Back in late March, one-way and multi-carrier awards became bookable online and via the phone for Alaska, American, British Airways, and Delta flights. The change allowed for one-way AA and Alaska awards for half the cost of roundtrip flights as well as combined partner and class awards on roundtrip award flights (Delta priced at half the price when included in a roundtrip itinerary but one-way DL awards were still priced at the full r/t price). At the time, I received direct confirmation from Alaska Airline’s online team that online one-way partner availability for Mileage Plan members would be expanded to include additional partners in “late spring”…and it seems that late spring has arrived! Unfortunately, their team didn’t follow-up with an update, but Gary posted about the positive changes earlier this week.

The big question on everyone’s mind was when would Alaskan’s numerous international partners (Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas, LAN, Air France, KLM, and Korean) be included in the one-way pricing and multi partner awards. As View from the Wing mentions, the Alaska Airlines website now allows for searching on the following additional partners: Aeromexico, Air France, Air Pacific, Emirates, KLM, PenAir, and Qantas. Better yet, it appears that one-ways book at half the price of roundtrips for all partners besides Delta (including Emirates and Qantas)! This surely cements Alaska’s site (and mileage currency) as one of the most rewarding in the industry.

Are your credit cards relegated to the back of a drawer once the sign-up bonus posts? While your still in possession of those cards you acquired during your past few churns, why not put them to use and earn some additional miles or points? Remember, holding cards instead of canceling right away makes sense as you can use them as leverage in your next churn, offering to give up the card in exchange for a new card and a new bonus. I’m usually not a huge fan of the various dinning offers from Rewards Network, but their 2013 promos can get you some decent easy point payouts and they just increased their offers for UA and DL.

Priority Club/IHG Rewards – 2,013 points after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
Delta – 1,500 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
American – 1,000 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
United – 1,500 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
US Airways – 1,000 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
Hilton – 1,000 points after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
Alaska – 500 miles after $30 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.

Each promotion is for a “new” profile, meaning a unique credit card (and sometimes email address) is required. Additionally, each of the promotions above requires you to complete a review in order to qualify for the bonus. The link to the review is emailed after your dine and is a simple multiple choice survey. The trick is finding a restaurant that you would dine at anyway.

Busy week in aircraft updates…

First, Delta’s new flat-bed refurbished A330:

JAL’s touchscreen Anytime You Wish on-demand meal service – Boeing 777-300ER Sky Suite:

Alaska’s planned cabin upgrades with power outlets and new enhanced seats:

More on those DL A330 upgrades from Delta’s blog:

Say Hello to the Reinvented A330!

 If you have experienced our recently upgraded 747 BusinessElite cabin, you may be in for some déjà-vu. We are proud to show off a few of the enhancements of the first flat-bed A330-300 to enter service, ship 3301.  This development means that we now have flat-beds flying on every wide-body fleet type. Our 777s, 747s, and 767-400ERs have been completed and our 767-300ERs are well underway. Our entire A330 fleet will be completed by summer 2014. While flat-beds often get the spotlight, there are a whole host of improvements and upgrades to look forward to throughout the aircraft:

BusinessElite

• 34 seats in a 1 x 2 x 1configuration
• Seats are angled toward the windows at outboard locations and toward each other in the center
• New seats are wider than those they replace
• 180º fully flat bed (bed length is 78-80”)
• Direct aisle access with no rear-facing or middle seats
• Electronic seat controls with adjustable lumbar support
• 110v AC in-seat power + USB power
• Adjustable personal LED reading light

Economy Comfort

• 32 seats at 35” pitch & 6” recline in a 2 x 4 x 2 layout
• “Slim-line” seat provides more personal space
• 6-way adjustable headrests
• 110v AC in-seat power + USB power

Economy

• 227 seats at 31-32” pitch and 4” recline in 2 x 4 x 2 layout
• “Slim-line” seat provides more personal space
• 6-way adjustable headrests
• USB power

Personal On Demand Entertainment

• 15.4” screens in BusinessElite; 9” screens in Economy Comfort & Economy
• 350 films
• 130 hours of TV
• 95 hours of premium programming from HBO & Showtime
• 5,000 digital songs
• 27 games
• Moving map

Cabin Enhancements

• New BusinessElite lavatories
• Updated carpet color – a darker, richer shade of blue
• New bulkhead “Sky Diamond” laminates reminiscent of the Sky Club backwall
• Redesigned Economy Comfort & Economy seat covers with additional comfort padding
• New placards and signage.

