Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
British Airways is launching flights to high-demand destinations that can only be booked with points, Amazon is dipping its toe into return fees and there’s a $25,000/night Airbnb in the Hamptons. All that and more in this week’s Saturday Selection.
British Airways launches “points-only” flights
Cash prices for airfare have been soaring recently and it doesn’t look like things are going to be letting up in the near future, making points and miles even more useful. Sometimes, though, availability can be a problem. British Airways is offering a somewhat-novel alternative. Copying an idea that Qantas played around with before the pandemic, BA is launching “Avios-only” flights. These flights are only bookable with points, not cash, and will be offered at normal Avios award pricing. Avios-only flights will start this Fall to select destinations and will only be made available to Executive Club members (ie, BA won’t release seats to partners).
Amazon starting to charge return fees
Amazon has long had a free-return policy on most products that it sells, allowing us to drop unwanted items off at a UPS store, no questions asked. Well, evidently, they now have some questions. Amazon is now charging customers $1 if they bring returns to UPS when there is a Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, or Kohl’s closer to their address.
What a $25,000/night Airbnb looks like
A couple years ago, Nick wrote about using Hyatt points to stay in a German palace and I used a few thousand Chase Ultimate Rewards points to stay in a Spanish Castle last year. So, surely a little 9-bedroom house in the Hampton’s could be had for a similar price? Think again. Your Mileage May Vary writes about the “Cobb Road Daydream,” billed as the most expensive Airbnb in the United States. While peak times such as Summer weekends and New Year’s Eve will set you back a cool $25K/nt, the off-season rates are a bargain at $14K/nt. Luckily, parking is free.
Virgin Atlantic Launches Lame Award Sale
Virgin Atlantic has an odd award sale going on until April 27th that gives 20% off award flights, in some cases during peak dates in the Summer. So why is it lame? For starters, it only applies to economy seats and Virgin’s substantial surcharges aren’t discounted. So, while you can get a discount of up to 10,000 Virgin Points, you’re still on the hook for $200-400 in fees for a roundtrip economy flight. Also, it’s only good to five destinations from London Heathrow: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Tel Aviv. To make it even more confusing appealing, the discount on the first four cities is good for flights between May 1 and July 31, but Tel Aviv has completely different dates: April 1 through May 31. Those folks at Virgin really know how to cook up a deal.
A road trip to the Arctic Ocean
Two things that I absolutely love are road trips and the Far North. My wife and I have done several road trips in North North America, including one to Deadhorse, Alaska where we got to dunk ourselves in the Arctic Ocean (spoiler alert: it’s very cold). Sriram over at Travel Codex wrote a fun report about his recent trip to the Nordic Far North that included his own brush with the Arctic Ocean, as well as a visit to the northernmost point in Finland (and the EU).
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I had 2 separate returns at Whole Foods not credited as returns. Store is in a very good area. I made sure everything was scanned, especially the second time. They were not expensive items and I don’t blame the cashiers. It’s just they are a grocery, not a delivery company. Argh. Any tips appreciated.
Chat with amazon and explain the issue. They will give you the credit.
Yes, that’s what I did. Thanks.
IIRC it seems like they used to charge a few bucks ($4-10) to return a package dropped off at UPS back circa 2028 and before.
But i bought a bunch of DJII drone gear back in January for my BIL overseas (bought wrong model ) and could only return some items at Kohls (about 3 of 6 items) the other part of the order I had to jump thru hoops to return.
I don’t return very many items as its not normally worth my time or the hassel to repackage and drive drive/park/wait in ljne at Kohls about 10 minute drive from the house. But if the Item is over $50 and I am going to be on an errand near Costco/mall I might make the effort.