“5000″ Photo credit: Leo Reynolds on Flickr

I’m a big fan of Avis for two reasons, competitive rates and really generous AAdvantage bonus offers, and now they’ve just introduced a new one: Get 5,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on rentals of five or more days and save 25%:

The more you rent, the more miles you earn!

Now through August 15, 2011, you can earn up to 5000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles on qualifying rentals of 5 consecutive days or more at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Use coupon # MUAA042 and provide your AAdvantage number at the time of reservation or at the rental counter to receive your bonus miles. These miles are in addition to the base miles you receive every time you rent with Avis.
This offer is in addition to your everyday savings of up to 25% when you use AWD # K817100.

This offer is a little more complicated than usual in that you have to make your reservation by August 31 for a one week rental that occurs between August 15 and the end of this year. Here’s how they explain it in the terms and conditions:

5,000 AAdvantage bonus miles offer is valid for qualifying weekly rentals between August 15, 2011, and December 15, 2011, at participating Avis airport locations in the United States and Canada.

5,000 AAdvantage bonus miles is valid on weekly rentals of 5 consecutive days or more.

Rental must be booked from May 1, 2011, through August 31, 2011, to qualify for 5,000 AAdvantage bonus miles offer.

An advance reservation is required.

Go here to make a reservation or to read the complete terms of this promotion.

“25,000″ Photo credit: Jena Fuller on Flickr

AAdvantage 30th Anniversary Deal of the Day update: Stay 3 night consecutive nights by June 16, 2011 at a Radisson and earn 3,000 AAvantage Miles. Go here for eligible rates and other details. Don’t forget to submit your name in the daily drawing for 30,000 AAdvantage Miles.

This is easily the best American Airlines Vacations offer I can recall in a long time.  Spend as little as $500 on an air and hotel package and qualify for 2,000 bonus AAdvantage miles.  Spending $5,000 will get you the full 25,000 miles. Here’s the breakdown from AAVacations:

SPEND $500 – $999 EARN 2,000 Bonus Miles
SPEND $1,000 – $1,499 EARN 3,500 Bonus Miles
SPEND $1,500 – $1,999 EARN 5,000 Bonus Miles
SPEND $2,000 – $2,499 EARN 7,500 Bonus Miles
SPEND $2,500 – $2,999 EARN 10,000 Bonus Miles
SPEND $3,000 – $3,499 EARN 12,500 Bonus Miles
SPEND $3,500 – $3,999 EARN 15,000 Bonus Miles
SPEND $4,000 – $4,499 EARN 17,500 Bonus Miles
SPEND $4,500 – $4,999 EARN 20,000 Bonus Miles
SPEND $5,000 or more EARN 25,000 Bonus Miles

I haven’t decided yet where I’m going for vacation, so I’m not able to use this promo to make those plans. In the past I’ve used AAVacations to book business travel for conferences and other occasions and have found their prices to be very competitive.  I’ve even been able to save money using them.  I’m planning to be in Chicago later this summer for a conference and will definitely use AAVacations to make those arrangements.

You have to book your travel by May 31, 2011 and complete your travel by December 31, 2011. You’ll even earn an extra 500 AAdvantage miles if you book your travel online. Use promo code MILES to earn this bonus. Go here for complete term and conditions.

American, Iberia and British Airways are more than just oneworld partners, they’re Bestest Buddies over the Atlantic now and to kick off their co-ordinated schedules, they’re offering bonus miles and a chance to win 1 million AAdvantage Miles.

American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia, members of the oneworld alliance, have expanded the number of routes on which the airlines codeshare between North America and Europe, meaning easier access to more choices and better connections to flights across the Atlantic.

In total, you now have access to 317 new codeshare routes. And all together, we serve more than 400 destinations in over 100 countries with approximately 5,200 daily departures. Best of all, you now earn and redeem AAdvantage miles on all flights on all three airlines

To enter, you have to travel on a ticket with a qualifying trans-Atlantic fare. Here are some of the details:

American Airlines and British Airways can cure the Wanderlust.
Together, we will turn four travelers into Miles Millionaires (two from the AAdvantage® Program and two from the British Airways Executive Club Program). Once you are eligible to enter the Contest, you just have to answer one simple question about where you will wander as a Miles Millionaire.

