We really enjoyed our trip to the Seychelles in 2009. Our first flight to the Seychelles was on SkyTeam, but we reported that this option no longer exists. So we’ve kept an eye on award availability for our return trip. We got excited when United bookings became available through Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airways. We…
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British Airways Family Account – How To Establish And Use One
We fell in love with British Airways Avios points after our first short haul award redemption. But what if you don’t have enough points for an award? Did you know that British Airways allows members to pool their points among family members? The easiest thing to do is to set up a household account and…
Pampered With Points At Spas
Mrs Weekly Flyer likes to visit a Spa or two sometimes when traveling. So when the SpaFinder 40 SkyMiles offer came up last year I loaded up the truck. I could earn miles and give Mrs Weekly Flyer a nice gift at the same time. We purchased enough gift cards to earn about 20,000 Delta…
Using Hyatt Points For Travel Rewards – Other Redemption Options
In our “Using Hyatt Points” series, we’ve shared how non-elite members can redeem extra points to reserve a suite on an award stay. In addition, we’ve shared how you can get exceptional value for Hyatt points through a suite or club room award on a paid stay. In this using Hyatt points post, we’ll share…
Business Class to French Polynesia – Fees On Delta vs Air France
One of our best dream award vacations was to French Polynesia. We were fortunate enough to use Delta SkyMiles to fly on Air France in business class. By using airline miles we took a trip to French Polynesia we would not otherwise have been able to afford. We experienced our first ever over water bungalows…
Illustrating How Delta And Air France May Block Award Availability
For the past few weeks SkyMiles members have been loosing confidence in Delta’s shabby award booking engine. The ability to book Air France awards has been off, then on, and now appears to be on a route specific basis. Here are a few examples of where Delta is and is not showing Air France availability.…
Lifetime Starwood Platinum and Gold Status – I’m Golden
Starwood Preferred Guest recently announced new member benefits. Gold members will now receive a welcome gift. Platinum members will receive 10 suite upgrades, extra points, a 24 hour check in ability, a personal ambassador, and continental breakfast. My favorite part of this announcement is the Lifetime Gold and Platinum status. The best part is past…
How To Get A One-Way Coach Ticket For Only 3,000 American Express Membership Reward Points
For a limited time, you can transfer and redeem only 3,000 American Express Membership Rewards points for a free one-way coach ticket. I’ll illustrate the process to calculate the number of points required and transfer enough points to get a one-way coach ticket for only 3,000 American Express Membership Rewards points. How To Get A…
Update On Hyatt Diamond Challenge & 44k Point Promotion
The Hyatt first quarter promotion offers a chance to earn up to 44k bonus Hyatt points through April 30th. This opportunity was too hard too pass up so I developed a strategy to max out the promotion and shared with you here on Points, Miles & Martinis. Since I was downgraded to Hyatt Platinum for…
Delta Bump Guide – $133 An Hour & Free Cocktails
Some times the travel stars align perfectly. Getting paid by Delta to drink booze and watch NCAA basketball is hard to beat. This is exactly what Delta paid me to do today. In this post, I’ll share a quick and easy guide on how to position yourself to get paid by being flexible with an…
Hyatt Diamond Status In Only 12 Nights
With all of the talk of using Hyatt points for a suite award and upgrading a paid stay, I forgot to mention how you can earn Hyatt Diamond status with only 12 nights. I’m currently in the middle of maxing out the Q1 promotion by using the faster points strategy and have double dipped with…
Using Hyatt Points – Upgrading To Suite On Paid Stay
Hyatt is one of the best hotel chains in terms of complimentary upgrades for elite members. But what if you are not an elite member? In my last post about using Hyatt points, I shared how non-elite members can redeem extra points to reserve a suite on an award stay. In this post, we’ll share…
Strategy To Earn Hotel Status & Bonus Points Faster
Some of us have to work really hard and have a difficult time earning hotel elite status. But the free trips all over the world with the extra elite benefits, like free breakfast and complimentary suite upgrades, make the journey to elite status a worth while endeavor. For others, the path to elite status and benefits…
Flying With An Infant – Maximize Safety And Mileage
Since we have a Baby WeeklyFlyer joining our family this year, I’ve been giving this topic more and more thought. Flying with infants is often a hot topic. Reading MommyPoints, FlyingWithFish and DeltaPoints has made me re-examine our booking strategy with an added focus on safety. As an added bonus, I’ve found out that you…
TSA Pre – My First Time & Why I Waited So Long
TSA has a great new program that lets you breeze through security by keeping your shoes on, leaving the laptop in the bag, and avoiding the nude-o-scope. I have always been interested in the program but hadn’t tried it until today. My First Time Today was my first time going through TSA Pre and it…
SkyTeam’s Go Africa Pass – Explore Africa With 75% Savings
SkyTeam announced the new Go Africa Pass which will be available March 1st. The Go Africa Pass will allow you to get creative with travel throughout Africa and save up to 75% off publishes fares. It even works in conjunction with an award ticket. This will allow people to expand the number of destinations, and…
Save money internationally with the Global ATM Alliance
I hate ATM fees. It is less a concern over the money and more a matter of principle. ATM fees are especially prevalent and can be very high when traveling abroad. Even with a no international transaction fee credit card, I find inherit risk in using my credit card abroad in certain situations. As a…
Using Open Jaws And Stopovers – How I Saved A Friend Over 1,000 Euros In 20 Minutes
In this post I’ll illustrate how using a stopover and open jaw can save you miles on an award ticket. Today, my friend who is going on his honeymoon later this year was so excited to let me know he finally booked his award ticket on Delta to Italy and that he even built in…
Get 5% Cash Back With Transfer Tutorial
Mrs Weekly Flyer surprises me every day. This time she surprised me with a way to earn 5% cash back or UR points on purchases. In this post I’ll share the process to transfer Chase Freedom Ultimate Rewards points to a Chase Sapphire or Ink Bold Ultimate Rewards account. If you have a Chase Freedom…
Using OpenTable With Restaurants To Earn Points As Good As Cash – Earning VIP Points With Restaurants
Food is an important part of travel. Earning points is a more important part of travel. If you like earning points and eating this post can help you do both at the same time. There is a website called OpenTable that has a dining rewards program where you earn points for making reservations through their…