[Cattle Rustler]

(08-10-2014 12:15 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  

same.

Unrelated to thread but since you seem to know about credit I have a question:

Will paying off my student loans faster affect my credit?

It's considered a credit account and if I pay it off faster then it will be closed, considering it's my longest account.....not sure if it will bite me in terms of credit scoring. I'm aware that paying it off ASAP is beneficial, just wondering about the credit score side.

Thanks

[Global Entry]

I guess I'd ask, #1 - why do you want to pay it off faster? Is it somehow a high rate of interest? If not, don't you have more useful and productive uses for the cash than paying down a low-interest debt? If its high rate, then the best thing would be to refinance into a low interest consolidation and then go back to question #1.

Why is paying it off ASAP beneficial? Are you saying its credit account (as in revolving) and not a loan account?

Paying off a debt shouldn't remove the debt from your credit for I believe 7 years, so it won't affect your account history average age by paying off for a long time afterwards. But in any event, canceling a bunch of credit cards, your oldest, all at the same time, will eventual bang your credit rating a bit, so especially for cards with no annual fees, or ones with annual fees that provide equivalent value (or greater) annual benefits, just leave 'em open and in a drawer.

[Global Entry]

As many of you know, US Airways is going bye-bye. In early to mid-2015, the frequently flyer program will first disappear into AAdvantage, and then the airlines will combine by year end 2015 (all reservation systems, booking,ops, etc).

So why do you care? Because for now, there are still separate opportunities to be had, and the relevant one here, is the Barclaycard US Airways master card, for those of us with very good to excellent credit scores.

Here's the scoop, in a visual format.



and here's what you get also...



The thing is, this offer, which if you value US Airways miles at a modest 1.9 cents per mile, is worth, just on miles, 760 USD. You pay $89 per year. Thats a solid arb without the other benefits being offered (which of course, count to). US Airways, other than only doing roundtrips (no one way redemptions), has the best redemption chart in the airline industry, to me, 110K miles biz class roundtrip US to HK on Cathay, and only a bit more (120K miles) in the legendary Cathay first class (actually until July 31st, it was actually only 90K for this ticket in Biz class). That by itself is unbelievable, but they have super flexible routing rules, allow long stops en route (which make free one-way tickets possible, two per flight). Take my word for it, this is a great program.

And its disappearing, meaning it will combine with AA, and the card offer will vanish as well. So dial now, get those miles, use em (they also offer miles per sale pretty much every other month, to augment these for a international ticket). If you don't use em, well, AA's mileage chart is pretty good too, and thats where the miles will end up.

No minimum spend to get the miles, just charge something and you've got 40,000 miles to play with.

Best of all, instant credit approval. I hit 750 recently on my Experian credit score, which meant i was in range for this card (I wouldn't try to get it if you're credit is much below 735 - sign up for your score for free at experian.com, regardless of your credit, so you can begin to monitor and improve it). I applied, and literally in five seconds, I got the approval, and my account showed up. Boom.



If you've got the credit rating (close to 750 or higher), definitely do this before it goes away. It will also decrease your credit utilization - I just added to my available credit 12500, and I don't have to spend any money for a minimum spend. So my utilization goes down - also check out the balance transfer offer, 0 percent for 15 months for me. Boom again.

Here's a link, through Milevalue, who I'll give a shoot-out whether he wants it or not because he writes good shit on his blog. He (not me) will get paid if you get approved, but hell, why not him (until I've set my own blog up, of course).

http://milevalue.com/us-airways-masterca...nus-miles/

milevalue link

[TheBulldozer]

^I picked up this card about a month ago. Made one purchase at the coffee shop and I'm waiting for my 40k miles. I only had a small balance of USAir miles, so I'm thinking that I'll wait for these miles to bank over into American next year once they complete their merger. Nonetheless, this card combined with my small amount of existing USAir miles add up to another 55k, allowing me a ride on Cathay business.

Cha ching!

Note, that if you have an existing Barclay's credit card, it's unlikely you'll be approved for this card.

[Global Entry]

I have around 110,000 US Airmiles banked, though technically 100,000 of them are for work travel only (which is fine, regardless).

