Tag Archives: Frequent Flyer Miles

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Guest Post: 600 Euro Compensation for Delayed Flight in the European Union (EC261/2004)

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  I am home in San Francisco this weekend and it is supposed to rain all weekend.  Therefore, I plan on posting and scheduling several blog posts over the next 48 hours.  This first post is from my close friend Jim who is a long time traveler and travel hacker.  We actually have a trip to South America together next weekend (more info to come).  He was recently on a delayed United Airlines flight and he shared his experience with me regarding claiming 600 Euros (~$633).  Enjoy the guest post!

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My Outrageous 2017 Travel Predictions + Reader Ideas Needed

Good morning everyone, I’m sorry for the delay, but I have been diligently thinking about my 2017 travel predictions.  I am going to channel my inner Nostradamus to come up with some outrageous travel predictions for 2017.  Doctor of Credit has a good resource for all other 2017 travel predictions.

Disclaimer: I have made some travel predictions in previous years and I am more often wrong than right, but that losing streak has not dampered my prediction spirit.  To see how bad I am at making predictions, please read A Look Back at my 2016 Predictions (Airlines, Hotels, Credit Cards & MS).  I consider myself an optimistic pessimist (I prepare for the worst, but hope for the best), so these travel predictions will sound depressing.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).

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New Writer Q&A with Shelli

Good morning everyone, I am bringing on one more writer (for now) and her name is Shelli.  In case you didn’t know, I have added a few new writers over the last few weeks, including Whitney, Tonei, and Will The Tactical Traveler.  I’ve known Shelli for the last few years and we met while I was living in Orange County (she lives down the coast in San Diego).  She has her own health and fitness blog (Joy in Movement), but her other great passion is travel.  She travels often and embodies the healthy traveler and solo traveler mindsets.  I am sure you will enjoy reading her blog posts here as well as on her own site.  Shelli has decided to break the rules and instead of answering my standard Q&A, she has decided to share her top 5 fun travel memories from 2016.  Take it away Shelli!

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A Look Back at my 2016 Predictions (Airlines, Hotels, Credit Cards & MS)

Good afternoon everyone, greetings from New York City.  I am writing to you from Times Square my friend’s apartment in the Upper East Side.  I wanted to be the first to wish you all a very happy, safe, and travel-filled New Years and all the best in 2017.  By popular demand (thank you Robert), I am going to recap my 2016 predictions (Part 1 and Part 2).  Long story short, this is a very long post and almost all of my predictions were wrong, but if you want a good laugh, read through the post to see how wrong my 2016 predictions were.  Enjoy!

Key: Miss = red; Score = green; and Miss / Score = black.

Airlines

Southwest – Southwest points used to be worth 1.67 CPP, then they were worth 1.43 CPP, now with route variability, I have no idea how much Southwest points are worth.  I wish Southwest points would be worth a fixed amount, maybe 1.5 CPP for all flights.  I hope Southwest continues to announce new routes, especially a few routes from the West Coast to Hawaii.  Lastly, for the last several year, credit card sign up bonus points have counted toward the Southwest Companion Pass.  I think this might change in 2016.

Miss! Southwest points still do not have a fixed value due to route variability, but Southwest did add a few new routes (just not to Hawaii… yet).  Southwest points earned from the credit card sign up bonus still count toward the 110,000 Southwest points needed for the Southwest Companion Pass.

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Year in Review: My Top Blog Posts of 2016 and Lifetime

Good morning everyone, greetings from NYC.  Instead of staying at a fancy hotel downtown, I am staying with my best friend in the Upper East Side.  I was inspired by Frequent Miler’s post yesterday (The Most Popular Frequent Miler Posts of 2016) so I decided to dust off my Google Analytics and see what my top 10 best blog posts from 2016 and top 10 blog posts of all time.

Best blog posts from 2016 (total page views in 2016 and published date):

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