Alaska has released details for their spring award sale which is offering award travel for 10,000 miles and $2.50 each way in taxes to select destinations. Travel must be booked by May 1, 2013 for travel between April 23 – May 22, 2013. Seattle to Philadelphia is one of the routes included for only 10,000 miles each way. I tend not to redeem my miles for domestic flights (unless I’m using an Avios 4,500 short-haul reward), but if you do, at least this is a 2,500 reduction off the normal one-way rates. However, if you have Alaska Mileage Plan miles, I’d recommend holding on to them for redemptions on some of their great partners including Emirates & Cathay Pacific. Especially since they’ve recently begun rolling out partner one-way awards!

I was finally able to get in touch with someone from corporate communications at Alaska Airlines to discuss one-way partner availability for Mileage Plan members. Here’s the latest…As you know, one-way and multi-carrier awards became bookable online and via the phone for Alaska, American, and Delta flights earlier this week. The change allowed for one-way AA and Alaska awards for half the cost of roundtrip flights as well as combined partner and class awards on roundtrip award flights (Delta prices at half the price when included in a roundtrip itinerary but one-way DL awards are still priced at the full r/t price) .

The big question on everyone’s mind was would Alaskan’s numerous international partners (Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas, British Airways, LAN, Air France, KLM, and Korean) be included in the one-way pricing and multi partner awards.  The answer is YES…just not yet. The communications representative was coy but did confirm that one-way and multi-carrier roundtrip partner awards are coming later this spring for SELECT partners. No details could be provided on exactly which partners would be participating. In any case, this is great news. Alaska’s Mileage Plan program was already one of the most valuable programs in the industry and these changes truly are “enhancements” (Delta take note of the proper usage). An inclusion of Cathay, Emirates, and Qantas later this spring would be monumental, but I’d be happy with any of the other partners being included. I was also informed that additional partners will be available for online bookings some time this summer! Update - British Airways awards are also now bookable as one-ways!

From Alaska’s webpage:

Mix & Match Award Shopping

Booking awards on alaskaair.com just got a whole lot easier. You can now shop for Alaska, Delta, and American award space in a variety of ways:

• Choose one-way or round-trip awards
• Shop for awards using the award calendar for all three airlines
• Select your desired flights and award type from a schedule display
• Combine airlines in one reservation using up to two types of awards

These additional enhancements make it easier for you to see and combine different award types … giving you more options and flexibility with your award bookings.

In the example below, you could shop for a round trip from Anchorage to Tokyo using the calendar to view the lowest available award for all three airlines.

Then choose your desired flights and award type from the schedule display.

Every little bit counts, especially if you are trying to keep a frequent traveler account active. Here are some smaller offers for US/UA/AA/AS and SPG as well as a 1K offer from Club Carlson and a 300 point offer from La Quinta.

Club Carlson – 1,000 miles for liking their Facebook page and becoming a fan

Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) – 250 miles each week for the next three weeks via a game on their Facebook page.  If you don’t collect Asia Miles they can be traded via points.com for 237 US Airways miles, 164 United miles, 124 Alaska Airlines miles, 118 Delta miles, etc. HT WideOpenSpaces on Flyertalk.  Thanks to MarkLAX for the tip!

Update – All Asia Miles points for this week have been given out.  Check their page again next week for 250 more points. Thanks DaninSTL!

La Quinta – 300 points for watching three La Quinta Travel Advisor videos, one on Florida, one on Texas, and one on California. Once you answer some questions you are then brought to a longer video. After watching that video you are directed to this page to collect your 300 points. HT WideOpenSpaces on Flyertalk. Thanks Eric in MIA for the tip!

