Members of Alaska and Horizon Airlines’ frequent flier programs are facing an eight-day blackout period Monday, April 14 through April 22 during which time they won’t be able to redeem miles for award tickets, change award tickets or request mileage credit for prior travel.

The airline placed a notice on its Web site saying that it will be taking down its computer system for more than a week to perform a major update. The outage won’t affect customers’ ability to fly on previously-issued tickets or to earn miles, the airline said. (via seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel) 

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Looking for blue lagoons, lush rainforests, hidden gardens, cascading waterfalls, wild rivers running through rugged canyons, soaring volcanoes, and exquisite beaches? Enter now to win an amazing tropical getaway to Honolulu, Hawaii and you can find it all! You and a guest will enjoy a five night stay at a four star hotel in world famous Waikiki. Prize also includes roundtrip economy class tickets and a traditional Hawaiian luau for two. 

Enter daily to win, brought to you by Hawaii.com. 

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To celebrate your elite status, we invite you to enjoy a complimentary one-year subscription to your choice of these leading publications. 

Although this is a targeted email offer some readers have filled in the form and have been accepted.

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Embassy Suites Hotels® is offering your little cubs great stuff! Your child will receive a fun-filled Build-A-Bear Workshop Sleep Over Pack to make their visit exciting for everyone. It’s so much fun, there will be bear hugs for everyone!To reserve this special package, search for a hotel below or call 800-Embassy and request promotion code BYB.

• A cozy bear-sized Embassy Suites robe or pajama pants and t-shirt set
• Shower kit with shower cap, plush soap and lotion
• Soft Embassy Suites slippers
• $5 Bear Buck$® gift card to use at a Build-A-Bear Workshop store
• A cool carryall

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Stumped for gift giving ideas this Mother’s Day?

Points.com has tons of excellent gift-giving ideas in their Redeem section!

But YOU can’t do anything just yet—not until you register your Reward Programs!

It’s Easy You can use them for airline travel, hotel and resort chain accommodation, gift certificates from hundreds of choices. and get bonus miles for joining

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Taste test this delicious original blend–it’s on Dunkin’ Donuts. Just fill out the information to get a free coffee sample mailed to you.You’ll be Dunkin’ at Home in no time.

They won’t send you spam or sell your name to annoying telemarketers.

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Trying to accrue and cash in on frequent-flier miles can push you to do irrational things,like pay premium prices for everyday itemsand buy more expensive plane tickets just to rack up points.   To help you get better mileage out of your miles, Real Simple Magazine offers these six tips: 

1. Look into partner airlines and alliances. For example, if you have enough American Airlines miles, you can fly across the Atlantic on British Airlines or Iberia. To search for alliances, go to www.airlinetechnology.net/airlines/alliances.
2. Check early. Frequent-flier tickets can go on sale as much as 11 months in advance, so for the best chance of getting a seat, book ahead. Even if the airline charges you a fee for booking over the phone, it may be worth it — talking to an agent could reveal award flights on a partner airline that an online search of one airline won’t. Also, consider branching out from your usual departure and destination points. Flying into a lesser-known airport may allow you to use miles you otherwise could not.
3. Consolidate. You’ll earn award travel faster if you do most of your flying with one airline or within one alliance group. Don’t open accounts with multiple airlines in the same alliance. Northwest, Delta, and Continental are all in SkyTeam, for example, so if you have a frequent-flier account with Northwest and fly Delta, you don’t need one with Delta. Just credit the miles to your Northwest account. Those who already have small balances in multiple loyalty programs can exchange miles through conversion Web site www.points.com.
4. Maintain your account. Most programs require members to earn or redeem miles regularly — usually at least every 18 months — in order to keep the ones they’ve already accumulated. So keep your account active.
5. Get a quick fix. If you are within a few thousand miles of a reward and are planning a vacation, you can top off your miles instantly by buying more. However, this can sometimes be a rip-off. A better option may be to sign up for the airline’s credit card. Some cards offer generous bonuses of up to 25,000 miles for the first purchase.
6. Explore your options. If you still can’t book a flight with your miles, don’t sit back and let them expire. Upgrading, sometimes for as little as 5,000 miles, is one of the easiest ways to use them. Miles can also get you free car rentals and hotel stays, or you can donate them to worthy causes like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and UNICEF.   MARSHALL LOEB’S DAILY MONEY TIP March 24, 2008 ( via marketwatch.com)
7. Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read the whole article

