Tag Archives: Alaska Airlines

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Travel with Grant has Moved… into a New Home & Quick Trip Report of our Maui Vacation

Good morning everyone, happy Friday! Laura and I just finished selling our old home, buying a new home, doing a few small home improvement projects around the new home (painting rooms, changing lights, etc.) and unpacking boxes. I haven’t had much free time to write blog posts over the last few weeks, but now that the dust has settled, I have more free time now.

A few weeks ago (in the middle of packing and moving), Laura and I went to Maui for her Spring Break (she is a teacher). We flew Alaska Airlines roundtrip from San Francisco (SFO) to Maui (OGG) using my Alaska Airlines Companion Fare. Since we both have Alaska Airlines MVP Elite Status, we were upgraded to first class on our return flight. In my experience, I have had good luck getting upgraded when flying on less popular routes and on less popular days (like weekdays).

We used AutoSlash to help get us a good deal on a Hertz rental car. The new Maui airport rental car facility is very nice – I wish all airports had a rental car facility and tram system like the one at the Maui airport. We stayed on the South Shore in Kihei in a Vacasa Vacation Rental. The rental cost 13,500 Wyndham Rewards Points per night and I used a combination of points from my Barclays Wyndham Rewards Business Earner Credit Card and transferred Capital One Points to Wyndham Rewards to top off for an award.  Here is the view from our Vacasa Vacation Rental:

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3 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Southwest (75%), JetBlue (60%) & Alaska (60%)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 3 offers that end in the next week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 3 offers that end soon.  Up first, Southwest Airlines is offering up to a 75% bonus, depending on the number of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points you purchase.  This offer expires on February 15.

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Receive 12 Free Gogo WiFi Passes with US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card (Activate by March 31, 2022)

Good afternoon everyone.  I was just reviewing my recent credit card statement from my US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card when I spotted this update in the Important Messages section.  Firstly, “Google Inflight Wi-Fi benefit” is actually a typo, since it is Gogo, not Google.  Secondly, the benefit of 12 free Gogo wifi passes every year is ending on April 1, 2022, so the last day to activate this benefit is March 31, 2022.  I will walk you through the steps to activate this benefit and receive your 12 free Gogo wifi passes.

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My Wild and Crazy 2022 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

Good morning everyone, happy New Year’s Eve Eve (emphasis on the extra Eve).  Yesterday, I wrote about my dismal prediction performance (I didn’t predict I would do so poorly – another wrong prediction of mine) in my post How Right (or Wrong) were my 2021 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions?  My new crystal ball just arrived from Amazon, so I am going to put it to the ultimate test and I’ll provide my 2022 airline, hotel, and credit card predictions.  I’m guaranteed to get between 0% and 100% correct, but only time will tell…

My 2022 Airline Predictions

  • Alaska Airlines or Southwest Airlines will bring back their “convert travel funds to airline miles” feature.
  • American Airlines will return as a Citi ThankYou Points airline transfer partner.
  • Avianca will give Turkish Airlines a run for their money for domestic Star Alliance awards.
  • British Airways will let you use Avios to pay the taxes, fees, and fuel surcharge portion of award tickets.
  • Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or United Airlines will introduce a “Miles and Cash” payment option for award tickets (pay 10,000 miles or pay 8,000 miles + $40).
  • JetBlue will partner with another US airline for award bookings.
  • United Airlines will be a transfer partner with Brex, Citi, or American Express.

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How Right (or Wrong) were my 2021 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions?

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A year ago, I wrote My Rock Solid 2021 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions.  It is now time to review my 2021 predictions and see how right (or wrong) I was.  My original predictions are in black, I will comment in green if my prediction was right, and comment in red if my prediction was wrong.  Let’s see how I did…

My 2021 Airline Predictions (1 for 3)

  • Alaska Airlines or Southwest Airlines will make their “convert travel funds to airline miles” feature a permanent feature on their site.  Wrong – sadly this was a temporary feature that each airline introduced in 2020 but they did not make this a permanent feature in 2021.
  • American Airlines will finally become a Citi ThankYou Points airline transfer partner.  Right – but only for a few months.  I hope American Airlines comes back as a Citi ThankYou Point airline transfer partner in 2022.
  • Delta Airlines or United Airlines will introduce a “Cash and Miles” payment option for award tickets (pay 10,000 miles or pay 8,000 miles + $40).  Wrong – neither Delta nor United introduced a “Cash and Miles” payment option.

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