For a limited time only you can save on award travel. The time frame is limited as you need to book between July 15 - July 24, 2009 and fly between August 18 - November 18, 2009. I played with a few options as I was looking at a flight to Barcelona in late August but wasn’t able to find anything available using award travel. These airline offerings are typically a mixed blessing. The airline hopes to get rid of excess seat inventory due to poor demand planning, but the popular routes are not available because…well they are popular. The promotion is structured to target as many folks as possible by giving the impression of high availability and big savings.
Unfortunately, the outcome usually results in potential customers NOT finding anything worth flying because the routes are terrible, the timing isn’t right, or the destination is undesirable. We end up wasting our time playing with arrival / departures dates. It’s like taking your garbage, wrapping it in a shiny box, and offering it to your best customers. It produces the opposite affect as we don’t feel like we’re getting a special promotion – we feel like United doesn’t really value us as a customer so much as just a revenue stream (i.e. dumping ground) with little intelligence. It should be painfully obvious the target demographic travels a lot, values their time, and doesn’t have much flexibility. This promotion totally ignores all those key factors. United needs to take a step back, look at their customers, then tailor their promotions for the right target audience.
Hey United, how about figuring a way to immediately communicate which routes have excess capacity in the time frame given so we don’t waste our time when you already know. Our time is just as important as yours.
Here’s hoping you’ll find the promotion plays into a trip you were planning anyways…
A fellow road warrior just received a promotion for the new Wi-Fi service American Airlines is introducing on all its 767-200 aircraft. You can try it out for free this summer using the promotion code listed below. Cheers!
The Promotional Email:
Our new onboard Internet connectivity is rolling out with more planes being completed every week. The service is now available on all Boeing 767-200 aircraft, and it’s currently being installed on select MD80 aircraft*. To celebrate our progress, we’re making the service available to you for free this summer!
If you fly on one of our Internet-equipped planes this summer, simply use your special promotion code to connect with your Wi-Fi enabled laptop or mobile device. Then kick back and check your email, use your VPN, send instant messages or just enjoy surfing the web.
This special offer is only valid from July 13, 2009, through August 23, 2009.
Promotion Code: AAWiFi76194A1
For more details about Wi-Fi on board, visit www.aa.com/gogo. Enjoy your summer. We look forward to seeing you on board soon.
Happy surfing.
As a frequent flier, I’m a big fan of Tumi. I recently received a great offer for 25% off anything from Tumi.com – sale or no sale. I haven’t seen a deal like this before. Must be the economy. I consider my readers, “friends and family”, so enjoy!
“Cingular (now AT&T) rollover meets Marriott rewards”
This new Marriott offering ensures you stay Elite Platinum through 2011 without having to worry about racking up the required nights in 2010. Silver and Gold members have a similar offer. I’m not sure we can call this a promotion as there doesn’t seem to be an expiration date. Perhaps it will be a permanent offering going forward. Expect the other hotel chains to follow suit with similar offerings – they have to.
The Sell:
| You asked for it; we’ve created it. We’re breaking new ground to help you achieve – and increase – your Elite status. Introducing Elite Rollover Nights! After you’ve stayed enough nights to earn Elite status in 2009, we’ll roll over all additional nights to 2010 (for example, Silver member nights in excess of 10, Gold member nights in excess of 50 and Platinum members nights in excess of 75). That means you can start earning next year’s status this year! It’s the only rollover night enhancement we know of – anywhere. And we’ve designed it exclusively for you. Plus, get a head start with Double Nights. Between May 11 and June 26, every night you stay counts twice! If you’re not registered, you can sign up now. So get rolling! Reserve at any of more than 3,000 Marriott hotels worldwide. Since every night this year counts, it’s easier to maintain your status – and achieve the next level in 2010. No need to do anything extra: your Elite Rollover Nights will be automatically posted to your 2010 account. |
This is a great offering with a promotion thrown in as well. Make sure you sign up so it’s even easier to get Platinum Status through 2010.
There’s a fair amount of chatter about this promotion among my fellow road warriors. On the surface it looks really good.
Promotion Details:
- Register for SPG Free Weekends now and start earning one Free Weekend Night Award with every two stays through July 31, 2009 — with no limits.
- Awards can be earned and redeemed at more than 875 Starwood Preferred Guest participating hotels and resorts worldwide across nine brands — including Westin, Sheraton, W and more.
