Mario Batali’s sons have just published “The Batali Brothers Cookbook”.  It’s a book of family recipies that they put together as a present for their father, Mario Batali’s 50th birthday.  E3GKJQJVTZDF

To promote the book their publisher, Harper Collins, is sponsoring a sweepstakes that’s offering the winner 100,000 AAdvantage Miles and a chance to meet Mario Batali in New York City on the set of ABC’s “The Chew”:

• Signed copy of THE BATALI BROTHERS COOKBOOK
by Benno, Leo Batali and Mario Batali

• Food & Wine Magazine Subscription

• Two pairs of Bistro Mario Batali Edition Crocs

• The full line of Mario Batali pasta sauces and imported Italian pastas

• Three cookbooks from Mario Batali

• Hotel accommodations for two

• 100,000 AAdvantage Miles (enough for 2 Economy AAnytime domestic roundtrip tickets on American Airlines)

• Four Admirals Club One-Day passes courtesy of American Airlines (Enjoy Admirals Club access with personalized service, comfort and exceptional amenities)

• Four in-flight Wi-Fi Passes courtesy of American Airlines (On your roundtrip flight to NYC stay connected during your journey with
access to complimentary Wi-Fi)

The last entry will be accepted May 29, 2013 at 12:00 p.m. (ET).

Go here to enter and for complete terms and conditions.  Good luck!!

Photo: The Batali Brothers Cookbook
Credit: Harper Collins Publishers

(Uptdate: Thanks to reader Barry Dean for sharing something he learned when he called Reliant: this offer is available only in Texas.)

It’s been some time since I wrote about earning miles with your utility company.

There haven’t been any offers from utility providers except for a few from Energy Plus, but they get such terrible reviews that I decided to avoid mentioning them.

Well here’s an offer from Reliant Energy, a company that several friends and family use, and I’m thinking about taking advantage of it myself.

Reliant Secure 24 with AAdvantage miles

Earn 15,000 AAdvantage miles just for signing up on this plan
Earn 500 AAdvantage miles every month for 24 months while on this plan
Earn up to a total of 27,000 AAdvantage miles — enough for a round-trip domestic
MileSAAver award (plus fees of up to $10 apply)

They actually offer three different plans in my ZIP code:

Monthly Flex Plan with AAdvantage Miles
Flexibility and freedom from long-term contracts plus 500 AAdvantage miles per month
No contract: Month to month

Reliant Secure 24 with AAdvantage miles
Earn up to 27,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
15,000 AAdvantage Miles at sign up + 500 Miles per month
Contract Term: 24 months

Reliant Secure 24 with AAdvantage miles
Earn up to 17,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
5,000 AAdvantage Miles at sign up + 500 Miles per month
Contract Term: 24 months

My old TXU plan expired and I’m currently paying $0.10805100 per kWh, so I can actually save money and earn 17,000 miles, or pay about the same and earn 27,000 miles.  Either way I’m coming out ahead.

Here’s a look at my options:

Pricing varies and the offer isn’t available in all areas.  Go here for complete details.

If you’re visiting Miami and looking for a place to stay in the South Beach district, here’s an AAdvantage Bonus offer from the Beacon South Beach Hotel that will earn you some extra miles:

Travel between May 1 – December 31, 2012 and earn 5 AAdvantage miles per $1

Earn AAdvantage miles for every eligible stay in qualifying room rates at the Beacon South Beach Hotel.

Earn five (5) AAdvantage miles for every one pre-tax dollar for bookings made directly on our website.

Special offers & discounts qualify for one (1) AAdvantage mile per one pre-tax dollar spent towards the room price.

Advanced Purchase Discount rates & any third party reservations do not qualify to earn AAdvantage miles.

I’ve never stayed there, but the Beacon South Beach Hotel gets great ratings on Trip Advisor and it looks to be in a great location.  Truthfully, I’m more familiar with the Miami airport than I am the city.

When I think of South Beach, I think of the movie Scarface. That’s where most of the scenes were filmed. As an aside, every time I stay at a J.W. Marriott hotel I think of the movie – they all seem to resemble Tony Montana’s house.

Anyway, typically you’ll earn 2 AA miles per dollar, so this is a pretty good offer.  You’ll find complete details here.

Photo: Art Deco
Credit: Andrew Home on Flickr

Here’s a promotion from Bose that offers 300 more AAdvantage Miles than any of the offers I’ve  seen from them this year:

QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones

Whether you’re mid-flight, at work or relaxing at home, QuietComfort 15 headphones reduce the noise around you—so you’ll enjoy music and movies with fewer distractions.

Earn 1500 American Airlines AAdvantage miles with the purchase of Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphone.

From the terms and conditions

Offer valid only for US residents and only shipping address in the contiguous United States. If you have any questions regarding this offer, please contact Bose at 1-800-357-2673.

You’ll find complete details here.

It’s not often that you can save money at the Apple Store, so I was a little surprised when I came across this offer:

Shop the Apple Store for the iPad, iPhone, MacBook Family, iMac, iPod and Apple TV, plus the latest curated accessories for your favorite Apple device. Enjoy free shipping on every order over $50 and earn miles.

