I’m sure this has been posted elsewhere, but I just became aware of this AAdvantage Award chart that displays the number of miles needed for a oneworld Explorer ticket, the continent based round-the-world travel product from the oneworld alliance:

Travelling the world has never been easier, more flexible or more affordable thanks to oneworld Explorer. Reaching more than 800 global destinations across six continents in the oneworld alliance network, oneworld Explorer lets you create your ideal round-the-world trip.

To keep things simple, we divide the world into six continents to calculate your oneworld Explorer fare.
The fare you pay is based on the class you choose to fly, plus the number of oneworld continents you visit or pass through, (including your continent of origin and any continent in which you transfer).

Hattip to @colinize and @wfagundes

source: American Airlines at AA.com

Back in December oneworld member Cathay Pacific opened a new First and Business Class lounge in San Francisco’s international terminal.

The lounge is built with the finest quality Carrara white marble & “China Black” granite, with warm bamboo wood finishes and panoramic windows offering an abundance of natural light. The reception wall is made of Venetian glass tiles by Fabbian of Italy, and backlit, to create a sparkling abstract impression of bamboo, whilst ensuring a consistent look and feel to the airline’s flagship lounges at Hong Kong International Airport.

To enable passengers to relax, there is comfortable lounge seating, including the innovative Cathay Solus Chair. Handcrafted by Poltrona Frau in Italy, the unique and popular Cathay Solus Chair is a specially built unit designed for our single customers offering a space to eat, work and relax.

There’s even a noodle bar offering freshly prepared Dan Dan noodles and won ton soup.

Here’s a video tour that was posted to YouTube last week.

To access the lounges, you’ll have to be traveling on Cathay Pacific in First or Business Class, or have oneworld Sapphire or above status, and through the end of April if you check in with foursquare you’ll get a free gift and a chance to win an upgrade:

We’re taking “check-in” to a whole new level in San Francisco! From now until April 30, passengers can check-in on Foursquare at Cathay Pacific’s First and Business Class Lounge at SFO to receive an exclusive gift and enter for a chance to win an upgrade on your next flight.

For more info, you can follow the details on Cathay Pacific’s Facebook page.

Some good news for the oneworld Alliance as airberlin became a full member today.  airberlin is celebrating the occasion with a promotional tour of two airplanes painted with a oneworld livery:

Since 20th March airberlin has been a full member of the oneworld Alliance. In celebration of this, two airberlin aircraft are now flying with a special oneworld exterior paint design.

Unfortunately, from the looks of the tour schedule, both planes will be staying in Europe, but you can still benefit from this Double AAdvantage Miles offer from American:

Airline: airberlin

Award: Double Miles

Bonus Code: ABDBL

Dates: Travel between March 20, 2012, and May 15, 2012.

Offer: In celebration of airberlin’s inauguration into the oneworld alliance, members of American’s AAdvantage program can earn double miles every time they fly an eligible fare* on airberlin between March 20 and May 15, 2012.

airberlin’s entrance into oneworld adds even more travel options for AAdvantage members and adds more cities to AA’s network through codesharing. Some highlights include Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Dresden, Erfurt, Florence, and an additional 45 destinations.

From the terms and conditions:

AAdvantage double mile offer is valid on airberlin operated and/or marketed nonstop flights, March 20, 2012, through May 15, 2012. Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines (booked under the AA flight number)

Offer applies to fares booked in J, C, D, I, Y, B, H, K, M, L, V or N

Registration is required before you travel using bonus code ABDBL.  Go here for complete details.

To kick off the week, I’ve got a few new American Airlines and oneworld related sweepstakes and blog contests to tell you about.  I’ve even got my own reader giveaway today.  

From American Airlines:

American is the official sponsor of television show ¡Q’VIVA and their offering a sweepstakes to promote their partnership:

American Airlines, the official airline of the hit show, ¡Q’VIVA The Chosen, has teamed up with the show’s producers to offer fans a chance to win a unique VIP experience to attend a live ¡Q’VIVA performance in the United States. ¡Q’VIVA! The Chosen follows superstar artists Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Jamie King as they travel through Latin America searching for extraordinary performers who hope to be among “The Chosen.” The singers, musicians, dancers, acrobats and other uniquely talented performers are given the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles for the chance to work with the superstars to produce a spectacular live show highlighting the artists from throughout the region. Filmed in three languages, ¡Q’VIVA The Chosen is being broadcast in 21 countries, and has now become one of the biggest new international TV shows of 2012.

