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?
In this weekend’s Frequent Miler week in review around the web we have a reminder that it never hurts to ask for easy points, how to plan for the life of your points after death, a premium economy option for crossing the pond that might be worth considering and more.
Match To A Higher Signup Bonus (Don’t Leave Points On The Table)
When a welcome offer increases, readers frequently ask if we think the issuer would match them to the new (better) offer. My answer is always the same: I don’t know that they definitely will, but if you don’t ask for it I know that they definitely won’t. Dr McFrugal provides a good reminder: if you see the bonus on a card increase, you have nothing to lose by asking and potentially a lot to gain.
CANCELING AWARD RESERVATIONS AND MANAGING MILES OF A DECEASED PERSON
Miles for Family tackles an uncomfortable topic: how Leana handled the miles and points affairs for a family member who passed away. I’m sorry for her family’s loss but glad that she explained this part of the process because surely many of us will find ourselves in this spot someday and wonder what to do. Many readers have likely amassed valuable rewards at the opportunity cost of cash back, so it makes sense to figure out what to do with this before the time comes.
Get a pair of Apple AirPods when you sign up for SCB credit cards (including X Card)
This credit card and welcome bonus is not available in the United States, but it caught my interest because I was surprised that we don’t see more issuers offering today’s equivalent of a free toaster for opening a credit card. Is there a regulation of some sort preventing that here? Perhaps it creates tax form complications that aren’t worth it for the bank? At the very least, I feel like Apple could come out with a premium card that comes with free AirPods, right? Singapore-based blog Mile Lion has more on this overseas bonus.
A Good – but Ironic – Result from AA Customer Relations
This post from Middle Age Miles is not a response about his locked AA account but rather a success in getting compensation for a major flight delay after the fact. It’s good to know how this process works in case you ever need it. To be clear, I don’t recommend abusing this and asking for compensation without good reason; if you do have a legitimate gripe (and especially if you didn’t book on a credit card that offers delay protection), it’s good to know how to go about asking the airline to take care of it.
Why LEVEL is decent value for long-haul Premium Economy Avios redemptions
Despite the fact that I typically fly from New York or Boston, I hadn’t really considered using Avios to fly LEVEL Premium Economy to get to/from Europe. British Blog Head for Points writes this from a UK focus point, but it is just as useful for those of us in the US: 51K points and less than $200 for a round trip premium economy ticket doesn’t sound amazing when you consider how cheaply LEVEL sells economy class tickets, but on the other hand when you consider the savings in terms of the add-on costs and what is hopefully a slightly more comfortable experience crossing the pond this could be worthwhile.
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HI guys, Just listened to (most of) the podcast. Where is it that you would like comments? (You didn’t seem to have an accompanying post this time around…)
Anyways, just wanted to chime in about Juicy Miles. Like you suggested, I also think the 5-day purchases are the way to go (rather than an ongoing subscription). I find it’s just enough time to book a trip and it’s nice to be “forced” to finish and not keep checking and rechecking things.
But a couple of things about JM, in addition to the points you made of it NOT checking everything. I find that JM did not catch LHR flights on Virgin Atlantic very well. And it does not consider United “bonus seating” (i.e., that which you might get with their credit card).
And it’s worth mentioning that some of us in this little game often fly economy and, for that, it’s always good to compare the JM’s results with paid tickets on LCC. If only JM could also do that!
LCC == low cost carriers
Hi Nick – Many thanks for the link. I hope our article about the AA complaint/claim process helps FM & MAM readers. And thanks also for reiterating our warning in the article about not abusing this process. Have a great rest of the weekend! ~Craig