1. Register (click blue link below) for the Summer Sizzle Bonus.

2. Earn miles with every dine. Mileage Plus Dining is the delicious way to heat up your mileage balance. You’ll earn 3 miles or more per dollar spent at thousands of restaurants across the U.S. and Canada.

3. Earn an extra 1,000 Mileage Plus^® bonus miles for every $200 you spend (tax and tip included) July 10, 2008 – September 30, 2008.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to register

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Prizes: Free expense paid trip for four, free Dole products for a year, and xbox360 games.

From Dole Food Company-ends 8/31/08

Pointswizard.com Spin: Enter here. click on enter sweepstakes on right side almost to the bottom.

“So you’re avoiding a whole continent because the dollar has been reduced to the value of Monopoly money? Rather than miss out on Athens’s Parthenon, Paris’s Eiffel Tower, or London’s rainfall, why not approach a European vacation as a budgeting challenge? Stretching those dollars requires an open mind, a dash of adventure, and, in some cases, the flexing of long-forgotten travel muscles. Rediscovering that adventurous travel spirit—rather than coasting from one luxury hotel to another—can bring you much closer to what makes a destination special.

Get cultural, go to concerts, use funky new urban transit, and learn to laugh at the five-star experience (do you really want to fly 4,000 miles to watch a flat-screen TV in your room?) Eat the freshest local food at some of the world’s best markets, and hit beaches that don’t make it into gossip magazines (on this side of the Atlantic, anyway).

It helps, of course, to stay clear of London and Paris, which have become staggeringly expensive even without the miserable exchange rate. But if you can’t stay away, we’ve got tips for those dollar-devouring shark pools, too … ” ( Via www.msnbc.msn.com and Concierge.com ) by Ralph Martin

Pointswizard.com Spin: Read More

A lot of good tips about airport parking are in this article.

“You’re feeling good about the money saved on that cheap flight or bargain hotel room. It has been a great 10 days away from home!

Then it hits you.

In the excitement of leaving, you left your car in short-term parking. The attendant wants $200.

Maybe you had the foresight to hit long-term parking, but forgot to budget for the expense. The attendant wants $120, please.

Few travel expenses provide less pleasure than parking fees. The only satisfaction is knowing your vehicle should be well-watched and perhaps dry while you are away.

How much are you willing to pay for such satisfaction?

Most of us would rather have a pair of nice dinners or a nicer hotel room if we have to spend that money.

So budget travelers have pursued a number of strategies designed to minimize — and in some cases eliminate — parking expenses.
Did you know you can reserve parking just as you do hotels and airfares? It’s a good idea. This allows you to know exactly what it will cost and where you can go to get the best deal.

Web sites like Airport Parking Reservations give you a choice of major airports and the discount lots that are available in the vicinity.

Let’s look at a major airline’s hub for some examples:

AirportParkingReservations.com gives me three reservation options near Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International. Each involves booking a hotel room.

Confused? Don’t be!

In many cities, you get parking and a room for the price of a room. One recent search under the criteria above brought up a room at a Baymont Inn for $84/night. You simply take the hotel shuttle back to-and-from the terminal. In this case, I can park for 14 days at the hotel and spend the night. If I add $5, I can park in long-term parking at the airport for two weeks. There’s no immediate valet service to the terminal, but the airport runs shuttle buses.

Fourteen days of parking at the airport’s covered lots next to the terminals: $182.

That’s just one airport’s situation. Your departure point might be quite similar or very different. ”

(via budgettravel.about.com) by Mark Kahler

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read more

Hit the beach this fall with these low fares! Make your summer last a little longer with a trip to Mexico or the Caribbean.

Hurry, purchase your tickets by September 12, 2008, and travel between September 2 and December 10, 2008, to save!

FARES ARE EACH WAY, BASED ON A ROUND-TRIP PURCHASE
Los Angeles (LAX)  to/from Cabo San Lucas (SJD) Starting At $95
New York City (JFK)  to/from Cancun (CUN) Starting At $115
Philadelphia (PHL) to/from San Juan (SJU) Starting At $119
New York City(JFK) to/from St. Maarten(SXM) Starting At $123
Dallas/Ft. Worth(DFW)  to/from San Juan (SJU) Starting At $142

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here for the offer

From Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, 2008, Continental OnePass® members can earn 8,500 bonus miles and save up to 20 percent on rentals of five consecutive days or more at participating* Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.

To make a reservation:

* Sign in to your OnePass account.
* Go to the Advanced Car Search tab.
* Enter BCD Number U072500 and Coupon Number MUAZ041.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here for offer-don’t forget to sign into your OnePass account.

“I had read your articles on United Airlines for a while now, but always thought “that couldn’t happen to me”. In fact I’ve had positive United experiences over the years. Nevertheless, this current situation has me recanting any nice thing I’ve said about them. Here’s the quick version:

1. Girlfriend and I are trying to make Thanksgiving holiday travel plans. I have a pair of vouchers for United, a $100 and $200, from a previous airline error where United stood up and took responsibility. We wanted to apply both of these vouchers for the single ticket, from Seattle to D.C.

2. The United website bizarrely does not let you enter voucher codes. You get a message telling you to call their reservations department and read numbers to them. As we’ll soon see, this is not a foolproof system.

3. I call the reservations department and speak to a nice fellow. I tell him the information on the flight I want and tell him I have two vouchers I’d like to apply. He says that two vouchers cannot be used on a single ticket. Fair enough, but I ask for an exception in this case. It never hurts to ask, and sure enough the gentleman puts me on hold for a few minutes, then comes back and says he can allow both vouchers to be used for the ticket. The process involves physically mailing the vouchers in(scary!), but they’re not doing me any good in my apartment. I give him the credit card info to be charged, which he says will occur at the price quoted when United receives both vouchers. Both are mailed in.

