Delta:
- Gol flights for wife and I never posted so faxed them in and by next morning the mileage was there. Maybe it had something to do with putting “Diamond Medallion” on the header.
- Delta Points reported that Delta confirmation numbers now work on Air France & KLM, very useful.
- Points, Miles & Martinis has quite the experience with seats and baby in tow.
Accor:
- I have a stay at an Accor hotel in late January, time for platinum, via Loyalty Lobby.
Hyatt:
- I rarely stay at Hyatt’s, either not where I need them or too expensive, but View from the Wing’s piece on Stay Certificates is yet another I need to study.
Starwood:
- Loyalty Lobby continued his series with Pros and Cons of Starwood Preferred Guest.
Credit Cards:
- Citi Hilton Reserve x2 is a hassle, still have not received the second set of certs, now 8 weeks after statement date where I met the spend, Citi is escalating with Hilton. Reader Al’s suggestion to use a second HHonors number for the second card may be the way to go for those who want two.
- Watching for first-purchase bonuses to come in from my recent churn, US Airways Mastercard 40k was quick, my 2nd of those, though still have not received the 15k from the Sept-Nov $750/month spend on the first card, oddly Barclays account shows they awarded the 15k in Dec, though it has not shown up in my Dividend Miles account.
- Spent a night at the Clarion Las Vegas to earn the Choice Privileges Visa bonus. Nice budget option for those attending an event at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Bluebird/Vanilla:
- I am in Las Vegas this week and Jimmy from TravelByPoints said CVS’ will not play ball, so I will enjoy my week of work and play.
- I am really liking the bill pay feature, which is why I will do Bluebird but not some of the more elaborate, time-consuming schemes.
General:
- Million Mile Secrets has a master post, Keep Your Airline Miles from Expiring.
- New Girl in the Air has a sensible reality check, Forfeiting Status in 2012.
(Disclaimer: I receive a commission for some of the cards referenced in this post, which is disclosed by card on my card pages.)
I think I read in one of your posts that you’ve tried to book Gol tickets (with some frustration) using SkyPesos.
Any advice on booking Gol flights with SkyPesos?
As background, I’m planning on redeeming Skypesos to book a trip Brazil on AeroMexico and Gol. Ideally, I’d fly into Curitiba and flying out of Porto Alegre or Iguasu…. but my plans are open since the goal is to take advantage of easy redemptions on AeroMexico. I’ve been to Sao Paulo and Rio, and would like to see another part of Brazil, so I’ll need the Gol flights. This would be a winter 2013-2014 trip.
Thanks!
Kay
@Kay – my experience has mostly been one of frustration, it is possible to check availability on FlightStats, see View from the Wing’s piece, but I found that often to get odd results of not find the flights at all. Delta can manually check on the phone but that is up to the patience of the agent. From what I have found, Fernando de Noronha is excluded from SkyMiles redemptions, others in theory are possible. Since you are booking far out in advance you may have better luck than I. Keep in mind to have them check segment by segment and that many flights operate out of the domestic airports at Rio and Sao Paulo so make sure to check those as well. Gol and Tam both have air passes, there is very little info out there on them, I have been meaning to research more, this site has the fare rules, and you need to go through an agent.
[...] Award ticket availability: great on AeroMexico, questionable on Gol [...]