Here’s a recap of the interesting points and miles news from this week:
Earn a 40% Bonus on Purchased Virgin America Elevate Points.
Virgin America 40% Bonus on Purchased Points: Now through May 7, 2013, Virgin America is offering a bonus of up to 40% on purchased Elevate points. While not as generous as last October’s 50% bonus, this could still be something to consider if you’re a very few points short of a specific redemption. Here’s how it works: Buy 500 – 2,000 points to get a 20% bonus; Buy 2,500 – 5,000 points to get a 30% bonus; or Buy 5,500+ points to get a 40% bonus. You can buy or receive up to 20,000 Elevate points per calendar year. The thing to keep in mind is, Elevate points cost an astounding 5.2 cents each, and you can usually only get a value of about 2.3 cents out of them at most when redeeming, so I wouldn’t suggest doing this unless you’re very close to an award redemption. The Elevate program is a hybrid fixed value/ traditional frequent flyer programs – when you redeem on Virgin America you can use points for any flight, but when redeeming on partners there is an award chart and availability is limited.
Receive a $100 Statement Credit plus 25,000 Miles with the Alaska Airlines Visa: Alaska Airlines has a new offer for their Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card. You’ll earn 25,000 bonus miles upon approval and a $100 statement credit after $1,000 in purchases within 90 days of your new credit card account open date. The card comes with a $99 Coach Companion Fare every year (plus taxes and fees). When it comes to spending, you can earn 3 miles for every qualifying dollar in purchases of Alaska Airlines tickets and one mile per dollar on everything else. Hat Tip: One Mile at a Time
Earn triple JetBlue points when you fly to Alaska from Seattle or Long Beach.
Triple JetBlue points to Alaska from Seattle and Long Beach: JetBlue is running a promotion for TrueBlue members who are flying to Alaska. TruBlue members will earn triple TrueBlue points on JetBlue flights from Seattle or Long Beach to Anchorage, Alaska. First you must register for this offer, then book by October 15 for travel May 16 through October 15, 2013. This offer is valid for both one-way and roundtrip flights. There’s no limit to the number of times you can earn triple points during this period. Allow 4-6 weeks after the promotion period ends for points to be posted to your TrueBlue account.
Fairmont’s Everyone’s an Original Summer Offer: Fairmont is having a sale on their properties worldwide when you book for summer. They are offering up to 20% off their rooms (President’s Club members get an additional 5% off) or a third night free. To take advantage of this offer, you must book by April 30, 2013 for stays until September 30, 2013. There is a minimum advance purchase 7 days for city hotel and 14 days for a resort, and the first night is a non-refundable deposit. In addition, you’ll earn double airline miles for these stays when you credit to AAdvantage, Aeroplan, Asia Miles, PhoenixMiles, MileagePlus and Miles&More.
Save on a stay at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn this summer with the “Everyone’s an Original” promo.
Targeted Offer: 50% United Elite Miles Bonus: As a recap from earlier this week, United sent out a targeted offer to certain elite members for a 50% bonus on Premier Qualifying miles on United-operated flights from now through May 23, 2013. To qualify, register with the link provided specifically to you by United and purchase a roundtrip ticket in United Global First, United First, United BusinessFirst, United Business or United Economy (F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q and V fare classes). Fare classes W, S, T, L, K, G and N are not eligible for this offer. Travel must be completed by May 23, 2013. As I noted, this offer is targeted, but there is actually a live registration page where you can try registering – it never hurts to try!
Up to 40% off hotels in the US & Canada with Accor Hotels.
Up to 40% off hotels in the US & Canada with Accor Hotels: Accor hotels is running a promotion on their hotel rooms when you book now through April 25, 2013, for stay dates from July 1 – September 15, 2013. You can save 40% off on a 4 night stay with Novotel in the US & Canada, or 30% off on a 4 night stay with Sofitel in the US & Canada. Both of these rates do require a full deposit that is non-refundable. This promotion cannot be combined with any other offer, however Le Club Accorhotels members can accumulate points with this booking.
Delta Adding TSA PreCheck Notification to Boarding Passes: Earlier this week, Delta announced that will print an indicator on your boarding passes to give you some advance notice if you’ve been selected for TSA PreCheck or not. “TSA PRECHK” will appear immediately underneath the passenger name on printed boarding passes and for customers using mobile boarding passes the TSA PreCheck logo will appear at the top right corner above the barcode. The TSA PreCheck indicator will appear on boarding passes throughout your itinerary whether the airport has TSA PreCheck or not so be sure to verify that the airport is a participating location. The TSA still plans to incorporate random screening measures, meaning even if you are eligible, you may not get it every time, but it’s nice that Delta is adding this since right now it’s something of a crapshoot when you get in the PreCheck line. I hope the others such as American, United, and US Airways will follow suit.