Author: TProphet

I like to travel, dance, and explore new places!

Support Seat 31B And Get 50K Southwest Points

TProphet0 comment

UPDATE: It’s back! Get this deal before it vanishes.

I don’t normally share credit card offers because every other travel blog is awash with them, and very few of them are actually good. However, I will occasionally share a deal that I genuinely believe is actually a good one. How can you keep me honest? I’ll tell you a secret: timing. The best time to get an airline affiliate credit card is near the end of a fiscal quarter, and near the end of the fiscal year is best. All the banks are trying to hit their numbers so they offer better deals. That’s why we’re seeing an exceptionally good deal from Chase on their Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit card. This offer expires November 15, 2016.

What’s the deal? An exceptionally generous 50,000 Rapid Rewards points after an easily achievable $2,000 minimum spend. The regular offer (available here) is half as generous: 25,000 bonus points with a $1,000 minimum spend. This can add up to 10 or more free flights depending upon how you redeem the points. For the Seat 31B traveler, no other offer comes close.

Grab this deal and support Seat 31B!

Grab this deal and support Seat 31B!

Southwest has a different frequent flier program than most. It is based on points rather than miles and is revenue based. So, this program can be considerably more lucrative for many domestic flights than other frequent flier programs. This is because the price of awards is loosely based on the price of a paid ticket, although not exactly. There are “sweet spots” based on the day of the week that you fly and the airport you fly from.

What are some of the better award rates? If you are getting 1.5 cents in value per point or greater, you’re doing pretty well. Redemption values will vary from as low as 1.2 to as high as 1.9 cents per point, with the highest prices on popular dates and routes (particularly booked last-minute) and the lowest ones booked on less popular dates and routes (particularly in advance). The sweet spot is short-haul flights booked in advance. I use Southwest points when I can plan ahead and when I can be flexible to get the best deals and have flown from Los Angeles to Seattle for under 5,000 points. A trip between Ontario and Sacramento I’m taking in December cost only 2,819 points. When you compare this to other programs, it’s an incredible value. British Airways, generally considered the best “legacy” airline program for short-haul flights, now charges a minimum 7,500 points for a short-haul flight.

Another advantage of the Rapid Rewards program: no cancellation fees. I will often use Rapid Rewards for speculative bookings where I’m not 100% sure whether I’ll actually take a trip. I’ll book the ticket well in advance to lock in the best redemption rates, and if I can’t actually go, I can cancel the trip without penalty. As long as you cancel 10 minutes or more before the flight’s departure, you will get back all of the points. Also, don’t forget to keep checking to see if the price goes down. If it does, just refund your ticket and re-book at the lower rates. This happens more often than you might think!

Finally, don’t forget that Southwest charges no baggage fees. I fly them fairly often if I need to check bags, because you can check up to 2 bags free of charge. This saves you $120 versus most airlines on a round-trip flight (if you check two bags). On short-haul flights where the fares are low anyway, baggage fees on other airlines can sometimes exceed the fare!

There are different flavors of the current best offer. This version has a $99 annual fee and $2,000 minimum spend, but you do get most of the value of the annual fee back because it awards 6,000 bonus points at each renewal and includes free drink coupons. Also, if you use our magic link, Seat 31B receives 5,000 bonus points. Other offers for the same card may waive the annual fee for the first year (these are targeted offers for which you may or may not qualify), but with those deals, you don’t get the bonus points at renewal. This card also has no foreign transaction fees, which isn’t the case with all Southwest Airlines cards. I’m comfortable offering this card because I’m confident there isn’t a better deal out there, and it represents a good value for Seat 31B readers.

It’s Back: $80 Off From Hainan Airlines

TProphet0 comment

Chinese carrier and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partner Hainan Airlines periodically has good coupon specials. They’re currently offering a limited number of $80 discount coupons for people who sign up on their Web site. There are surprisingly few restrictions with these codes, and since Hainan already has some of the lowest fares in the markets they serve, this represents substantial savings.

Hainan Airlines plane taking off

Grab this deal before it’s gone!

You can get your coupon code at this link. There are a limited number of codes available, and you can only get one per day. Since these coupon codes can be redeemed through the end of the year, it’s best to get one now while they’re still available.

Here are the restrictions:

  • Good only for flights on Hainan Airlines’ own planes, not for their codeshare flights with Alaska and American Airlines. These depart from Seattle, Boston, San Jose and Chicago.
  • You must book your flight directly on the Hainan Airlines web site.
  • You must buy your flight between now and 31 December 2015. However, your travel dates can be through 30 June, 2016.