Audience Rewards – SPG – Speaking of small rewards, the next set of questions from Audience Rewards is out which allows you to earn 12 SPG points, 12 US Airways Dividend Miles, and 12 Delta SkyMiles. What’s Audience Rewards? Check out this previous post. The answers to the current questions are:

1. Jennifer Laura Thompson, of Nice Work If You Can Get It, has starred in all but which of the following shows on Broadway? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
2. True or False? Maurine Dallas Watkins, original author of the play Chicago did NOT want her play turned into a musical. True
3. True or False? At the end of Ted Greenberg’s The Complete Performer, one lucky audience member gets driven home by Ted Greenberg in a taxi. True
4. Who wrote The Last Five Years? Jason Robert Brown
5. The movie version of Mamma Mia! was made in what year? 2008

Are your credit cards relegated to the back of a drawer once the sign-up bonus posts? While your still in possession of those cards you acquired during your past few churns, why not put them to use and earn some additional miles or points? Remember, holding cards instead of canceling right away makes sense as you can use them as leverage in your next churn, offering to give up the card in exchange for a new card and a new bonus. I’m usually not a huge fan of the various dinning offers from Rewards Network, but their 2013 promos can get you some decent easy point payouts with AA, DL, UA, US, AS, Hilton, and Priority Club.

Priority Club – 2,013 points after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
Delta – 1,500 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
American – 1,000 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
United – 1,000 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
US Airways – 1,000 miles after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
Hilton – 1,000 points after $40 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.
Alaska – 500 miles after $30 of spend on a single dine within 30 days of registration.

Each promotion is for a “new” profile, meaning both a unique credit card and email address is required. Additionally, each of the promotions above requires you to complete a review in order to qualify for the bonus. The link to the review is emailed after your dine and is a simple multiple choice survey. The trick is finding a restaurant that you would dine at anyway. Of all the NYC locations, I was able to find about three restaurants that I frequent, however there were several bars that serve food that made the list as well.

Reader Elaine notes in the comments that she uses the same email for all registrations without any problems. YMMV!

Some what did my favorite loyalty programs get me for my birthday this year??

Lufthansa’s Miles & More
Miles & More sent me a greeting with a link to a birthday puzzle.  Upon completion of the puzzle, I was emailed a link to apply for a Regus Businessworld Gold Card with unrestricted access to all 1,100 Regus business lounges and cafés worldwide, with free Internet access and complimentary tea and coffee. The card is valid for 12 months free of charge (usual price: €39/month), after which it will automatically expire if the contract is not renewed.   Not something I would normally purchase on my own, but definitely a nice gesture with some pretty cool locations in New York, including one in the Chrysler Building.

Delta SkyMiles
I received an email with an offer for Delta Vacations savings. We’d like to thank you for being a valued Delta SkyMiles member by helping you make the most of your birthday. When you book a Delta Vacations getaway you will save $100 on vacations of $599-$4,999 or $250 on vacations of $5,000 or more. This was actually a pretty big letdown considering last year I received 2500 SkyMiles and $100 off a vacation package:

Meliá Mas Rewards
I received an email with a great offer from Meliá, including two free nights for the price of 1 and a free bottle of wine upon arrival

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
I received an email from Alaska Airlines with the following discount: Surprise! We remembered your birthday is coming up. To help celebrate we’re giving you 10 percent off your next flight. So treat yourself to a well-deserved getaway for your birthday.

It was my co-worker Nate’s birthday a day later and he received these offers as well…

British Airways Avios
25% off any club world fare, only valid for flights during your birthday month.

Alamo Rent A Car
In honor of your special day, get a Free Day on your next rental. We hope it kicks off the festivities right.

There’s no guarantee that signing up for each program will ensure you receive the same offers, but it might be worth checking your marketing preferences with each program if you do wish to receive similar offers.  Though, a better present for some may be no emails at all!

Reader Howard in Washington emailed me last night:

I was booking an Alaska flight recently, and as part of the online process, I was given the opportunity to purchase 10,000 Mileage Plan points for $190.  I didn’t take advantage of it, but it got me thinking about the relative value. I figured I’d send you this email to ask whether buying these points made sense at 1.9 cents per mile, next time I make a booking.

I probably wouldn’t normally consider buying miles at 1.9 cents, but on Alaskan I most likely would. Alaskan has some amazing award redemption deals including 140k on Cathay between North America and Africa / India / Middle East in first class (via HK), as well as soon to be Emirates for a rumored 140k for business on the A380 from North America to the Middle East and TBD for first (announcement coming by the end of the year). In my opinion, those are both pretty decent deals at 1.9 cents a mile. So, for most other airlines, I’d probably say no, but for Alaska, I’d go for it.  What do you think? Obviously, if you only redeem domestically, the value is not the same.