Two grand prize winners will receive:

• Tickets for two to attend a live ¡Q’VIVA show in the U.S. in 2012, and enough American Airlines AAdvantage miles for their round-trip travel.

• While at the show, they will also have the opportunity to attend a meet-and-greet with show contestants

• a three-night stay in a local hotel

• plus a $1,000 gift card to use during their trip.

All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET time on April 9, 2012. Go here to enter.

American Airlines related:

The The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau is sponsoring a Facebook sweepstakes with the winner receiving a chance to get an up close tour of the Hollywood sign:

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk up to the Hollywood sign for winner and a guest at 12:30 pm on March 22, 2012, including 45 minutes in the restricted sign area (courtesy of the Trust for Public Land); two Hollywood CityPASS booklets; two round trip economy class airline tickets to Los Angeles on American Airlines valued up to $500 total (subject to airline rules, availability and restrictions); one night stay accommodation (double occupancy, excluding incidentals and parking) at the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown.

This contest ends today, March 19, 2012 @ 11:59 pm (PDT).  Go here to enter.

From oneworld member Etihad:

Join Etihad Guest frequent flyer program and win two free tickets (via Frequent Flier):

Etihad Airways, the World’s Leading Airline is delighted to invite you to join Etihad Guest – our award winning loyalty program. Etihad Guest, unlike other programs is designed exclusively around you. It’s more flexible, less restrictive, more responsive and much more rewarding.

Join Etihad Guest any time between 28 February and 30 March 2012 and you stand a chance to win yourself two Coral Economy Class tickets to any destination on our network. So start planning your holiday and you could be that lucky winner flying free – whether it’s to the Maldives, Shanghai or Sydney – the choice is completely yours! Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.

All you need to do to enter is:

•  Go here to Join Etihad Guest program
•  Once registered, go here to submit your Etihad Guest number

I tried this earlier and got an error message when I tired to sign up.  Hopefully, it’s just a temporary issue.

Go here for complete details.

Etihad Facebook Contest

Win a trip to Shanghai.

In celebration of our new Shanghai services, we’ve teamed up with the five-star Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi to give one lucky couple the holiday of a lifetime!

The prize is a pair of Etihad Airways tickets to Shanghai from any Etihad destination in the world, including a two night stopover in Abu Dhabi. The winners will spend two nights in the luxurious Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi and two nights in the Pudong Shangri-La Shanghai. The winners will enjoy a complimentary lunch or dinner for two at Shangri-La’s superb Shang Palace restaurants at both locations.

Have your holiday pictures handy as this is a photo competition and we want to see where our fans live or have flown. UAE residents can also enter.

Submit your photos by March 20 and the Etihad Airways team will shortlist our favorites for our fans to vote on.

Go here for complete details. Register by March 20, 2012 to enter.

American Airlines related blog contest

Win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles from The Frugal Travel Guy and American Airlines:

On Monday’s we will concentrate on finding deals, fares, promotions, anything related to American Airlines, their oneworld Partners or AAdvantage partners. Find the best AA or related deal and submit it to the blog comments for a chance to win 2500 AA miles donated by American Airlines. (Only AA, oneworld, and their partner deals will be accepted on Monday’s). All others will be better off submitted on another day.

Go here to share your AA related tip.

Win an American Airlines Discount Code:

Mrs. Deals and The Weekly Flyer have teamed up to give away American Airlines discount codes each Monday during the month of March.

Double your chances today by visiting both Deals We Like and Points, Miles & Martinis.

Win an American Airlines USB Card with free Gogo Wifi Code

The AA social media team was nice enough to give me five USB cards with free codes for Gogo Inflight Wifi.  I gave away two last week, so this week I’m giving away the remaining three.

To enter, just post your answer to this question in the comments section: Have you ever won contest, sweepstakes, or giveaway?

Tomorrow morning, I’ll have a random drawing to pick a winner and will announce the results Wednesday’s post.  One entry per person. The deadline to enter is tonight, March 19, at 11:59PM Pacific.

Good luck!

