Tag Archives for Tricks.
This week I got my second message from Delta informing me I had the opportunity to select or gift an additional 15,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) since I spent my second $30,000 on the Delta Reserve  in a calendar year. This was my second time through the process. Instead of gifting these MQMs like I…
One of the most difficult award tickets to book just became very bookable this month. In this post, we’ll illustrate how to find Air France Business Class award availability to Tahiti and book using airline miles. I’m finding multiple days on the outbound and return where there is plenty of availability. If interested in visiting…
From now through December 6, 2013, US Airways is offering a promotion where you can share enough miles for a round-trip domestic First Class ticket or give your friend’s account enough miles for a Business Class ticket to Europe, North Asia or South America for only $567.50. The transferring member must have miles in their…
As we sat down for some college football and leftover Turkey this week, the conversation took a turn towards points and miles as it usually does. My brother, a small business owner is looking to take his family on a trip next year and asked about ways to increase his point balance. As I dug…
With a blog name like Points, Miles & Martinis, it’s not hard to tell that we enjoy a cold beverage from time to time, especially when traveling. But what makes the drinks better is when it’s free. There are a few ways to get free drinks when traveling (see related posts at the bottom of…
Just the other day, I was surprised to see 10,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) hit my Delta account. And now today, I received notification that I’ve earned another 15,000 Delta MQMs the easy way. So that makes 25,000 bonus MQMs without stepping foot on a plane in the last week along. A pretty easy way…
Starwood Preferred Guest is generally a great program in terms of award availability. I’ve really never had trouble finding award space at a SPG hotel as long as I book well in advance. Except for that one time I stalked the Pitrizza Luxury Collection hotel on Sardinia hotel 10 months out until availability opened up.…
I know I said I’d announce the winners yesterday, but got caught up, it is the weekend after all 🙂 We like tracking our points and miles balances with AwardWallet and from the comments of our AwardWallet Plus giveaway it looks like a lot of our readers do to. We ran a small giveaway yesterday…
Hilton Honors Gold status has come through for us in the past with complimentary upgrades and free breakfast (with champagne) at the Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa, or complimentary daily buffet breakfast and discounted overwater bungalow upgrades at the Hilton Moorea. I’ve let my Hilton Gold status lapse in the past year or so,…
Starbucks offers a great product. I usually pick up a black coffee in the morning. If I pick one up in the afternoon I make it a double espresso. Whatever your choice is, don’t forget that you can earn 5x points per perk at Starbucks by using a card like the Ink Plus® Business Card to…
There are many reasons why “getting rid” of 300,000 United Miles is a bad idea. But I’d say the ability to book Lufthansa’s First Class is just about the biggest reason. Lufthansa First Class You see, United made a major devaluation last week and I got rid of a small portion of my airlines miles,…
I admit it, I’ve switched hotels mid-week just to earn hotel status faster and get the additional perks of multiple “hotel stays” during the same week. It isn’t fun having to un-pack, re-pack, check-out, check-in several times in one week, but sometimes it is just too easy to pass up. For example, during a previous…
A big drawback of the Delta SkyMiles program is the inability to officially book a one-way award ticket at half the cost of a round-trip (RT) ticket. You see, if a Delta member wants to book a one-way award, they are required to book at the round-trip price. But it doesn’t have to be that…
Shhh! Don’t tell anyone this little secret I’m about to share with you. If you do, we’ll have everyone fighting for the same seats. The next time you select a Business Elite seat on a Delta flight configured with the flat-bed seats on a 767, select the seat that will offer you more legroom. Shhh!…
Yesterday I shared a way to get 10% off Marriott gift cards. But with one extra step, you can double dip and increase your savings to 15.5% off Marriott purchases. Purchase Gift Cards At 10% Off Check out sites like TwoSmiles where you can buy gift cards at a 10% discount. Remember to use the…
The annual award booking that often takes the most effort is the New Years flight and hotel. The reason is because hotels are often in high demand and airlines either have limited availability or are waiting for later in the year to release the award availability. Last year I booked two awards that are usually…
American Express Membership Rewards program allows members to earn points with everyday spend on select American Express credit cards like the Platinum Card® from American Express. These points can be redeemed for a number of items from gift cards to products to travel experiences. But I’ve found I get the best value from my American Express Membership Rewards…
A disproportionate amount of my favorite dishes in the world are Japanese. As a newly minted Colorado resident, I have spent a good part of first few months here exploring the Japanese cuisine landscape. Unfortunately, I have been largely disappointed and would classify the Japanese food in Colorado including sushi to be quite mediocre. Amu…
In case you are interested in spending New Years in Tokyo (Reviews I, II, III), maybe even at the Park Hyatt, I thought I would share that Delta has plenty of low level award availability to Tokyo from multiple departure points. Plus with Delta’s many partner airlines, you’ll likely find a connecting flight at low availability…
There are a few tricks to help book a Delta award flight at the lowest award pricing level. One of them is so simple, it baffles me that the view is not automatically generated by Delta’s website when the user views the award flights result screen. By using this simple trick, you can help ensure…