I expect that I'll cancel this card post merger and get the Barclay Arrival Card instead, that is if they don't cancel it for me. I'm not sure if its been announced, but perhaps this card will just convert to a AAdvantage Mastercard, in which case I'll make the determination whether to keep it at that point. The ongoing fee isn't really an issue, being so low, but the Arrival card is one of the better cards out there for miles game.

[HankRearden]

Anything to recommend if I'm living in London? Most of this stuff seems to be American-centric. Thanks.

[Tail Gunner]

(08-10-2014 01:34 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  

US Airways, other than only doing roundtrips (no one way redemptions), has the best redemption chart in the airline industry, to me, 110K miles biz class roundtrip US to HK on Cathay, and only a bit more (120K miles) in the legendary Cathay first class (actually until July 31st, it was actually only 90K for this ticket in Biz class).

Just to be clear, does this mean that you cannot obtain a one-way ticket (e.g., U.S. to MNL to BKK, without returning to the U.S.) -- even if you use your Dividend Miles to buy a one-way ticket on another airline (e.g., Cathay)? If so, you would need to toss one-half of a business class ticket. That would suck.

[TheBulldozer]

Global might know better than me, especially since I'm not well versed in USAir, but I'm almost certain the award ticket must be booked on the same itinerary and must return to the same airport as the start of the ticket.

[Global Entry]

At this point in time, using US Airways miles needs to be a roundtrip, so yeah, you'd be throwing away half of a biz class ticket, highly inefficient. But it does allow open jaw tickets, see my list of restrictions on award tickets on the previous page of this thread ( http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-38140-...#pid799848 ) - so you don't need to do that Male, you can leave from one place and return to another. You can also use pretty much whatever routing you want with US Airways, its very permissive. You can also get stopovers, say US to MNL (stay a while) and then BKK (stay a while), then back to somewhere in the USA, doesn't need to be the same city. You can also get a free one way ticket, because of the open jaw rule, meaning that you can route your ticket from a city you travel to on your own, stop at your home city as a stopover for however long u want, then continue onto Asia. All in, that may make it worthwhile to blow the roundtrip, but to me, I'd find another way if possible.

Really though, do the math. How much are you getting per mile using 135K (is that right) miles getting there.

Instead, here's what you do - this month, go buy those discounted AAdvantage miles I already mentioned, and use AA miles to book the ticket. If you've the cash to buy the miles. Do that to MNL, and then suck it up and buy a cheap ticket on Emirates (I think they fifth freedom this route) MNL-BKK. AA doesn't allow stopovers, but they do allow one-ways. Better to me than wasting all those miles, if you've the cash to buy the AA miles.

(08-10-2014 10:12 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  

(08-10-2014 01:34 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  

US Airways, other than only doing roundtrips (no one way redemptions), has the best redemption chart in the airline industry, to me, 110K miles biz class roundtrip US to HK on Cathay, and only a bit more (120K miles) in the legendary Cathay first class (actually until July 31st, it was actually only 90K for this ticket in Biz class).

Just to be clear, does this mean that you cannot obtain a one-way ticket (e.g., U.S. to MNL to BKK, without returning to the U.S.) -- even if you use your Dividend Miles to buy a one-way ticket on another airline (e.g., Cathay)? If so, you would need to toss one-half of a business class ticket. That would suck.

(08-10-2014 11:34 AM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Global might know better than me, especially since I'm not well versed in USAir, but I'm almost certain the award ticket must be booked on the same itinerary and must return to the same airport as the start of the ticket.

[Global Entry]

Yeah, its American centric and I'm guessing you can guess why.

FlyerTalk is the encyclopedia of forum information on all this stuff. Way too detailed and esoteric for many, but a wealth of information. There will be forums related to UK credit cards and which have the best offers, etc. and many other countries as well.

As far as loyalty clubs are concerned, thats not really nation-centric. I'd definitely join a bunch - for you Iberia and BAEC are no brainers (Iberia is a partner to BAEC and is often cheaper (no fuel surcharges) to get to North America, but you need points in your account for it to be considered open. Fortunately, BAEC allows you to transfer points to Iberia in 1000 point chunks, a very rare thing in the miles game (one airline letting you actually transfer miles, instead of booking whole itineraries).

