Ever wanted to sit in first class but didn’t want to pay a usually-unusually-high-priced fee to sit in the big chair? American just launched a trial program called “Plusgrade” to allow you to bid on upgrading to the next highest cabin, potentially at less cost than if you just outright paid.
IHG just kicked off their 48-hour sale with select hotel redemptions up to 75% off, meaning participating hotels have award redemptions at 5,000 IHG Rewards Club points per night compared to (for example) 20,000 points per night, or 37,500 compared to 50,000.
The 48-hour sale doesn’t mean you have to stay in a hotel in the next two days, but the deal is valid for bookings November 20 through December 20, 2013.
Over the past few days, Delta, United, and Alaska have all offered promotions where (during the duration of the promotion) trips are eligible for double miles. It’s getting a little wild out there, but it’s a good way to bulk up on some miles before the end of the year.
In exactly 30 days, I’ll be heading to Dubai for #DXB13, also known as the Dubai Air Show. Having never been to Dubai, I’m pretty excited to be visiting this ever-growing metropolis – but until I did some research, I didn’t know much about it.
Dubai one of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates, and is home to approximately 2.1 million, nearly double what it was just in 2005, doubling again from 1995. As such, the city’s landscape has grown tremendously, becoming a city that is well-known for its tall skyscrapers, including the tallest man-made structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa.
In just over a month, I’ll be heading to Dubai, UAE for the Dubai Air Show. I’m really excited to be traveling out there (not to mention it was a really good deal), because I’ve never been to Dubai, and the air show is rumored to be pretty awesome. For just a little over $700, I’m flying out of LAX to Dubai — but the trouble is that I live in San Diego. How will I get there? Drive? Train? Nope. Looks like I’m flying San Diego to LAX…via Orlando.
November’s Dubai trip is looking like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I still don’t have a whole lot planned yet (including where I’m going to stay), but I’m excited nevertheless to be heading there. When it’s all said and done, I’ll have earned 18,714 base miles from flying for 20 or so hours each way, plus another 18,714 miles because of my status with United. What does that mean? 37,428 miles by the time I get home, or more than enough for one-way saver flight to London from San Diego.
Las Vegas is home to scores of luxury hotels up and down the strip, but up until recently, there was little to no connection to any major outside-Vegas hotel chains. For many, this meant that the status earned from loyalty to hotel chains outside of Vegas didn’t matter – there was no way to take advantage of this. Luckily now, there are a now few ways to take advantage of – and earn points with – loyalty to some of the major brands. Some of the major chains have had hotels off the strip – but for many who visit Sin City, being on the strip is a requirement.
In particular, MGM’s loyalty program Mlife recently partnered with Hyatt, bringing the benefits associated with Hyatt to 12 resorts in Vegas, and a few other MGM hotels scattered across the country.