- Redeem Awards at over 875 Category 1–6 properties any Friday, Saturday or Sunday night from May through the end of September 2009 — all with no blackout dates on available standard rooms.
- To earn one Free Weekend Night Award with every two stays, register and stay between May 1 and July 31, 2009.
A quote from a fellow road warrior:
“This is one of the best promotions ever I’ve seen Starwood run. The free nights are good at category 1-6 hotels (usually they only go up to cat-4 or occasionally cat-5), and the number of nights you can earn is unlimited (vs. usually capped at two or three).”
A closer look at the fine print in the FAQ (thanks josh):
Is there an expiration date for the Free Weekend Night Award?
Yes. The Free Weekend Night Award can be used through September 27, 2009.
It’s a really good promotion as long as you use it before the end of September.
From American’s promotion page:
“Qualify or re-qualify for AAdvantage Gold®, AAdvantage Platinum®, or AAdvantage Executive Platinum® status faster than ever with this special promotion. Just book your trip and fly on American Airlines, American Eagle, or AmericanConnection® between March 18, 2009, and June 15, 2009, and you’ll earn double elite-qualifying miles - the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite-status membership - at an accelerated rate.”
Terms and Conditions:
Double elite-status qualifying miles are not redeemable for award travel, but do count toward qualification for AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, and AAdvantage Executive Platinum status. AAdvantage elite-status qualifying double-mile offer is valid only for travel on eligible purchased, published fare tickets on American Airlines, American Eagle, or AmericanConnection marketed and operated flights between March 18, 2009, and June 15, 2009. Promotion does not apply to travel on mileage award tickets or fares that are ineligible for AAdvantage mileage accrual. Flights operated by our codeshare partners or oneworld® alliance carriers are not eligible for this promotion. Offer applies only to new reservations booked between March 18, 2009, and June 15, 2009. Registration prior to travel is required. This offer does not increment the member’s elite-qualifying points, segments or award-eligible mileage balance. Double elite-qualifying miles will be calculated at 100% of the elite-qualifying miles earned for each applicable flight and will be posted to the account of the traveling AAdvantage member within six to eight weeks after the qualifying activity is posted to your account.
The promotions keep coming…
From Delta’s promotion page:
“Have you made your birthday wish yet? Because it’s time to pack your bags and celebrate. As our birthday gift to you, you’ll receive double miles when you register and book a round-trip flight on Delta between now and April 30, 2009 and fly by May 31, 2009”
From an email sent to *josh* so it may not be available to everyone:
“Wherever your destination this spring, bonus miles are headed your way. Register before June 30, 2009, and you can earn up to 40,000 bonus miles when you purchase and fly up to three qualifying roundtrips on United® or United Express® between April 1 and June 30, 2009.”
Office details from United’s promotion page:
- Registration is required by June 15, 2009.
- Only travel completed on or after date of registration is eligible for this offer.
- Offer applies only to new reservations booked between March 19, 2009 and June 15, 2009, for travel between March 19, 2009, and June 15, 2009.
- Earn double Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) on United and United Express (two times the actual base flight miles).
- This offer does not apply to Elite Qualifying Segments, class-of-service bonus miles, class-of-service EQM, elite bonus miles, redeemable bonus miles, or promotional EQM.
- Elite Qualifying Miles are not redeemable for flights but do count toward Premier®, Premier Executive® and 1K® status.
From Delta’s promotion page:
Earn up to triple miles for elite status on every Delta and Northwest flight you book and fly between March 23 and June 15, 2009.
Register now for this limited-time offer. Then start racking up the miles toward Medallion qualification status, which enables you to enjoy exclusive perks like complimentary upgrades, priority boarding, mileage bonuses, preferred seating and Crown Room Club discounts.
Don’t let this great opportunity pass you by. Enroll today if you’re not already a SkyMiles member. It’s fast and free.
Here’s how it works:
Members purchasing premium fares (J, C, D, S, I, F, A, Y, B, M on Delta) will earn triple flown miles toward Medallion qualification status. Members purchasing discounted Economy fares (H, Q, K on Delta) will earn double flown miles toward Medallion qualification status and members purchasing deeply discounted fares (L, U, T on Delta) will earn the actual flown miles toward Medallion qualification status for all flights purchased and flown between March 23 and June 15, 2009.