On Thursday, Nov. 20, Dividend Miles will announce a sudden reversal of their change to elite benefits some 3 1/2 months ago. With the economy of fuel stabilizing and the growing wariness of both Star Alliance (well, Continental is soon to be) partners, Continental and United adding back in 500-minimum mile bonuses and never even considering ending their elite bonuses, Dividend Miles has found that it may be better than late since there is the usual interest in year ending mileage runs to validate or complete elite status for the following year. Look for official announcements to come from US Airways, but if you had read my original statement of the chages:

http://www.insideflyer.com/articles/printable/article.php?key=4787

and then my subsequent recommendation for solution in an earlier Mileopoly column:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onthefly/2008/08/

Shake it up with a little SaveDividendMiles (1.6 billion miles registered)

http://savedividendmiles.com

And you have a best-case-scenario for appeasing the remaining and hopefully faithful members of DividendMiles.

Along the windy way of earning miles and points, there comes a time when one just really has to let loose — you know, unwind. And when staying at a hotel racking up the points, what’s the second thing that comes to mind when really unwinding while sleeping in someone else’s bed? Yea, you guessed it – jumping on the bed.

This childhood activity continues to this day and there’s a real chance that you could immortalize yourself by submitting a photo of yourself, jumping on your hotel bed when you submit it to 

http://www.hotelsbycity.net/blog/bed-jump/

You go ahead and post your picture, I’m still working on finding the hotel room with the highest ceiling …

As has been reported, the actual merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest was approved which means that in the months ahead miles you have in both programs will be merged (though as we know from the days of the American/TWA merger, some of you may get caught in the undertow of trying to match accounts). What this means is that we’re entering the official period of the honeymoon, when members of both programs should be looking for easy ways back-and-forth to boost their accounts. Here’s an example of what I mean:

Here’s a promotion by Northwest WorldPerks with Sentry Insurance, offering 1,500 bonus miles just for receiving a no-obligation quote on auto or homeowners insurance. (Don’t get fooled by other mentions of a 1,000 bonus mile offer for the same) Now, Sentry Insurance is not currently a partner with Delta SkyMiles and does not offer the same offer. This means for the opportunity seeking SkyMiles member, make sure you have a WorldPerks account, get the insurance quote with the WorldPerks bonus miles and in the months ahead, those miles will convert into your SkyMiles account. Simple as that.

WorldPerks to SkyMiles Bonus