Tag Archives: Gift Cards

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Most of my 2017 Travel Predictions Were Wrong (Who Could Have Predicted That?)

Good morning everyone, happy almost New Years Eve.  Earlier this month, Doctor of Credit wrote how bad travel bloggers are at making predictions (I came in last at 33% correct), but he only reviewed our credit card predictions.  I made a lot of other predictions in January 2017, so let’s see how good or bad my predictions were.  I covered airlines, hotels, credit cards, and MS.  I will put my thoughts in bold at the end of each prediction.

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.  Southwest Airlines did eliminate hotel transfers counting toward the Companion Pass, but credit card spend and sign up bonuses still count toward the Companion Pass.  I am also the proud companion on my girlfriend’s Companion Pass.
  • 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).  No, I don’t think any other airline added a companion fare as a credit card benefit.
  • American will introduce a basic economy fare class to compete/copy Delta and United.  Yes, I got this one right!
  • Alaska Airlines will introduce a new level of elite status (maybe MVP Gold 100K?)  No, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K is still the highest elite level.
  • More airlines will get away from the 12,500 one way domestic ticket and start to introduce 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 mile awards.  Yes, I think Alaska Airlines announced cheaper awards on shorter flights.
  • British Airways will kill the 4,500 Avios award band globally and possibly remove one of their lower award tiers.  No, 4,500 British Airways Avios tier is still available outside the US.
  • Singapore Airlines will allow us to book Star Alliance awards online, rather than calling in.  Partially true, but not rolled out completely.
  • Hawaiian Airlines will get bought by a low cost airline, Southwest Airlines or JetBlue.  No, no one bought Hawaiian Airlines.
  • We will see 1 or 2 more mileage matching promos, this time from a big legacy airline.  No, no mileage matching promo like the JetBlue / Virgin America match last year.
  • My ~20,000 Spirit Airlines miles will expire and I won’t care.  Sort of, my Spirit Airlines miles did expire, but I still shed 1 tear.

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What was your Favorite Blog Post Over Thanksgiving Weekend?

What was your favorite blog post from any blogger you’ve read over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? My choice may strike you as odd, because I’m picking one from Nick at Frequent Miler. He writes about things to keep in mind while shopping on Black Friday & Cyber Monday.

Why is that an odd choice for me? I’m not much of a shopper on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. In fact, people say I’m a retailer’s nightmare because I’m not much of a shopper at all :) So it seems odd to pick this post as my favorite because I’m not AT ALL who Nick is writing for. And yet I really loved his post. It reminded me that while I spent Black Friday with family and wasn’t online much if at all, and Cyber Monday was a travel day for me, many days of the year are good bargain hunting days! That FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) evaporated when I read his post. If I ever do become more of a shopper and put myself in the frenzy of holiday shopping, I can reread Nick’s post to remind myself just how to best approach Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

What was your favorite blog post of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? Let me know!

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Come Say Hi to Grant this Weekend at FTU Travel Expo / Signature in Chicago

Good morning everyone, happy Friday. I hope you all have excited weekend plans. If your weekend plans involve going to Frequent Traveler University (FTU) Travel Expo or Signature in Chicago, come say hi to me. I will be walking around the FTU Travel Expo for a few hours on Saturday (11/18) and attending the FTU Signature presentations on Saturday and Sunday (11/18-11/19).

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Amazon eGift Card Winners Announced for my Veteran’s Day Weekend Giveaway

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great Veteran’s Day Weekend.  Sorry for the delay, but I have selected the winners for the 5 $10 Amazon eGift Cards.  Thank you to everyone who left a comment on the giveaway post.  I wish I could have picked everyone, but here are my 5 favorite comments, sorted chronologically.  If you are a winner, check your email (and spam) for your Amazon eGift Card.  Congrats to all the winners and thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.

Mrah i take care of a 500 acre property (and ~40~ yr old horse!!) in northern GA and have recently met an older couple in my area while out on a bike ride. when i last ran into them, they sheepishly asked what i was doing this weekend. i didn’t have plans. but. now i have plans. i’m helping them out with some yard work that for someone like me ain’t nuthin’ but for them is a big sumthin’!
they said they would like to pay me. i said, “sure, as long as it’s precisely and exactly $0.00!!” they laughed. and we shook hands.
Liz Sounds like a fun weekend!
I am attending a game night – I’m in a Meetup for board games, and a friend from that is having his own board game party. Will also see Murder on the Orient Express, with my boyfriend, and grab lunch that Sunday.
Anna Haha! Also in San Diego this weekend! At the Hyatt Mission Bay on an Award night. Will go to Sea World (it always honors veterans). Also, going to see Megan Leavey (about a soldier and her military dog). Because I love dogs. And it’s a German shepherd. And it’s Veteran’s Day weekend.
Swisspotluck I will drive down to visit my parents and we will go out to eat at their favorite restaurant. After the restaurant we will head to Starbucks and he gets his free Veteran’s Coffee. When we are tucked away at our table and chatting, I give him a handmade Veteran’s Day card. He was in the Air Force and went through the Russian language program at Syracuse. He was stationed near the North Sea and used to listen to Russian Radio transmissions for anything alarming. In respect to his particular job in the military, I always write the text in the card in Cyrillic. I use some true easy Russian words, but the rest is just English words transliterated into Cyrillic text. He doesn’t remember much Russian after 50 years, but still knows Cyrillic)
Lori The local aquarium offers free admission for veterans and spouses and we could use a free car wash.
My husband is an OEF/OIF veteran and usually spends the weekend talking to his buddies. I would love for us to travel to Washington DC over Veteran’s Day weekend as I have the points and miles, but he is not comfortable traveling/flying as of yet.
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Amazon eGift Card Winners for Columbus Day Weekend Giveaway

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you all had a great Columbus Day Weekend.  I wanted to thank everyone who participated in my giveaway and left a comment sharing their Columbus Day Weekend plans.  I wish I could pick everyone, but I could only pick 3 winners.  Here are the 3 winners who will each receive a $10 Amazon eGift Card.

Chris D Great timing. We are planning to possibly go to San Francisco/Monterey in Feb 2018. Would love to hear trip report of the Hyatt and aquarium in future. I was looking at Hyatt Monterey vs Carmel property. Our plans for Columbus day is to go to Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT with our 9 year old twins. We are big aquarium fans! Curious how Mystic will compare to your Monterey aquarium visit. Lots to do in the Mystic area with the old seaport and lots of shops and dining options. Thanks for sponsoring contest.
psychocycle i am staying near great smoky mountains national park. each day of the extended weekend i am out for a “century” on my bike. each 100 mile ride will criss-cross and cross-criss the appalachian trail several times. the climbs will be heinous, but what goes up must go down, and i’ll be glad to let gravity do the work! all this being said, it looks like hurricane/tropical storm nate will soak me, but better to be soaked with rain than soaked with sweat! ha thanks for your site. and thanks for the chance to win!
Nitra Going to Vancouver. My bday was Oct 1 so this is my “birthday trip.” Used 20k Avios to book DFW-YVR on AA round trip and using my 2 free nights from the Fairmont card for the Fairmont Pacific Rim. A friend is using UR points for another hotel for our 3rd night. Our Columbus Day Monday is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Enjoy Monterey!

Thanks you for participating and good luck on the next giveaway :)