(08-10-2014 06:59 AM)HankRearden Wrote:  

Anything to recommend if I'm living in London? Most of this stuff seems to be American-centric. Thanks.

[Onto]

Thank you Global Entry for this thread. It really brought me into awarness of the deals that can be had. Since I've never really travelled much, I didn't know of it's benefits. I'm going to be travelling for the first time solo in a couple weeks for an indefinite amount of time.

Since I already do most of my personal and business banking with Chase and have a CC with them I went with the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program. Here's what I did.

* Got a Chase Sapphire card (Personal) (Spend $3k in 3 months/get 40,000 points)

Was approved on the spot for a good sized limit.

* Got a Chase Ink Business Card (Business) (Spend $5k in 3 months/get 70,000 points)

I did this 2 days after getting the Sapphire and was DENIED! I called them and asked for re-consideration and they APPROVED me by taking some of the limit from my recently aquired Sapphire card and porting it to this Business card.

Note: The 70,000 miles offer is only available by applying at a branch, otherwise it's 50,000. I was also able to get both cards expeditied to the branch within 2 days at no extra cost. This was key because I don't live in a doorman building and I'm travelling in about 2 weeks.

I didn't apply for both cards in the beginning because I was worried about spending $8k in 3 months. I'm quitting my job this month and will be living more conservatively, but then I realized I could pay my city Property Taxes online via CC. That's $4,700! It will cost 3% ($150) to do that plus the $95 annual fee for the CC, but I figure I'm getting $1,540 worth in miles with the business card alone, so it's worth it.

Thanks again Global Entry and everyone else as well. I'm excited to be getting into travel points game

[Global Entry]

Good work, Onto. I need to do a full writeup on CC and manufactured spending (which is qualifying spending that will help you hit mileage bogies but won't cost you 3%). I'm no expert on that myself, far from, but perhaps I can make some guys aware that its out there and allow them to do their own research. Obviously, the benefit of MS is not just to hit initial bogies but to churn points going forward. Spending without spending is the game.

I myself just got approved for the Starwood Amex, turns out just under the wire, as then the same day, some old fucking Time Warner Cable bill dropped on my credit report, slapping me down more than 60 points. Its a total BS bill, as they billed me for a month after I cancelled, but I paid it immediately upon seeing it on my credit report (I check my credit frequently) and now I'll dispute to try to get the late payment removed. I highly recommend that Starwood Amex for travelers because of the wealth of transfer partners at good ratios, among other benefits.

[samsamsam]

Money Magazine June 2014 Issue had a few pages on credit cards and how to maximize rewards.

http://time.com/money/2870323/rules-of-the-game/

This part I am quoting was interesting to me.

Quote:

DON’T: spread out your applications. Planning to get new cards to follow the strategies here? Complete all your applications within a two-day window, since that way only one inquiry will be recorded on your credit reports. If you instead apply over a few months, your report will show multiple inquiries, which can damage your credit score.

[Global Entry]

I'm reposting this from MileValue. For some of us who take very long flights, this is a relatively important consideration - not above price or traveling class, or even airline, but why not optimize what you can optimize, and that includes the seat on the plane you've chosen to fly.

Props to MileValue.com. I do find he posts useful information logically considered with very little obvious bias thrown in for things he thinks are "cool."

Anyway, a familiarity with Seat Guru is worth a few minutes of your time, so when you're planning a trip across an ocean, you don't end up in the shitty seat.
****

Today I’ll be explaining a tool I use every time I book a flight or research an award to ensure I get the best seat possible, seatguru.com. SeatGuru is an online compendium of airline seat maps.

Using SeatGuru can be the difference between picking an award routing with a fully flat bed in Business Class versus an angled lie flat seat. It can be the difference between sitting in privacy and sharing an elbow rest with a stranger.

Along the left top of the site, hold your cursor over Browse Airlines. Select from the list.



How do you use SeatGuru to snag the best flights and seats?
How do you select seats on awards?