Buy a Mac for university between June 11 and September 21 and receive a $100 Back to School Card to use on apps, books, music, and movies. Or buy the new iPad and get a $50 Back to School Card. And if you choose a Mac, save even more with Apple Education Pricing.

Who qualifies:

To qualify for the Back to School Card offer and to get special pricing on a Mac at the Apple Online Store for Education, you must be a university student, a student accepted to a university, a parent buying for a university student, or a faculty or staff member from any grade level.

The discounts are in the $100 to $200 range and purchases earn 1 AAdvantage mile per dollar.

A 13-inch: 2.9 GHz MacBook Pro retails for $1,499. With this offer you’ll get it for $1,399 plus free shipping. So you save $100, get a $100 App Store gift card, earn 1,399 AAdvantage Miles (or 2,798 miles if you use your Citi AAdvantage card).

Go here for complete details and don’t forget that each purchase from the AAdvantage eShopping Mall earns you another chance to win 100,000 AAdvantage Miles.

Photo: MacBook Pro
Credit: Marco Paköeningrat on FLickr

Reader Giveaway

Last Friday I explained to readers that my 5 year old nephew and I were traveling together for the first time without one of his parents. I asked you to enter my random drawing for 1,000 AAdvantage Miles and an AAdvantage logo paper clip tin by sharing your best advice traveling with a child.

;

Congratulations Joseph F.!! You are the winner of the random drawing.

Thanks to everyone for participating and thanks for the helpful tips! After reading all the comments, I decided that my original plan, Angry Birds and an iPad, wasn’t going to be enough. It wouldn’t have been. I’m glad I asked! We ended up taking some books, juice and cheerios, a movie, and crayons.

Thanks to American and the AAdvantage Team for providing the miles and the paper clip tin. And again, I want to say thanks for all the good advice. I, and 48 other passengers, appreciate it!

More AAdvantage Miles Giveaways

Speaking of winning AAdvantage Miles, don’t forget that the Frugal Travel Guy’s Monday DeAAl of the Day is your chance to share your best AAdvantage related deals, offers, or redemptions and win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles. LINK

Just a few days left to enter MJ on Travel’s random drawing to win a $50 American AIrlines gift card. The deadline to enter is at 5:10PM EDT on Thursday, June 14, 2012. LINK

Good luck!

Citi Reduced Mileage Awards

It’s Monday, and for many that means it’s back to work. So, the mind quite naturally turns to thoughts of vacation.

As you work on your list of possible summer vacation destinations, take a look at the Citicard Third Quarter Reduced AAdvantage Mileage Award:

Third quarter awards are valid for eligible round trip travel originating in the 48 contiguous United States. Booking is valid June 1, 2012 – September 30, 2012 for travel from July 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012*. All travel must be completed by September 30, 2012.

I took a look at the full list and there are many attractive destinations including:

Southwest
Colorado Springs, CO
Eagle, CO
Grand Junction, CO

Southeast
Atlanta, GA
Charlotte, NC
West Palm Beach, FL
Mobile, AL
Gulfport Biloxi, MS
Key West, FL

Canada
Montreal
Calgary
Toronto

Midwest
Kalamazoo, MI
Sioux Falls, SD
La Crosse, WI
Minneapolis St Pl, MN
Rochester, MN

Go here to read the full list and complete details.

Earlier this month, American was mentioned in a “Just asking” piece on Page Six of the NY Post:

WHICH megastar is so notoriously rude to airline staff that American Airlines workers prefer to take breaks to avoid him?

Hmmmm….wonder who that might be? Alex Van Halen?

Well, in the spirt of Page Six, I bring you these news items:

Rumor

It’s been rumored for about a week that the San Diego Admirals Club was closing. I don’t usually mention rumors unless it’s been confirmed by JonNYC in the Traveling Better forums:

The Admirals Club was advised by the SAN Airport that we would be required to relocate and either build a new Club or negotiate with a 3rd party Lounge provider for use of their Lounge.

Go here to read the rest.

Sneak Peek

Here’s some advance news about an offer (from one of my favorite retailers) that hasn’t gone live yet.

4X AAdvantage Miles from Newegg.com

Award: 4 miles per dollar

Dates: May 19, 2012 – May 22, 2012

Offer: Limited time offer for AAdvantage eShopping members! Earn double miles per dollar spent when you shop at Newegg. Newegg is a leading e-commerce company focused on providing a positive shopping experience and a broad selection of high-quality technology & entertainment retail goods at very competitive prices.

Rewards are not eligible on the following: All Belkin products, all Escort products, all Bose products and HP Touchpads.

I’m looking for a new wifi router that allows me shape traffic so this offer arrives just in time. I almost purchased one yesterday, but fortunately I decide to do a little more research. I’m glad I waited.

Even better, now I have good excuse to buy a SSD!

Go here for full details.

Leaks

Points, Miles & Martinis posted this the other day:

Points, Miles and Martinis is excited to partially reveal the BEST TRAVEL DEAL EVER, an exciting new giveaway that gives PMM readers a chance to WIN lots of free American Airlines miles.