4. A week later the credit card was charged, $100 higher than the price originally quoted. It was obvious only a single voucher was used. Annoyed but not overly so, I call customer service and explain the billing error.

5. No luck. Each person, supervisor or otherwise, goes through the same dance. They were very sorry for the misinformation I was given, the offending reservation agent will be swiftly disciplined, under no circumstances can two vouchers be used, and the credit card will not be credited the difference. Disturbingly, each department I speak with(reservations and customer relations) says the other department has the authority to make the change, but it comes to the same effect as no one does. I suggested that if policy prevents two vouchers from being used at once, they cancel the flight and issue a single $300 voucher. To this a supervisor lightly laughed, said the ticket was “confirmed”, and could not be canceled or altered in any way without incurring heavy fees.

6. Undeterred, I fired off an EECB to four high ranked United executives. I talked about “rare missteps” and “working together”, because after all, I had liked United and I presumed they liked me. The response came back not from any executive but from customer relations, again apologizing that the original rep had given me the wrong price, again saying he would be disciplined, again saying vouchers could not be combined, and (again) saying I was screwed.

7. I write a cathartic letter to the Consumerist.

I know some people would give up at this point, but my girlfriend and I are not wealthy people. $100 is not chump change to us. Also problematic is United having no accountability for outright lying to me about the price of an airline ticket. Confusion I can understand when two vouchers come in nominally against policy, but that does not give them the right to simply charge a credit card for more than the price quoted and hope no one says a thing.” (via consumerist.com)

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read more

to learn how to launch an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) Click here

Great for a new business, new employee or extras to hand out.

Easy to create and order. Full-color printing on durable, premium grade 80-lb. card stock. Choose from 42 free designs and just add your own logo, text, etc.

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Register and stay at a participating Hilton Family hotel between July 15 and September 30, 2008.

To depart with triple Dividend Miles, you must have US Airways selected as your HHonors Preferred Airline Partner or present your US Airways Dividend Miles account number at check-in.

Pointswizard.com Spin: click here to register for promotion or to get a Hilton Honors membership

The Preferred Rewards Gold Card takes you places. And shows you’ve arrived. Enjoy Gold Card benefits and access while you earn travel rewards fast.

You can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points after your first purchase with the Card

The Membership Rewards program§ —Whatever you want to do, this is the rewards program that can help make it happen. Exciting travel, entertainment, shopping, and dining experiences are waiting for you

Gold Card Events—exclusive access to tickets for select concerts, shows, major sporting events, and more in cities nationwide

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Click blue line below-wait 20-30 seconds for screen to load

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“It’s official. The famous Ritz-Carlton brand is coming to what used to be the Hyatt Dorado Beach Hotel.
The development of the five-star hotel is first in line for Caribbean Property Group (CPG)—owner of the Isla Verde Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Casino—and local developers Prisa Group, Dorado Mayor Carlos López confirmed to CARIBBEAN BUSINESS.

CPG and Prisa are partners in a joint venture through a private equity fund for an undisclosed amount that involved the acquisition of Dorado Beach, the Cerromar hotel, four golf courses, adjacent properties and residential developments.

According to López, details on the ambitious mixed-used hospitality and residential project to be anchored by the Ritz-Carlton hotel will be unveiled Saturday during a private VIP event in which the developers will preview their plans for what they call “an American icon” but, according to the mayor, all the parties agreed not to provide specific details about the project until Saturday.

According to sources, the Dorado property and its various components will be developed first. Plans to be unveiled Saturday are reportedly inspired in Laurance S. Rockefeller’s original vision 50 years ago of Dorado Beach as a unique resort and natural sanctuary of untouchable beauty and harmony.

Rockefeller—a stateside financier, philanthropist and conservationist (today, environmentalist) born in 1910—once described the Dorado Beach property as a “rarified blend of sun, sand and serenity.” Today, CPG and Stubbe are using Rockefeller’s original dream as inspiration for a new rendering of Dorado Beach that combines environmental authenticity and cultural sensitivity with modern sophistication and Caribbean style. ” (Via  caribbeanbusinesspr.com ) by ELSA FERNÁNDEZ MIRALLES

Pointswizard.com Spin: read more. We also were informed by a reader who owns at the Hyatt timeshare on the property that the Cerromar Hotel site will be torn down to make way for a Fairmont Hotel. Great news for those of us who have stayed there and loved it.

These are great deals – now more than ever.

Exchange your points for a week of hotel accommodations, with airline miles and a 25% Hertz rental-car discount included.

Example

7nights in Marriott top Category 7 (Europe) hotel + you get 100,00 airline miles on your choice of 8 airlines flying US to Europe for 250,000 Marriott Reward Points

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here for details

Use your Visa card and receive 10% off economy-cabin tickets (minimum purchase of $150, excluding taxes and fees) for flights from the United States, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands to Europe, Asia, or South America.

Up to four economy round-trip tickets may be purchased at a time, and all must be within the same travel itinerary.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here for the offer

Ticketing Dates: August 1, 2008 – September 30, 2008

Travel Dates: September 9, 2008 – November 20, 2008

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES VACATIONS SPECIAL

Valid booking dates: 8/14 – 9/24/08 at 6 pm Central Time
Valid travel dates: 9/28/08 – 12/23/08
Five-day advanced purchase required.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click Here -then scroll down to current offers and click on blue Huge Savings title

photo via celebrity-gossip.net