Speaking of Alaska, they are currently offering 15,000 Mileage Plan miles for new T-Mobile service.  Unfortunately, a two year service agreement is required.  Full details here.

Last week was my birthday and I received a couple of emails from some of the airlines and hotels to celebrate the occasion, the most valuable ones coming from non-US based programs:

Lufthansa’s Miles & More
Miles & More sent me a greeting with a link to a birthday puzzle.  Upon completion of the puzzle, I was emailed a link to apply for a Regus Businessworld Gold Card with unrestricted access to all 1,100 Regus business lounges and cafés worldwide, with free Internet access and complimentary tea and coffee. The card is valid for 12 months free of charge (usual price: €39/month), after which it will automatically expire if the contract is not renewed.   Not something I would normally purchase on my own, but definitely a nice gesture with some pretty cool locations in New York, including one in the Chrysler Building.

Delta SkyMiles
I received an email with an offer for Delta Vacations savings. We’d like to thank you for being a valued Delta SkyMiles member by helping you make the most of your birthday. When you book a Delta Vacations getaway you will save $100 on vacations of $599-$4,999 or $250 on vacations of $5,000 or more. This was actually a pretty big letdown considering last year I received 2500 SkyMiles and $100 off a vacation package:

Meliá Mas Rewards
I received an email with a great offer from Meliá, including two free nights for the price of 1 and a free bottle of wine upon arrival

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
I received an email from Alaska Airlines with the following discount: Surprise! We remembered your birthday is coming up. To help celebrate we’re giving you 10 percent off your next flight. So treat yourself to a well-deserved getaway for your birthday.

It was my co-worker Nate’s birthday a day later and he received these offers as well…

British Airways Avios
25% off any club world fare, only valid for flights during September 2012.

Alamo Rent A Car
In honor of your special day, get a Free Day on your next rental. We hope it kicks off the festivities right.

There’s no guarantee that signing up for each program will ensure you receive the same offers, but it might be worth checking your marketing preferences with each program if you do wish to receive similar offers.  Though, a better present for some may be no emails at all!

For some reason I have two Alaska Mileage Plan accounts, one where I send  all activity and one that I signed up for years ago without ever using.  Today, I received two different offers for each of the accounts – a 40,000 mile Bank of America sign-up bonus offer and a 20,000 mile sign up bonus offer. The T&Cs seem to be identical besides the spending requirements, 25k with NO spend and 40k with $7500 in spend:

Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Miles. Upon approval of the Visa Signature card you will receive 25,000 Bonus Miles, plus an additional 15,000 Bonus Miles after purchases totaling at least $7500 within the first 6 months of the account open date. Use these Bonus Miles, plus taxes and fees from $2.50 depending on your Alaska Airlines flight itinerary, towards a round-trip award ticket to Hawaii, California, or any other Alaska Airlines destination.

Earn 25,000 Bonus Miles upon approval. That’s enough miles for a round-trip Coach Super Saver award flight anywhere Alaska Airlines flies in the continental U.S., Alaska or Canada

You may not have any plans to fly Alaska Airlines, but did you know that they partner with tons of US and international carriers? American, Delta, Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Korean Air, LAN, Qantas as well as Emirates and Icelandair.  Award pricing is pretty good as well – using Europe as an example, Economy tickets are generally 60-65k from North America while Business tickets are 100-120k (Icelandair is only 55k to Europe for Economy and 80k to Europe for Business).  Check out the full charts for Hawaii, Caribbean, Africa/ME/India, Asia, Australia/NZ, and South America here.  One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot mix awards amongst the various partners.  If you are using Delta one way, you can’t fly American the other way. Award travel on Emirates is scheduled to go live late 2012.

Better yet, many have reported success in churning this card every 90-120 days and re-qualifying for the bonus miles! Do note that the annual fee is NOT waived for either sign-up offer, though a companion ticket is offered for coach travel on Alaska Airlines. Even if you cannot make the spend on the 40k offer, you could potentially earn 60-80k per year by churning this card.