The Week in Review
Points Envy had a blast at the StarMegaDo4 this week. It was a wonderful chance to see how the sausage is made at United and to finally meet some of the most infamous points bloggers around. Most importantly, it was nice to have easy access to the buffet line from which said bloggers were all eating. Our last experiment failed, but we will rule this world yet!
The miles blogs have been filled with talk of an upcoming 30% Membership Rewards transfer bonus to British Airways, but the bonus does not begin until December 3. This reminds us of the way our dead parents used to start mentioning Christmas in November. This type of teasing did not end well for them.
Points Envy brought you an exclusive look, via Lucky (via Gary), at a 25% award redemption sale in the Avios program.
Dan’s Deals provided an excellent guide to maximizing this week’s Staples promotion whereby you receive a $15 Staples Gift card for every $100 Visa or Mastercard gift card purchased. So far, we have bought $30,000 worth of gift cards at our local Staples stores, and this afternoon we are flying to Nebraska to visit a few more Staples. Nobody in Nebraska is in the game yet, right? We assume it is like living in the 1990s there.
As predicted, Lucky has given us the beginnings of a stellar review of Lufthansa first class. Not to be outdone, MommyPoints also flew the most German of all airlines this week, and the full review of her A380 trip is forthcoming.
Million Mile Secrets provided a nice rundown of some ways in which to maximize the fourth quarter Chase Freeom bonus on hotels and airlines by purchasing gift cards. We plan on using this method to max out the $1500 bonus on all sixteen of our Freedom cards.
Last, but not least, our friend George was mentioned in a critical post by The Frugal Travel Guy, and has responded with a couple posts of his own. Rick then engaged George and his readers in a vicious catfight in the alley (aka comments section) of George’s most recent post. As a wise man once said: hate hate hate hate.
The Week in Review
Once again, U.S. Airways Dividend Miles are on “sale” with a 100% bonus on purchased miles. As usual, there are posts from a few blogs that conclude it is a good deal if it “fits your travel needs.” We take this to mean that you only want to book roundtrip, you do not want to fly Lufthansa first class, and you are not savvy enough to figure out any of the much better ways to get miles.
An anonymous Points Envy fan and part-time Denny’s manager spotted blogger Mommy Points eating at Denny’s for the eighth time in a week. Family and friends are growing increasingly concerned about an apparent Grand Slam addiction.
The other Grand Slam
American Airlines has publicly apologized for its loose seats and general existence by offering double miles or something. Our status is good for life, so we didn’t bother reading the details, but see here and here for more information.
A Los Angeles resident was officially excommunicated by the FlyerTalk gods for admitting on the popular miles discussion forum that he redeemed 50,000 MileagePlus miles for a roundtrip LAX-SFO flight in economy class. Points Envy agrees with this decision.
We gave our assistants a week off and 70,000 Ultimate Rewards points each to take a vacation. Below is a picture of them on a beach in Cancun sporting the sexiest swimwear we’ve ever seen.
Even on vacation, they’re workin’ it for us
Last but not least, Points Envy was interviewed on Million Mile Secrets this week. MMS readers agreed it was Daraius’ best post yet.
First class cabin, first class shirts
Have a great weekend and, as always, enjoy a glass of champagne on us!
Points Envy 