Enter the Contest for 1 Million AAdvantage Miles
To become eligible to enter the Contest, just follow these steps:

Register using promotion code AAWND
Book a round-trip transatlantic flight on any published fare on American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia from April 6, 2011 through June 17, 2011
Complete travel on or before June 30, 2011
Once you complete your travel, you’ll receive an email# with details for entering the contest

After you complete your travel, you’ll receive an invitation to submit and essay:

Submission Guidelines:
The Submission must include an answer to the following question: “If you were cured of The Wanderlust with one million Miles, where would you go and what would you do there?”
The Submission must be in text format;
The Submission must between two hundred and fifty (250) and three hundred (300) words in length;
The Submission must be in English;

You can also earn bonus AAdvantage Miles on full fare tickets:

Once you’ve registered for the promotion, you will earn 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every eligible trip booked in full-fare Economy Class* or above. Simply fly a transatlantic round-trip now through June 30, 2011 on American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia. That’s enough miles for a quick fix for the Wanderlust.

This looks to be one of the more restrictive promotions they’ve offered in awhile, you have to purchase a ticket and to get the bonus miles you have to purchase thee most expensive fares, but with fewer people entering it should at least limit the competition in the essay contest.

Go here to read more or to register.

“Vacation Motel sign” Photo credit: Brent Moore on Flickr

American Airlines is offering 500 AAdvantage Miles when you book your vacation through AAVacations.com:

American Airlines Vacations offers great value at competitive prices. All of our vacation elements are offered as components, so you can design the trip that suits your interests. You can earn AAdvantage miles on your flight and 500 miles just for booking your trip on AAVacations.com.

Certain restrictions apply and be aware that you can’t earn the miles if you use AAdvantage Miles to pay for any portion of your package, go here for complete details.

And through April 20, 2011 you can save an 10% if you use promotion code TAKE10 when you purchase your vacation:

For a limited time, take an additional 10% off hotels, resorts, rental cars and activities with promo code TAKE10! No minimum purchase. No minimum stay. No limit to how much you can save. No kidding!

Think of it as a Vacation Stimulus Plan! There’s no limit to how much you can save or how many times you can use this coupon. Plus, this offer is combinable with already great specials throughout the world, such as free nights, reduced rates on flights and more.

Discount will be applied to total package price, excluding airfare, cancellation and change waivers, taxes, fees and insurance. Offer is valid for new reservations made between March 22 – April 10, 2011 and for travel between March 24 – December 31, 2011.

Go here to plan your vacation using promotion coupon code TAKE10, you’ll also find the full terms and conditions of the offer.

(Editor’s note:  They’re also offering a big sale that ends March 26, 2011, go here for complete details.)

“Antara shopping center” Mexico City. Photo credit: jrsnchzhrs on Flickr

This is embarrassing to admit, but for a long time my mental image of Mexico City was one of cathedrals, traffic, and smog. I had visited cities along the U.S./Mexico border and just assumed that Mexico City was little different from a border city. I didn’t really think of it as the big modern city that it is, or consider that it had more in common with New York, London, and Tokyo than it does with Laredo.

A couple of years ago I was at a film festival and watched a video that was created by editing shots of Mexico City from 1960s Mexican television. Most of the scenes had this mod/pop quality that reminded me the early James Bond movies, and I hadn’t known that I was watching video that was filmed in Mexico City, I would have thought that it was filmed in 1960s New York.

For me, that film was the first time I had to re-evaluate my misguided impression of Mexico City.

Mexico City is ranked by Forbes as one of the top 5 foodie cities in the world, it’s home to some of the most ambitious new restaurants in North America, and it’s the home of North America’s newest architectural wonder, with the opening of the new building for the art museum Museo Soumaya. The New Yorks Times describes it this way:

It’s also a perfect emblem of the way Mexico City’s cultural commerce is conducted at its best — art bubbling up out of good food and drink and the seemingly endless spool of talk that ties together many of the city’s creative communities.

So there are lots of reason now why I want to go to Mexico City: from DFW fares are really cheap, making it a perfect destination for a long weekend, hotels are comparatively inexpensive. Now I have a really good reason to go, triple AAdvantage Miles for business class travel and double miles in coach:

Through June 15, American is offering triple miles to Mexico City and two other cities: Guadalajara and Monterrey:

Airline: American Airlines
Award: Bonus Miles
Promotion Code: TPLMX
Dates: Travel between March 17, 2011, through June 15, 2011.

Offer: For a limited time, AAdvantage members can earn up to triple miles when they fly on American Airlines nonstop flights to/from Guadalajara, Mexico City or Monterrey, Mexico. Earn triple AAdvantage miles for purchased travel in Business Class or double miles for travel in Economy Class. To qualify, simply register prior to travel and fly between March 17 and June 15, 2011.