I’m recovering from a really bad cold. To give you an idea of how sick I’ve been, I actually went to the doctor (something I rank just below sitting in a middle seat on a flight without wifi), and I wouldn’t get out of bed for 1,000 free AAdvantage Miles!

I woke up late yesterday morning thinking that I had been living in a Whataburger. I wasn’t sure if I’d died and visited heaven or just had a fever dream, but after a possible out of body experience, I thought it might be a good idea to check my email. When I did, I found this message:

Play our hidden object game, Go For The Emerald, to explore your oneworld elite benefits and register for your chance to win 2 Business class tickets for a trip around the world.

Be one of the first 20,000 people to register and earn 1,000 AAdvantage bonus miles!

I was still a little groggy, but because of the offer of 1,000 Free AAdvantages Miles, I briefly reconsidered, maybe I had passed on, and Whataburger was just the waiting room to Paradise. But then, the aches and pain kicked in and reminded me that I was still here on earth, and was facing a dilemma.

My iPad was out of reach, my laptop in another room, and for a moment I thought about getting out of bed. But after some synaptic back and forth between my brain and and the rest of my body, it was decided that it hurt to much to walk, so brain and body went back to sleep.

(Side note: After reading this post from Mrs. Deals when I woke up, I learned too late that I could have entered on my iPhone. Anyway, I won’t miss out again, I just activated my Deals We Like email subscription).

By the time I felt well enough to make it to my laptop, I was number 54,000 and out of luck on the miles, but even so, this is a really great promotion:

Discover the benefits of the oneworld alliance. You might be rewarded with a trip for two around the world.

As a frequent flyer, you can enjoy many benefits that help make travel an easier and more rewarding experience through the oneworld alliance. We invite you to discover these benefits in our hidden object game, Go For The Emerald. And when you travel through the three rooms named for oneworld tiers – the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald rooms – you’ll discover the great benefits you have wherever you fly. Plus, you’ll have a chance to win two round-the-world tickets in Business Class. Rewards await you!

To enter, all you have to do is visit oneworld.com/emerald and follow these instructions:

How To Play: Find the hidden items in each room.

You’ll find a clue for each item at the bottom of the page and a hint button for some additional help.

You have 90 seconds to find all the objects in each room. Earn bonus points the faster you play. When you find an item, click on it to reveal the oneworld benefit. (The timer will pause while the benefit message appears.)

Get through all three rooms and enter for your chance to win a trip around the world.

You don’t have to have AAdvantage elite status to play. From the official rules:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

ENTRY DETAILS: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years or older.

Sweepstakes begins at 11:59 a.m. Eastern time February 22, 2012 and all entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET time on April 27, 2012.

PRIZE DETAILS: One Prize consisting of 2 oneworld Explorer 3- continent tickets, ARV $21,480.56.

There is a limit of a total of five entries per email address regardless of entry method.

Go here to enter and good luck!

For some amusement today:  British Airways is getting into the spirit of the London Olympic Games with a new ad that has a little British girl’s suitcase racing through the BA luggage system against bags from other countries.

Guess who wins?

American Airlines and LAN are moving in together at JFK”s Terminal 8:

American Airlines and Latin America-based LAN Airlines today announced an expanded relationship in which LAN Airlines affiliates, including LAN Chile, LAN Peru, and LAN Ecuador, will co-locate in Terminal 8 with American at New York’s JFK Airport. LAN’s move into Terminal 8 marks the fourth oneworld alliance carrier, besides American, to operate from the terminal, significantly improving convenience for customers by housing the airlines in the same facility.

Some other LAN news

LAN and Global Traveler Magazine have teamed up to sponsor a sweepstakes:

South America: Get There In Style with LAN Airlines

Enter to win two round-trip business-class tickets on LAN Airlines from one of LAN’s four U.S. gateways (New York, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco) to a South American destination of your choice.

To enter, all you have to do is the following:

In 200 words or less tell about your best travel experience to South America or the South American dream vacation you plan to take in the future.

The deadline to submit you entry is 11:59p.m. EST on March 15th 2012.   Go here to enter and for complete details.