I have written quite a bit before about Hainan Airlines before. They fly new modern aircraft, have generally excellent (although distinctly Chinese) inflight service between the US and China, and together with their partner Hong Kong Airlines, they serve not just China, but destinations throughout Asia. Given that US citizens can now transit China without a visa, and that Hainan Airlines is generous with stopovers, you could potentially see two countries for the price of one at a lower price than you’d find elsewhere.

Hainan Airlines is an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partner. If you’ll be flying with them, I recommend that you credit the flights to your Alaska account.

The Best Time To Apply For A Passport

TProphet0 comment

What’s the best time to apply for a passport? Right now. The least busy time in the passport office is between October 26th and November 30th. And, for the first time, the US State Department is offering free faster processing to anyone who applies for a passport through the end of November. This applies to both newly issued and renewal passports. Due to security requirements, the State Department can’t easily add seasonal staff in the same way as private businesses. So by offering faster processing, my guess is that they hope giving people an incentive to renew early will nudge them to renew off-peak.

Don't get stranded with an expired passport. Renew early.

Don’t get stranded with an expired passport. Renew early!

What do faster processing times mean in practice? The State Department advertises 4-5 week turnaround for regular passport applications, and 2-3 week turnaround for expedited passport applications (which cost an extra $60). Anecdotally, it can be much faster if you apply off-peak. The State Department processes applications in the order and priority received, and if there isn’t a long line ahead of you, you could see your passport in as little as a week or two. They won’t advertise or promise this, and you shouldn’t count on it, but it can and does happen.

Renewal tips from Seat 31B:

  • You don’t have to wait for your passport to expire to apply for a new one.
    • Many countries won’t let you in if your passport expires within 6 months of your arrival! Consider your passport expired 6 months before the actual expiration date.
  • If you travel frequently, ask for a passport with extra pages.
    • Ordinary passport renewals come with 24 pages. You can get a 48-page passport at no additional charge upon request.
  • Don’t pay for expedited service unless it’s an emergency, and you’re applying in person at a US Passport Agency for travel within the next 2 weeks.
    • This time of year expedited service is a waste of money–except for emergency rush applications–because ordinary applications are processed in an expedited time frame anyway.

 

Flash Deal: Free Cell Phone Plan, Good Today Only

TProphet0 comment

Ring Plus Mobile is a Sprint reseller. They have been in business for a couple of years and occasionally have really crazy attention-grabbing deals. Today, they’re running one of them and I encourage everyone to run out and activate a line right now.

Why? This is the first time they’ve offered a truly full-featured free plan that won’t likely turn into overages. You get 1500 minutes, 1500 SMS messages, and 1.5GB of data per month. Most people don’t use much (or any) more than this, and similar prepaid plans cost around $40 per month.

How is this travel-related? Sprint, through its legacy acquisition Nextel, has coverage in some fairly unusual places where you can’t get GSM coverage. If you’re using a GSM carrier such as AT&T or T-Mobile, it might be worth lighting up a second line on Sprint so you have a way to make calls elsewhere. Also, maybe you want to preserve your data allowance on your primary line. I’m adding a line with this plan and will keep it in the car to stream music. Why not? It’s free.

The catches:

  • RingPlus uses the Sprint network. This is considered the weakest network of the major US carriers. While they do cover some spots that other carriers don’t, the coverage is (for the most part) somewhere between poor and awful.
  • Overages are expensive. You’ll pay 4 cents per extra text, minute, and megabyte. An extra gig of data could cost you $40!
  • A $15 deposit is required. This is money you’ll never get back. It goes into your RingPlus account to pay for overages.
  • No guarantee it’ll stay free. RingPlus has never taken a free plan away before, but there is no guarantee they won’t in the future. Given that you get the value back after the first month, don’t be too upset if this goes away.

You can buy a phone directly from RingPlus (they mostly have older refurbished phones for sale at higher prices than Amazon or eBay) or activate any Sprint phone. I have also had good luck activating Boost Mobile Android phones, which are much less expensive. You’re not supposed to be able to do this, but it did work for me. In fact, I currently have both a Boost 4G LG Volt and a Boost 3G Moto G active on free RingPlus plans.

To sign up, use this link.

Cheap Spirit Intro Fares: Should You Bite?

TProphet0 comment

Spirit Airlines has some new routes to and from LA, and they’re advertising very low introductory fares starting as low as $34.10 each way (for flights to and from Portland). These are exceptionally low fares, some of the lowest I have ever seen on these routes. Given the savings, should you bite?