Now through May 15, 2008, you’ll earn double TripRewards points or air miles for your stays.

You need to be registered to get double rewards, so register today and make your stays count even more.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to register. Book a reservation and stay at a hotel participating in the TripRewards program at a qualifying rate, between January 10, 2008 and May 15, 2008, and complete your hotel stay by June 15, 2008. 

  

TRAVEL + LEISURE GOLF Magazine is published bimonthly except monthly in September and October by American Express Publishing Corporation.   

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Fodor’s posted another helpful list of hidden hotel fees to beware of the next time you travel. In most cases, these fees fall under the practice of “negative option billing,” meaning that there’s an assumption you’ve used the related service and therefore agree to the charge. If that’s not the case—or, in the case of gratuities, if you’ve already tipped—you should definitely ask the hotel to remove such fees from your bill.

• Groundskeeping
• Towels (other than room—e.g., pool or fitness center)
• Business center, fitness room
• Safe
• Housekeeping, bellman gratuity fees
• Water and newspapers
• Energy surcharge
• Early check in or out/extended cancellation
• (via consumerist.com)

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read the whole article

10 seats for $10* each – on every flight!

That’s right, each and every Skybus flight has a minimum of ten seats available for just ten dollars.It’s for real – but these seats go quickly, so be sure to book early and book often!

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 Delta Air Lines is offering double frequent-flier miles to its customers flying into or out of Philadelphia, Phoenix and Charlotte. 

Customers buying first-class tickets will get triple miles.

Pre-registration is required for the bonus, which is good on flights through April 17.

 Delta’s promotion appears aimed at US Airways, which operates hubs at all three cities. When asked if there was a connection, a spokeswoman representing Delta would only say that “Delta periodically launches promotions in various markets based on competition. Mar 21, 2008  By Ben Mutzabaugh“(via blogs.usatoday.com)

 Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to see USA Today article. Click here to see Delta’s offer and register

At Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts, you can enjoy all the pleasures of paradise.  Now, with our special Sand Dollars Package, you’ll get an extra night free. 

Which means more time to relish amenities like rejuvenating spa treatments, championship golf courses, and electrifying casinos. 

Plus, you’ll receive $100 toward any of the magnificent dining experiences that await you.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to see offer detail and book it. Valid through:  October 31, 2008. Promotional Code:   S29   

 

Save up to 25% plus earn up to 1,000 Delta bonus miles on a one or more day rental when you rent a Where2 unit with Avis. 

Pointswizard.com Spin:  Click here to book. Must use code MUAA091 / ends Dec. 31, 2008

WorldPerks Auctions.

Members now can bid their miles on luxury vacation packages, unique sporting events, merchandise, and much more.

Available items include a House of Blues VIP dinner and concert package, a First Class trip to Arizona including choice of luxurious accommodations, and closing on March 12, a Zamboni ride in Joe Louis Arena before enjoying four lower level tickets at a Detroit Red Wings game, a gift certificate for dinner in the club and a Gordie Howe autographed book.

This spring expect to see tickets for sporting events including baseball games, Eugene ’08 Track and Field Time Trials, the 2008 PGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open.

With WorldPerks Auctions, there is no registration, no fee and no hassle. Members log in, check their WorldPerks miles balance, bid and win.

If a member wins an item, miles are automatically deducted from their WorldPerks account.

If the member doesn’t win, the miles can be used to bid on another item.