Let the hype begin.  The Super Bowl is less than two weeks away but that’s still enough time to sign up with DirecTV and earn 25,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles:

Earn enough AAdvantage miles for a round-trip domestic MileSAAver award when you sign-up for DIRECTV
Sign-up for Directv and earn 25,000 AAdvantage miles – enough for a round trip domestic MileSAAVer award!

AMERICAN AIRLINES 25K OFFER: AAdvantage Mile Offer is valid to new DIRECTV customers who provide their AAdvantage number when ordering DIRECTV service.

This bonus offer requires a 24-month agreement.  Some of the other conditions are:

Customers who have a current DIRECTV account, or have been a DIRECTV customer within the last 24 months are ineligible. DIRECTV account must be kept current and in good standing for a minimum of 60 days before AAdvantage miles will be awarded. Please allow 6-8 weeks after 60 day period for AAdvantage miles to post to your AAdvantage account.

You’ll find complete details, including the fine print and pricing, here.

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AAvantage Geek oneworld MegaDo Giveaway

To celebrate the first ever oneworld MegaDo, I’m giving away a different prize in a random drawing each day this week! 

Even if you’re not going to the oneworld MegaDo, this your chance to win some AAdvantage Geek gear.  

Today’s prize:  Was your New Year’s goal to lose weight?  Well, next time your on a flight, you can pass on the Lays Stax potato chips and munch on your very own Inflite Delight snack pack.  

It’s the new, more healthful, Buy on Board afternoon snack sold on some of American routes in and out of California.  Now you can try it without having to fly to LA. 

To enter, all you have to do is post your answer to this question in the comments section.

What you’re favorite American Airlines cornerstone hub?  Dallas, Miami, JFK, Chicago ORD, or LAX

There’s not right or wrong answer.  Just submit your choice.  I’ll have a random drawing in the morning and the winner will be announced tomorrow.   One entry per person.    The deadline to enter is 11:59PM Pacific.

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I know of two other bloggers that will also be giving away some oneworld MegaDo related prizes.

The Weekly Flyer over at Points, Miles & Martinis is sponsoring a contest with prizes for people participating in the MegaDo and as well as prizes for those that aren’t attending.

AJ from Live from a Loung is also offering a reader contest.  So stop by his blog today for chance to win some cool MegaDo related prizes.

Coverage

Gary Leff is going to be busy this week.  In addition to writing his View from the Wing blog, he’s going to be moonlighting over at the Official oneworld MegaDo blog and Tweeting from the events:

I’ll also be live tweeting from @OWMegaDO. Follow that twitter feed for all the live updates, including insights gleaned from airline execs and aircraft manufacturers over the course of the trip. If you’re going to be on the trip, or want to follow others that are, use or search the hash tag #OWMegaDO.

Don’t forget that you can also follow along with these bloggers.  They’ll also be providing event coverage:

Points, Miles & Martinis,
Deals We Like,
Miles from Blighty,
Mommy Points,
AJ from Live from a Lounge,
Gary from a View from the Wing,
Rick the Frugal Travel Guy
Brian The Points Guy,
Eric M. the new Official AAdvantage Mega VIP Video Blogger.

Good luck in the drawing!!
Photo: Super Bowl Gallery at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Credit: Matt McGee on Flickr

There are two weeks left until the first ever oneworld MegaDo takes off. It’s shaping up to be a really exciting event and there are some new announcements that promise make it even more fun.

Randy Petersen is a passionate supporter of the Komen Foundation, and last week he posted the news to the official oneworld MegaDo blog that some cool fund raising events had been added to the schedule.

milepoint and American Airlines have partnered to sponsor three auctions with the winners receiving some amazing, once in a lifetime experiences and the proceeds going to benefit Komen for the Cure.

Dinner with the President (of AAdvantage)

From the MegaDo blog:

Now you have a chance to bid on a chance to dine at 33,000 feet with the new President of the American AAdvantage program, Suzanne Rubin.

Some more details from the milepoint forum:

REMINDER: You MUST be ticketed on the charter and/or TATL block to participate in this event.

This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ALL proceeds of the auction will go to benefit Komen.

Again, no firm time on the end of this auction, but it will be open until at least Thursday, January 19th.

Suzanne Rubin replaced Maya Leibman who was recently promoted to Chief Information Officer at American Airlines.  According to a post in the forum for this auction, Maya will dropping in on MegaDo participants at some point during the DFW portion.