Spirit ad for LA flights

The headline fare is low, but there’s a catch!

Maybe not. There aren’t many airlines that are on my “no fly list,” but Spirit and Ryanair both qualify. Why? The customer experience is more like navigating a minefield rather than buying tickets. Apart from charging for checked bags, they also charge for carry-on bags, printing your boarding pass, and even booking online. But wait, there’s more. Once you’re finally on board (and after paying more in add-on fees than you expected), Spirit has the most uncomfortable seats in the skies. There is a mere 28″ of space in between the narrow 17″ seats. Seats on Spirit don’t even recline! And unlike every other airline, not even a glass of water is free. You’ll have to buy a drink and pay $3. So, by the time you get done, you might not be saving a lot of money.

There is also the question of irregular operations. If you’re flying with a mainstream airline (in the US, this means most carriers apart from Southwest, Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier), these airlines have agreements to get you where you’re going even if another seat isn’t available on the carrier you booked. So, for example, if you’re on the last United flight of the day from Seattle to Las Vegas and the plane has a mechanical issue, they could instead (pending availability) rebook you on a later Alaska or Delta flight to get you where you’re going. Spirit will never rebook you on any flight that isn’t their own. They have a reputation for taking liberties with the definition of “weather” in order to avoid paying for hotels if they strand you somewhere (if they can blame weather, they don’t have to pay). And Spirit has far more limited numbers of flights, so it could be several days before they can get you where you’re going. This isn’t a problem with a larger carrier. Even Southwest, which also won’t rebook you on other airlines, at least has such a large and extensive route network that there’s usually a way to get you where you’re going in a reasonable time frame.

Southwest usually has enough flights to bail you out of a jam

Southwest usually has enough alternatives to bail you out of a jam

Is Spirit worth it? I would maybe consider them for one-way, optional journeys from my home city where I don’t need to carry luggage and I can buy the ticket at the airport and check in online. This avoids Spirit’s extra “gotcha” fees. And if something goes wrong, I could just cancel the trip and ask for a refund (which Spirit will grudgingly provide in the event of irregular operations). If I’m only using them from my originating city, I won’t have to worry about getting stranded in a place where hotel room costs erase any savings. However, also note I’m 5’7″ tall and weigh 140 pounds. Narrow seats that are spaced close together don’t bother me that much. If I end up in Seat 31B, so be it. If you’re big and/or tall, it’s another question entirely. You’ll likely end up paying for priority seating to avoid the crunch in the back, erasing even more of the savings.

Why Delta Paid Me $800 To Visit New York

TProphet3 Comments

I just returned from a weekend in New York where I helped run an event called SecretCon (by the way, I’m really good at running technology conferences–feel free to reach out if I can help you). My flight to New York on Delta was more or less uneventful. I was informed at check-in that the flight was oversold and offered the opportunity to volunteer my seat. However, my seat wasn’t needed and I arrived at JFK on time.

For the return flight, on Sunday evening, I arrived at Delta’s JFK international terminal (flights to LAX depart from the international rather than the domestic terminal) and found the gate was a total madhouse. On a hunch, I asked whether the flight was oversold. Wow, was it ever. The gate agent was happy to let me volunteer my seat. “I already asked for volunteers and didn’t get any, so I’ll put you in for the maximum bid.” Like many airlines, Delta operates on a bidding system–they start at $200 and go all the way up to $800 if you volunteer your seat.

Delta ended up bumping me, but they also bumped 4 other people off the flight. These were people who were connecting from an international flight and had technically not arrived in time to make the connection, so they weren’t entitled to any more compensation than a hotel overnight (since the late arrival was Delta’s fault). As the only volunteer, I was entitled to the maximum compensation offered in these situations, which was $800 plus an overnight hotel and a meal voucher.

Busy Delta departure area at JFK

Busy Delta departure area at JFK

“So what,” you may be saying, “a restricted and practically worthless airline voucher that expires before you can use it.” Well, that used to be true, but Delta has apparently changed denied boarding compensation in some situations. At least if you volunteer your seat at the gate instead of online, you can receive a gift voucher which is more valuable. I was asked for my email and received a message inviting me to a gift card reward portal operated by Connexions Loyalty, Inc. A Delta gift card was an option, along with gift cards from various department stores, but an American Express gift card was also an available option. Obviously, I chose this option.