Shipping and sales tax are included, so there are no hidden fees or service charges.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to see the auction and bid.

 

Just when I was getting used to the idea that a euro should cost $1.20, our dollar plummets 20 percent, and now a euro costs $1.50. Don’t expect our dollar to recover anytime soon because, frankly, we’re not as rich as we think we are.

The euro comes with built-in fiscal discipline: countries in the Euro Zone are not allowed to run deficits. Here in the United States, on the other hand — free from legal constraints or political will — we simply deficit-finance our wars and tax cuts. Logically, there’s no free lunch. It’s paid for by a hidden tax on Americans: less buying power overseas.

I’m not going to tell you that travel to Europe is cheap. It’s not. But 12 million Americans — the vast majority of them normal working people — had a blast in Europe in 2007. So don’t mope. Just get smart and stretch that wimpy little dollar. To help you keep your travel dreams affordable in 2008, here are 20 ways you can take back that 20 percent drop in your dollar’s value … and have a more rewarding trip.

1. A B&B offers double the warmth and cultural intimacy for half the price of a hotel. You’ll find them in most countries if you know the local word: Husrom is Norwegian for sobe, which is Slovenian for , which is German for bed and breakfast. In Haarlem, in the Netherlands, I save 33 percent by sleeping a 10-minute walk from the center with Hans and Marjet at Haus de Kiefte (double with a shower for 55 euros) rather than on the square in the cheapest hotel in town (Hotel Amadeus, double with shower and toilet-85 euros).

2. Europe’s 2,000 hostels have countless cheap dorm beds for half the price of beds in low-end hotels. And it’s not limited to youths. Anyone can hostel. Most of my life I’ve shared hostels with American students and grown-ups from less wealthy countries. Now I’m seeing older Americans hostelling as well. And using the hostel’s kitchen — you can cook for the price of groceries — is a huge savings for traveling families.On Italy’s Cinque Terre, Manarola’s Ostello 5-Terre charges 23 euros per bed in a four-bed dorm, or 90 euros for a four-bed family room. Just down the street, the little Hotel Marina Piccola charges 95 euros for a double. Berlin’s Circus hostel charges 25 euros per bed — 7 euros less if you provide your own sheets and breakfast — or 50 euros for a double (double-room options are becoming more common in hostels everywhere). The nearby Hotel Kastanienhof — a budget hotel by Berlin standards — charges 103 euros for a double.

3. Throughout Europe, budget-chain hotels are driving small hotels and guesthouses out of business by renting efficient, if forgettable, rooms at near B&B prices. The cookie-cutter rooms — which cost the same for singles, couples, or even a family of four — offer the greatest savings for traveling families. In London, where it’s hard to find a regular hotel room for less than 100 pounds, the huge Travel Inn chain rents one-size-fits-all rooms for 80 pounds (a 20 percent savings for couples, even greater savings for a family of four). If your schedule forces you to spend a night near the airport, there’s no need to spend a fortune. Heathrow Ibis charges 70 pounds for a double and the Gatwick Travelodge charges 60 pounds.

4. Save by choosing simpler hotels. A three-star place (with room service and a 24-hour reception desk) is a bad value for a budget traveler who’s satisfied with a one-star place (e.g., no elevator, no restaurant and no shoeshine machines in the hallway). In Paris, getting a 55-euro double in the one-star Hotel de Nevers rather than a 120-euro double in the three-star Hotel St. Louis Bastille — both in the Canal St. Martin neighborhood — shows you can save big by taking a simpler room.Want to save even more? Only the simple one-star hotels still offer some rooms without a private bath. All rooms come with a sink, and walking down the hall to use the toilet and shower saves 20 percent. At Hotel de Nevers, a double room drops from 55 euros to 40 euros. And the dumpiest little time-warp mom-and-pop places, such as Florence’s Soggiorno Magliani, charge only 50 euros and offer no private facilities at all. (via http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/TRAVEL)

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