If you click on an airline, every aircraft in its fleet will show up. If you click on one, you can see its seat map.



The aircrafts are grouped by whether they are narrow body (one aisle) or wide body (two aisles.) The latter tend to be used for the longhaul flights on which we are most interested in seat quality.

I use SeatGuru in three ways.

Figure Out the Best Product on a Given Airline

The first is to figure out the best product on an airline. For instance, if I know that I want to fly in US Airways Business Class, I could open US Airways three widebody jets’ pages and compare the business class product offered on various US Airways planes.

From comparing them, I learned to avoid the 757, which only has recliners, and to shoot for the A330-200, which has lie flat beds.



I would use this information when booking any paid or award ticket. When booking a ticket, the aircraft is always listed alongside each option. I would make sure if I were booking a business class ticket on US Airways that the flight was operated by an A330-200.

Get the Best Seat in the Cabin

The second way I use SeatGuru is to make sure I get the best seat within my class of service. I once flew a British Airways 777-200 in business class.



When looking at the seat map, note that some seats are color coded. Just like driving, green is good, and red is bad. SeatGuru shades a seat green if it has more room than normal or some other desirable feature.

SeatGuru shades a seat yellow or red if the seat has a defect like a window seat that isn’t aligned with a window or any seat that is too near to a galley or toilet. Or the worst of all, coach seats that don’t recline.

From looking at the map and holding my cursor over the map, I chose seat 2J. It had extra space, only one seat mate, and would be easy to enter and exit.

What Type of Seat Does a Plane Feature?

The third way I use SeatGuru is to figure out whether a business class seat is angled lie flat or truly lie flat. Hold your cursor over any seat for that info. A text box will pop up explaining whether the seat is fully flat like British Airways business.



Or whether a seat is angled lie flat like most of American Airlines business. (Of course SeatGuru would let you know that American’s 777-300ER feature fully flat business class.)



SeatGuru is intuitive to use and is a wealth of information. From now on when booking or researching a flight, pull up the seat map and find out where the best seat for you is.

Seat Selection on Awards
Once you have your ideal seats picked, you have to contact the operating carrier of each flight for a seat assignment.

If you are flying multiple carriers, this can be a tedious process.

There are some exceptions. Lufthansa seems to be able to make seat selections on most Star Alliance carriers, but most airlines can only assign you a seat on their own flights.

Look up an airline’s contact number on google, call the airline and give your confirmation number (or flight number and name), and politely ask for your top choice from SeatGuru. Have back up seats in mind if your top choice is occupied.

[Global Entry]

This isn't exactly a blockbuster, but its free to sign up. Spend $30 dollars one (this can include a gift card for restaurants that have them, by the way, just make sure they put it all on one check) meal, and get $2500 miles. $30 dollars for 2500 Delta miles isn't a deal, but since you're eating anyway, and they've a lot of choices, why not take advantage of it.

http://skymiles.rewardsnetwork.com/bonus...4&detail=y

Ready to earn more miles than ever before? Join SkyMiles® Dining and you can earn up to 5 miles for every dollar you spend dining at over 10,000 participating restaurants, bars and clubs from coast to coast.
Plus, as a new member we're sweetening the deal with 2,500 bonus miles when you spend a minimum of $30 in one dine at any participating restaurant in the first 30 days with the Sign Up and Dine Bonus! (That's in addition to the miles you earn per dollar!)
It couldn't be easier. Here's how you do it:
1Join SkyMiles Dining for free.
2Spend $30 on a single dine at a participating restaurant, bar or club within 30 days.
3Complete your review within 30 days of dining. (The review link will be emailed to you, and it only takes a minute to complete.)
4Earn 2,500 bonus miles!*

[Global Entry]

Some news from US Airways. They're now pricing roundtrip awards in miles based on the flight class of each way. Before if you wanted a roundtrip ticket on USA, and were flying one way in Biz, lets say, and one way in Economy, due to availability of the award (meaning there were no return Biz seats available as an award), then USA would charge you miles as if you flew both directions in Biz Class.