Anyway, go here to read the terms and conditions or to sign up for this promotion.

“Springfield, Illinois: State Capitol Building” Photo credit: John Hyun on Flickr

American is launching non-stop American Eagle service between Dallas-Ft. Worth and Springfield, Illinois, and to promote the new route they’re offering double AAdvantage Miles to the capital city of Illinois:

Airline: American Eagle

Bonus Code: SPI2X

Dates: Travel between April 5, 2011 and June 30, 2011

Offer: Starting April 5, 2011, American Eagle will offer nonstop flights between DFW and Springfield, Illinois, twice daily. To celebrate, you can earn double miles every time you fly our new route through June 30, 2011.

Registration is required before you travel, go here for terms and conditions, and to register using bonus code SPI2X.

“Alaska Airlines/Direct Flights – October 25, 1998″ Photo credit: Jim Ellwanger on Flickr

The above image is from a really cool collection of airline and railroad timetables put together by train enthusiast Jim Ellwanger and posted to Flickr.  Take a look…it’s a great way to ease yourself back into the workweek.

American Airlines and Alaska Airlines have had a codeshare partnership for a few years now, and from time to time they have offered bonus miles on routes where they compete with United and/or Southwest. They just introduced a new offer of double AAdvantage Miles on five select routes that Southwest serves:

Airline:

American Airlines operated by Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air (booked as an AA flight number)
Marketed and operated Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air flights (booked as an AS flight number)

Award: Double Miles

Bonus Code: DBLAS

Dates: Travel between March 15, 2011 through May 15, 2011.

Offer: AAdvantage members can earn double miles for travel on select nonstop flights on Alaska Airlines between March 15, 2011 and May 15, 2011 between:

Seattle & Houston
Seattle & Austin
Portland & Phoenix
Seattle & Oakland
Portland & Orange County

Registration is required before you travel using bonus code DBLAS. Go here to register or for terms and conditions.

“Helsinki Cathedral” Photo credit: Milton Correa on Flickr

This spring American Airlines will launch non-stop 767 service between Chicago and Helsinki, Finland and to mark the occasion they’re offering up to 15,000 AAdvantage Miles:

Bonus Code: CHHEL

Dates: Travel between May 1, 2011, through July 31, 2011.

Offer: Beginning May 1, 2011, American Airlines will offer daily nonstop seasonal service from Chicago O’Hare to Helsinki, Finland.

EARN UP TO 15,000 AADVANTAGE BONUS MILES. To celebrate the new flight, we are offering AAdvantage bonus miles. And, this bonus is unlimited, so you can earn it each time you travel during the promotional period. See the chart below for details:

Round-trip Travel Between Chicago O’Hare and Helsinki, Finland

Registration is required before travel. Go here and use bonus code CHHEL or to read terms and conditions.

“TEFC Open Day September 2004″ photo credit: kenhodge13 on Flickr

Thrifty Car Rental is offering triple AAdvantage Miles with their “Book Smart. Earn Triple Miles” promotion.

American Airlines AAdvantage members will earn triple miles on rentals of a Compact car or larger vehicle for three days or longer. Offer valid for pick up January 15 – May 15, 2011 at all worldwide locations.

To earn the bonus AAdvantage Miles, go here to make your reservation, use the promotion code TPL1 and provide your AAdvantage number.

For Terms and Conditions, go here.

Bose in the sky with Diamons – photo credit pixxiestails on Flickr

To introduce their new Bluetooth headset, Bose is offering up to 800 AAdvantage Miles.

From Bose:

Discover the first Bluetooth headset from Bose and earn AAdvantage miles three ways. For a limited time, you’ll earn up to 400 miles just for learning about this new Bose innovation. If you like what you hear, purchase the headset and earn an extra 400 miles.

Hear and be heard, everywhere you go. Advanced Bose technologies let you continue your conversation—even in noisy, changing surroundings—with better sound at both ends of your call.
And the Bose StayHear ear tip provides stability and comfort for hours of use.

Mileage offer ends January 17, 2011

Here’s how you can earn the miles:

Earn 150 Miles

Watch this 2-minute video about the Bose Bluetooth headset and earn 150 AAdvantage Miles.

Earn 250 Miles

Through January 17, 2011, receive a personal demonstration at Bose store and earn 250 miles.

Earn 400 Miles

Buy the Bose Bluetooth headset before January 17, 2011 and earn 400 AAdvantage Miles.

Go here to learn more or to read the term and conditions of the offer.