emailed me letting me know!). So the good news is there is still time to 1) Get your free 100 Bluebird Checks;... Read more

I recently wrote about using Ultimate Rewards points to pay for cruises. It is an option, but in most cases, I continue to recommend you use your Ultimate Rewards to pay for flights, and just pay for your cruise with cash. No matter what currency you use to pay for your cruise,... Read more

In almost every category the Ink Bold® Business Card and Ink Plus® Business Card come out as the best rewards cards. They were #1 (tied) in each of the following lists that I put together: The 5 Most Rewarding Cards for Your Spending Every Day The 5 Best All-Around Rewards... Read more

I recently wrote a post asking whether you guys think I hype Lufthansa first class too much, given how much I love them. I’m doing my best to put down my pom poms and #TeamLufthansa shirt, but just had another spectacular flight in Lufthansa first class between Vancouver and... Read more

I always try to use points. I try not to waste points and over pay for things vs. what I personally value my points at but still the standing rule is spend them whenever I can. Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) is one of the most simple and flexible points programs to use. Sure you... Read more

I decided to tag along to a technology conference last weekend in Toronto which gave us four nights in a city I had never visited prior.  I have reviewed a majority of the Park Hyatt properties in North America including Chicago, Beaver Creek, and Washington DC but was excited... Read more

There’s a persistent myth that the best time to book an award ticket is instantly when an airline’s schedule opens — and that the time is 12:01am exactly 330 days prior to travel. But this isn’t quite right on two levels. Different airlines publish their... Read more

The Frequent Travelers University ended late, so I booked my return flight for the following day with plans to see a friend living in the area. My original hotel, the Hyatt Alexandria, is a fine property but oriented toward business travelers and surrounded by office towers. I... Read more

Exactly two weeks ago, I declared “5X everywhere dies again.”  There had been a secret application link for the Citi ThankYou Preferred card that offered 5 points per dollar at drugstores, grocery stores, and gas stations for 12 months, but the application link... Read more

If you have an upcoming stay with IHG, here are a few bonuses that may come in handy: “Welcome Back” Bonus: 1500 Points Register using code 2656 to earn 1500 bonus points when you complete a paid stay within 90 days of registration.  Due to the time limit on the... Read more