They've now made the improvement that, although they still don't offer one way awards like merger partner American, they will price the award in miles in each direction. Thus, the above trip would cost 1/2 of the biz class roundtrip ticket, and 1/2 of the economy roundtrip ticket.

For example, if a RT to HK from North America is 110,000 in biz class and 70,000 in econ. before the trip would have cost 110,000 to fly one way Biz, and back economy. Now, though, it would cost 55,000 (1/2 of 110K) + 35,000 (1/2 of 70K) or 90,000 miles.

Its not a one-way award, but heck its definitely an improvement. It also allows you to find more flights, if you domt have enough for a biz class both ways (or first), you can mix and match so that your available miles can get you there and back, partially in style.

[Tail Gunner]

(08-17-2014 04:19 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  

For example, if a RT to HK from North America is 110,000 in biz class and 70,000 in econ. before the trip would have cost 110,000 to fly one way Biz, and back economy. Now, though, it would cost 55,000 (1/2 of 110K) + 35,000 (1/2 of 70K) or 90,000 miles.

I appreciate it when you provide an example. Some of this stuff is confusing, so an example is gold. Great information.

I have used Seat Guru for years to select seats, but did not know all the options. Good stuff.

[Global Entry]

Quick copy from EHD.com, as I'm traveling in Penang, having used 40,000 British Airways Avios to get two tickets one way HKG - Penang in biz class, and 20,000 avios for return in economy from SINgapore.

This is worth it, but keep in mind if you use this website, Hyatt, SPG and other hotel chains won't give you points for your stay!

Hotels.com is offering great coupon codes right now. 3STARUS for $30 off a 3 star hotel, 4STARUS for $40 off a 4 star hotel, 5STARUS for $50 off a 5 star. There’s no minimum spend+1 night bookings are allowed= free and close to free hotels around the world. As usual this means the best value is 1: make multiple single night bookings. 2: choose areas with low taxes and prices as close to coupon value. Vegas/SE Asia/Egypt/Turkey and Spain resorts/etc.

Basics from the terms and conditions-
-Only good at participating Best Price Guarantee hotel
-You must pay for your stay when you make the booking. The discount doesn’t apply to any taxes, fees or additional costs.
-You need to book by 11:59 pm CST on August 31st, 2014 on the US version of Hotels.com for a stay to be completed between August 25, 2014 and December 31, 2014.
-Limit of 1 coupon per booking.
-You can’t collect or redeem Welcome Rewards nights when you use this coupon.

H/T EMCC from the DDF forum.

[username]

^Those Hotels.com promo codes are already dead

Quote:

25 off with app:
Orbitz = Download25
Travelocity = MOBILE25
Expedia $25 off with App

Source

Also here is 10% off Hotels.com: AUG1410OFFUS
15% off Orbitz: EMAIL15

Also Orbitz.com has a promotion where if you sign up through a specific link and join Orbitz Rewards you get $25 off $100, coupon is emailed a day or two after joining.

Right now I am finalizing my rooms for my trip so I have been hunting down codes like crazy. Using the codes in this post I saved $62 for 7 nights.

[Global Entry]

Yeah its absolutely essential to sign up for these updates directly to an email account, as getting them here a day later is probably gonna result in used-up codes. EHD is the same thing. If you wait for it here, unlikely in a popular destination that deal isn't sold out. Too many people halfway in on the travel game.

(08-19-2014 07:11 PM)username Wrote:  

^Those Hotels.com promo codes are already dead

Quote:

25 off with app:
Orbitz = Download25
Travelocity = MOBILE25
Expedia $25 off with App

Source

Also here is 10% off Hotels.com: AUG1410OFFUS
15% off Orbitz: EMAIL15

Also Orbitz.com has a promotion where if you sign up through a specific link and join Orbitz Rewards you get $25 off $100, coupon is emailed a day or two after joining.

Right now I am finalizing my rooms for my trip so I have been hunting down codes like crazy. Using the codes in this post I saved $62 for 7 nights.

[Global Entry]

Per Tail Gunner's request, a plain language overview of the miles game and how its changing, courtesy of Hack My Trip.


Are Frequent Flyer Programs a Fool’s Game?