Why would Delta do this rather than sending you a check or giving you cash? Well, there’s a chance that you won’t spend all the money on the gift card before it expires, and gift cards can probably be purchased for less than face value (because American Express receives swipe fees from every purchase you make). That’s not the most interesting part of the story, though. The most interesting part is that Delta apparently now internally values transportation on Delta at near cash par value. However, consumers don’t assign the same value to airline vouchers. They do value gift cards at near cash par value, though, so Delta has likely added these options in order to increase the number of bidders in oversell situations, hence lowering the amount they’ll have to pay.What does this mean to you? Volunteer to be bumped on Delta as many times as you can before the news gets out! You might be pleasantly surprised at being given the option of receiving an American Express gift card instead of a semi-worthless voucher.

HOT DEAL: $35 Off From Hainan Airlines!

TProphet0 comment

Hainan Airlines is a Chinese carrier and the newest partner of Alaska Airlines. Of the Chinese carriers, I consider them the most reliable with the best inflight service; however, they are also the smallest Chinese carrier so itineraries are less frequent and they don’t serve as many cities as Air China, China Southern and China Eastern (the three major Chinese carriers). Keep in mind that a “small” carrier in China is still roughly the size of a major US carrier. If you want to make a rough comparison, you could consider them something like the Southwest Airlines of China (except they do offer first class, unlike Southwest).

Hainan Airlines plane taking offHainan has been steadily expanding service to the US, most recently between Shanghai and both Seattle and Boston. They also fly between Beijing and both Seattle and Chicago. Within the US, Hainan codeshares with both Alaska and American Airlines, but Hainan is only a partner with Alaska. You won’t get any mileage or elite benefits through American. They also also offer a lot of connections throughout Asia via their subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines. Now that you can transit China visa-free, it’s really worth considering them as an option. This is especially true now that they are an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partner (although only Hainan-operated flights qualify for Alaska Airlines mileage plan credit).

On their Facebook page, Hainan is currently offering a $35 off coupon – and given that their flights are often the least expensive anyway, there is even more reason to try them.

Promo: Squeeze More Value From Your Starpoints

TProphet0 comment

I normally try to cover loopholes and tricks that other blogs don’t, but this is a pretty good promotion I’d like to be sure my readers don’t miss. American Airlines is currently offering a 20% bonus on points transfers from the Starpoints program. If you have the right strategy, this promotion can represent very good value.

Starwood Preferred Guest is a points program operated by the Starwood hotels chain. It’s generally considered to be the richStarwood Preferred Guest logoest points currency (although the program is also subject to some notable limitations, such as an aggressive points expiration policy). The points can be redeemed for rooms at Starwood properties, and this is generally the best redemption. However, they can also be exchanged for a very wide variety of points in other programs. And unlike many points currencies, exchanging Starwood points can often be at more than a 1:1 ratio.

Under the current promotion, which expires August 7th, you can receive an additional 20% bonus. This means that if you transfer blocks of 20,000 Starwood points into Aadvantage miles, you ordinarily receive a 5,000 mile bonus. However, you get an extra 20%. This means that you will receive a total of 30,000 Aadvantage miles for every 20,000 Starpoints that you transfer.

American Airlines logoShould you do this? A qualified maybe. I certainly wouldn’t do it on speculation; have a flight that you want to take in mind, and be aware that it could disappear before your transfer clears. This is because the availability of cheap Aadvantage points in the past has sometimes foreshadowed devaluations, which occurred without prior notice last time. Additionally, it has become a lot harder in recent months to book Aadvantage awards–so don’t assume it’ll be easy. Some availability opens up at the last minute, but American nails you with a $75 last-minute fee if you book less than 3 weeks in advance. And with Delta, Southwest and United now basing their loyalty programs on money spent rather than miles flown, the Aadvantage program might head the same direction. Or maybe not. After all, American invented the airline loyalty program, and given that Aadvantage is one of the largest such programs in the world, they might choose to leave it as-is. Nobody really knows except for American, and they’re not saying.

Where can you go for 30,000 miles? One-way in economy class between Europe and North America during the peak summer period, which is one of the best redemptions for Aadvantage miles (if you can find availability). You can do this with low to nonexistent fuel surcharges if you fly on American, Iberia or airBerlin. These are tough flights to find, but I have had relatively good luck looking at less popular routes (such as Dusseldorf-Chicago on American or Dusseldorf-Los Angeles on airBerlin). Or if you look ahead to the winter months, consider an austral summer sun break in Chile. Whatever you do, if you take advantage of this promotion, don’t sit on the miles. Have somewhere in mind that you want to go, have flexibility on your dates, times, airports and airlines, and book right away.