Tag Archives: United Airlines

My Travel Predictions (Both Good and Bad) for 2014

2014 New Years

My Travel Predictions (Both Good and Bad) for 2014

Happy holidays everyone!  As 2014 quickly approaches, I wanted to share my predictions for 2014, regarding airlines, hotels, and credit card rewards.  Feel free to agree, disagree, or share your own comments below.

Airlines:

  • British Airways – I think the 4,500 and 7,500 (maybe even 10,000) Avios award prices will go away or the entire award chart will be revamped.  The current prices are just too good.
  • Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines – since there has been a lot of fighting over routes to/from SEA and SLC, I think Alaska will no longer allow you to earn or redeem miles with Delta.
  • American Airlines and US Airways – after the merger, we will see some new “enhancements” (aka devaluations) to the new award chart.  Maybe off-peak awards will be changed or removed.
  • Southwest Airlines and AirTran – hopefully the merger goes through smoothly and quickly.  I look forward to using Southwest Rapid Reward Points for flights to Hawaii, Mexico City, and other tropical destinations south of the border.  I also think the 50,000 Southwest Rapid Reward sign up bonus will no longer count for companion pass status, it is just too easy to get Companion Pass.
  • Hawaiian Airlines – merge with another airline, maybe JetBlue or Alaska Airlines.
  • Lufthansa  – revamp their award chart after everyone signs up for their credit card.
  • Virgin Atlantic – miles will be transferable 1:1 with Virgin America and Virgin Australia.

Hotels:

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A friend asks: How many miles will you fly this year?

Math Numbers Equations

A friend asks: How many miles will you fly this year?

He wanted to know if I flew more than 100,000 miles, but I told him it was probably less than 10,000 miles for the year.  After he left, I started thinking more and though it was around 25,000 miles flown.  I kept thinking of trips I took earlier this year and trips that were coming up and wanted to get an exact number.

I wrote down all my flight segments and went on Great Circle Mapper to find the actual distances.  I’ve gone on quite a few trips this year and have plenty more flying through the rest of this year.  All my travel is personal, paid with miles or cash.

Total Miles Flown

I added up all the numbers and this is what I got… 44,624 flown miles, wow!  That might be my best year ever!

Air France 670
WestJet 1,081
LAN 1,455
United 4,841
Southwest 5,222
Alaska 6,337
American 12,503
US Airways 12,515
 TOTAL: 44,624

As you can tell, I’m literally “all over the map” (pun intended) with my airlines and don’t fly any airline exclusively.  How many miles will you have flown by the end of the year?  Let me know in the comments below.

Unboxing United Airlines MileagePlus Premier Silver Elite Status Envelope (Marriott Platinum Challenge)

Marriott United

Unboxing United Airlines MileagePlus Premier Silver Elite Status Envelope (Marriott Platinum Challenge)

I know this is going to end up on Travel Blogger Buzz (I’m more surprised when my stuff doesn’t show up there), but maybe this post will help someone.

Back on July 18, I wrote Marriott Platinum Challenge = United MileagePlus Premier Silver Status that showed how you could achieve United MileagePlus Premier Silver Status by calling Marriott and asking for a Marriott Platinum Challenge.  The United Airlines status is valid from now until January 31, 2014.  I just received the letter in the mail today (August 14) and here is my “unboxing” of the letter.

Front of the envelope:

unitedsilver2

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How I Earned 2,500 United Airlines Miles in 1 Year using MyPoints

myp_logo_flat

How I Earned 2,500 United Airlines Miles in 1 Year using MyPoints

MyPoints.com is an online shopping portal, similar to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall or TopCashBack, that pays its members for clicking through to other online merchants.  These shopping portals get 1-2% from the merchant and pay a portion of the profit to the member who earned it for them.  It is very straight forward.

How MyPoints Works

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American Airlines and Award Wallet are Back Together!

AA and AW

American Airlines and Award Wallet are Back Together!

Award Wallet is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I am pleased to announce that American Airlines has finally allowed Award Wallet to stalk track it’s members’ miles.  As soon as I heard of the news (you can read the official press release if you want), I went online and added my family’s American Airlines accounts to my Award Wallet.  I am the one in charge of keeping everyone’s miles in order.  If you do not have an Award Wallet account, please read What is Award Wallet?

AA Accounts

Up next, I hope to see Delta and United return to Award Wallet and maybe even Southwest Airlines, but they are definitely a long shot.