Details of this promotion will be closely guarded at all times until we publish them on Monday, May 21, 2012.

“closely guarded”?  Not for my moles;-)  Here’s what I know:

• Contest will giveaway 5,000 AAdvantage miles in 1k increments

• Participants can enter by leaving a comment in the official entry post with the BEST TRAVEL DEAL

• Grand Prize winner will receive 3,000 AAdvantage miles and will be picked based on quality of travel deal

• Two more prizes will be award to two entrants selected at random to receive 1,000 AAdvantage miles

The contest goes live at 8 PM EST, and in the spirit of the “Radisson Big Night Giveaway”, you have to be one of the first 100,000 people to participate.

Teaser

Speaking of giveaways – I’ll being giving away another 1,000 AAdvantage Mile and a package of Marcus Samuelsson Spiced Nut Mix this weekend.  Check back tomorrow for details!

Photo: Rotterdam – gossip and rumours
Credit: R/DV/RS on Flickr

Darren Booth, from Frequently Flying (and now CNBC too!), sent me note yesterday to let me know about a press release that he came across from Research Now about a new partnership with the American Airlines AAdvantage program.

I almost missed the announcement (thank you Darren!), and when I did read it, I didn’t immediately recognize Research Now.   After a little Googling, I realized that I did (sort of) know of them, and that they’re the parent organization for e-Rewards, the invitation only market research firm that offers frequent flyer miles in return for participating in surveys.

This is from the press release:

Research Now, the leading global online sampling and data collection company, today announced it has entered into an agreement with American Airlines, providing AAdvantage members with a unique opportunity to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Starting in May, AAdvantage members who accept American’s invitation to join Research Now’s “By-Invitation-Only” market research panel can earn AAdvantage miles in exchange for valuable time spent participating in online surveys.

Basically, you take surveys and get paid in e-Reward dollars which you can exchange for AAdvantage Miles:

$25 Level = 500 AAdvantage miles
$50 Level = 1,000 AAdvantage miles
$100 Level = 2,000 AAdvantage miles

I’m not sure how you get an invitation, and almost missed mine, but I happend to look in my Gmail SPAM folder last night and found this invite:

Enroll in the e-Rewards Opinion Panel for a chance to win 250,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

• As a member of e-Rewards, you can earn AAdvantage miles just for participating in surveys selected to match your interests

• Plus, earn 250 AAdvantage bonus miles when you enroll, complete your profile and take your first survey within 3 months

Enrolling is quick, your privacy is guaranteed and there’s no cost to participate.

This is definitely a targeted offer. From the terms and conditions:

To enter the Sweepstakes, click on the link in the invitation inviting entry into the Sweepstakes to be redirected to the Sweepstakes website.

So keep an eye on your inbox for an invite.

If you want to learn more about e-Rewards, check out Gary’s post over at View from the Wing.  He wrote an excellent overview of e-Rewards and of some of the other survey-for-miles websites.

You can also find info here on the e-Rewards AAdvantage page, and here in the FAQ section.

Just a short post this morning to tell you about a big summer promotion from Hyatt:

More Stays Means 5X More Miles And Even More Rewards

Make your next stay with Hyatt even more rewarding. Earn 4X more American Airlines AAdvantage miles after your 2nd and 3rd eligible stay and 5X more AAdvantage miles after your 4th through 11th eligible stay, at any participating Hyatt hotels from May 1– August 31, 2012.

To participate in this offer you have to be a Hyatt Gold Passport member. Just follow these instructions:

• Register on this page or by calling 1-800-30-HYATT (provide promotion code AA12S)

• Stay at any Hyatt hotel between May 1- August 31, 2012

• Book an Eligible Rate during each stay

• Ask to earn AAdvantage miles for your stay, provide your Hyatt Gold Passport number and AAdvantage number when you check in.

Go here for complete details or to read the terms and conditions.

Photo: Hyatt at Night – Mumbai
Credit: Mark Hillary on Flickr

I was looking through the most recent American Way magazine and found an offer from Bose that’s better than the one you’ll find at AA.com.  The website displays the usual 2 AAdvantage miles for every $1 spent on a Bose purchase.

Here’s the better offer I found  in the back of the current American Way. 

Earn 1200 American Airlines AAdvantage miles with the purchase of Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones.

Whether you’re mid-flight, at work or relaxing at home, QuietComfort 15 headphones reduce the noise around you—so you’ll enjoy music and movies with fewer distractions.

 The Bose QC15 headphone does a remarkable job keeping out unwanted noise, and they’re great for music and movies.

They’re also great for sleeping. One of my favorite uses is to connect the headphones to my iPad, and then launch my favorite sleep app, Sleep from Red Hammer Software.  

The headphones seal out the world, and the sounds soothe me to sleep.   Only the scent of a chocolate chip cookie being baked on board can wake me.  

(By the way, you’ll find a list of some other sleep aid Apps here.)

But back to the Bose promo:  According to the Magazine ad, the 1,200 Bonus AAdvantage Miles offer expires June 30.  Go here to read the fine print or to place your order.