I just posted an article on Airline Miles and Income taxes. One of my readers, Tom, shared in a comment the fact that he had received a 1099 for the Miles he had received from Citibank for opening a bank account! This is surprising and disturbing. He also led me to an article on LA Times which the reporter, David Lazarus, wrote after hearing of this from Tom. He confirms that Citibank has sent out 1099s. They are valuing the miles at 2.5¢ per mile! I would like to point …

It’s that time of the year again. The 1099′s, W2′s and other tax forms have started showing up in the mail or email. This is also about that time I start getting questions form my readers and friends about the tax implications of all the miles they have earned or redeemed. I posted this article on taxes last year and to the best of my knowledge, there have been no changes to the tax law that would impact your taxes in any way, by way of miles. Read on…
From April …

Airlines are going thru tough times and interesting times. (Boy, did I resist starting this post with – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times). The global economic slowdown has hurt airlines; they have an ageing fleet (at least all the older carriers do); they have an ageing staff looking to retire, that too with benefits; and they have liabilities that are beginning to exceed their revenues and the margins required to fulfill them afloat. On the other hand, we have become a truly global …

In honor of the soon to come 2012, here is my list of Top 12 Articles of 2011. (See list of Top 11 Article of 2010). This list is based on traffic to their pages. I have excluded article that were posted in 2010 (The post – Air India switches to all non-stop routes to North America was the 3rd most read article and Boeing 747 Piano Bar article was the 6th most read article in 2011, despite both being written in 2010!). I also excluded all articles related to …

In Part I of this post I went over the process I use and recommend for planning out an year of earning and maximizing Airline Miles. (The very same process can be applied for Hotel Points too). In that post I showed how I came upon my ‘gap’ – miles that I had to work for; those that were not in my planned travel or covered by my usual travel run rate. This is where the work is and requires creative efforts to get to your goals.
As I maintained before, …

That gives me some great benefits, such as free unlimited domestic upgrades, Exit row seats when I do not get upgraded, automatic Economy+ for when I don’t get the exit row, free checked bags and most importantly, Star Gold level on Star Alliance, for all my non-United travel. … My Balance: 50,970 – 5,000 = 45,970 Make a list of all other sources that earn you miles and see how many will come in for sure.

Today (Dec. 21st.) is the last day to make a purchase using your American Express Card and get a Gift in return! Few more hours to go. This is an excellent program. I have received a ShopRunner Annual Membership for free and fours $2 statement credits so far. Plan to make a few more purchases before the night is out.
You have to register for this program. See my earlier post on the AmEx Gift Chain offer.
If you are still shopping, see my post on Last Minute Gifts for Travelers.
Subscribe to …

When I was a kid, my dad ingrained the doctrine “Learn from and listen to everyone, follow no one” in me. I have found this to be the best advice one can ever get. This probably also holds true for credit cards.
A plethora of credit cards swarm the market with so diverse benefits that it is difficult to compare them. It is even more difficult to recommend cards to someone without knowing the exact economic condition and travel plans. For example, if a newbie asks anywhere on Flyertalk or Milepoint …

If you had taken advantage of earlier promotions and had bought all 48K points, your out of pocket cost would have been ~$1350 compared to $2k if you had bought the rooms with cash. Now that Starwood award stays count towards elite status, there is no reason to pay them out of your pocket.

Small Business Saturday was a great promotion that many of us took advantage of last year. All you had to do was register your card and use it at some local merchant’s business. Well this lucrative promotion is back again this year.
Register your American Express Card starting Nov 1 and then use it at your favorite merchant on Nov 26. You’ll receive a $25 statement credit when you spend $25 or more at participating stores.
Last year, you could register multiple cards and reap the benefits. Don’t know how it will …