Bidding is up to $500. So if you’re MegaDo participant and want a chance to share some ideas with the Commander in Chief of Travel Awards, this is your opportunity.

Go here for more info or to place your bid.

Boeing 737 Flight Simulator

If you ever wanted to play pilot, here’s your chance. From Randy’s post on the MegaDo blog:

You get a chance for one hour in “the machine” with 40 minutes of observing your fellow pilots stray off course and then 20 minutes of your very own 737 time.

Some details from the auction forum on milepoint:

We have 24 slots to pilot a simulator in DFW. Here are the details:

• DISCLAIMER: You MUST be ticketed on the charter to be part of this experience.
• 4 groups of 6 people, starting at 7:30 am.
• Each winning bidder will get 20 minutes of time in the pilot seat, and 40 minutes of observation.
• All slots are in the 737 simulator.
• All proceeds will go to Komen.
• This auction will terminate at 11:59PM EST on Tuesday, January 10th unless AA gives us more time (which is unlikely).

There are still some slots left, so go here to place your bid before it’s too late.

C.R. Smith Flight Academy Water Evacuation Drill

It’s too late to bid on this, but it was a very popular fundraiser.  If I had to choose between the flight sim or the water evacuation, I’d pick the evacuation drill.   Besides, you never know when the experience might come in handy, and in the event of an emergency (think Airport) my time in the flight sim isn’t going to help me or anyone else.  From the MegaDo blog:

You’ve heard these instructions hundreds of times: “Pull the loose strap until the vest fits snugly. As you leave the aircraft, inflate the vest by pulling down firmly on the red tabs.”

All 40 slots were auctioned off and more than $4,000 was raised for Komen for the Cure.

I had already planned my winter break before the oneworld MegaDo dates were announced, so I’ll be sitting on the beach following events on some of my favorite blogs:

Deals We Like,
Miles from Blighty,
Mommy Points,
AJ from Live from a Lounge,
Gary from a View from the Wing,
Rick the Frugal Travel Guy
Brian The Points Guy,
Eric M. the new Official AAdvantage Mega VIP Video Blogger.

Even if you’re not going, you can still get some schwag. To celebrate the inaugural oneworld MegaDo, during the week of January 23 -27, I’ll be giving away some neat stuff including one of the new American Airlines Eames Office design amenity kits to help keep the winner Flagship comfortable the next time they sit in coach.

Admirals Club 3,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles Offer

If you’re thinking about purchasing a new Admirals Club membership, here’s an offer that was posted by LRD on FlyerTalk:

You are invited to become an Admirals Club member.  Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, you can enjoy an oasis of peace – away from all the airport hustle. It’s easy to become a member, just register for the promotion…using with promotion code QPD11.   Then purchase your new annual Admirals Club membership by…by December 31, 2011 to earn 3,000 AAdvantage miles.

According to the offer page at AA.com:

This offer is valid only for the recipients of the AAdvantage November Quarterly Print Mailing Newsletter.

Last year I purchased a new Admirals Club membership using a similar bonus miles promotion code that was posted in the Admirals Club discounts master thread at FlyerTalk.   That offer, like this one, was a targeted promotion and even though I had never received the offer, I still received the bonus miles when I used the promo code.  Your results may vary, so be aware that you might not receive the miles if you didn’t receive this offer.

Go here for full details.

Qantas Club Bonus Qantas Frequent Flyer Points Offer

Here’s an offer I learned about from an article by John Walton at Australian Business Traveller:

Join Qantas Club and earn a bonus 40,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points

Treat yourself this Christmas with the ultimate travel perk- Qantas Club membership. Become a new member between now and 31 December 2011 and you will receive a bonus 40,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points!

By joining The Qantas Club, you’ll be welcome to relax, dine, freshen up or even catch up on work before you fly at more than 25 international and domestic departure lounges around Australia Plus enjoy instant access to our extensive Qantas lounge network around the world when travelling on an eligible flight#.

Enjoy exclusive membership privileges such as a chip enabled membership card allowing you to access Faster, Smarter Check-in at selected domestic airports, premium check-in and special luggage allowances.

From the terms and conditions:

The offer is open to Australian residents only (for tax purposes). You must be a member of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program to earn points.

Go here for full details.