Airline loyalty programs have long tempted their most frequent customers with upgrades, bonus points, and other forms of special treatment. But the definition of a “frequent flyer” for many carriers has begun to shift from one who flies a lot of miles to one who simply opens his wallet the widest.

At one time it was possible to perform so-called “mileage runs” to earn miles cheaply (under 4 cents paid per mile flown) by traveling during off-peak periods and adding extra connections. A small minority of passengers might book $500 mistake fares to Europe from the West Coast for the chance at increased upgrade priority, waived airline fees, and enough award miles for two business class tickets to Bali.

United PQD Table

New rules for earning elite status with two of the largest carriers, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, have effectively set a floor at between 10 and 12 cents per mile flown. Additional changes slated for 2015 will decrease the number of award miles most customers earn, raising the cost to about 20 cents per mile flown in order to earn both the elite benefits and award miles equivalent to what were provided just a few years ago. And carriers have been simultaneously devaluing their award charts so that these miles don’t go as far as they used to.

A Shift to Revenue-Based “Loyalty”

No-frills carriers like Southwest Airlines have long used what are called revenue-based loyalty programs, and their customers generally give them high marks. But their business models are fundamentally different in other ways: they often provide one class of service, fly mostly domestic routes, and have more price-sensitive customers who prefer a regular discount over aspirational redemptions.

There’s no way to rig a revenue-based system to your advantage because booking cheap tickets just means you’ll earn fewer points, and extra connections will just waste your time.

Whether larger, international carriers are making a mistake by copying their discount brethren is open for debate. But it is clear from current trends that loyalty programs of the future will reward only those customers who spend the most money with a preferred carrier, especially those with business travel that is fully reimbursable by employers. Is it still worthwhile for the average passenger to pursue elite status with an airline?

Many Ways to Earn and Benefit from Status

Elite status can still be valuable to many passengers — even some infrequent leisure travelers — but earning that status requires more foresight and planning than ever before. Carefully evaluate how you currently travel, how you would like to travel (assuming you earn these benefits), and the competition that exists in your home market.

A woman who lives in Los Angeles and splits her travel between American Airlines and Delta Air Lines is less likely to earn elite status with either one. But both American and Delta are partners with Alaska Airlines. She could credit all her miles to Alaska’s Mileage Plan and earn status with benefits like priority boarding and better seat assignments even as she continues to fly on American and Delta.

If she were willing to book all her travel on Alaska, which has a strong presence on the West Coast and comparable fares, she could even lower the qualification requirements to earn her status faster and consider making an attempt to enter a higher elite tier. Alaska also offers some good award redemption opportunities on premium international carriers. In fact, it requires the same number of miles to fly all the way to Johannesburg (with a free stopover) as it does to just visit Hong Kong.

Consider another scenario: A man who frequently takes short flights on regional jets wouldn’t be enjoying an upgrade even should he manage to achieve elite status. But if he pays a lot for those flights by booking last-minute tickets for business and is running a lot of purchases through a mile-earning business credit card, then that elite status could still let him avoid change and cancellation fees when he goes to redeem his miles for award travel.

Elite Status Matters Only If You’ll Use It

If you don’t value business or first class travel and think all flying is uncomfortable, then you might not want the miles to begin with. Similarly, if you always use a carry-on, book far in advance to get the aisle seat you want, and never change your travel plans, then you don’t need to worry about waiving fees. A cash-back credit card and a revenue-based loyalty program would be better choices.

Always consider your objectives before setting out on a mission, and research the best path to achieve them. It may not be the most direct or obvious.

Sometimes the answer is starting you in the face. If you want something, pay for it. More and more carriers are offering discounted upgrades at the time of booking or at the gate rather than “giving them away” to elites. In-flight cocktails, airport lounge access, and more are all available for purchase. Checking an oversized bag? When you return from your trip go through your clothes and take note of how many you actually wore. Next time, carry on.

Are the perks of elite status really necessary? Some people imagine their life will be better since they can’t stand the thought of being cooped up in a metal tube for five hours. Don’t forget you’ll have five days at your hotel once you land. Maybe your upgrade efforts would be better directed elsewhere.

At the end of the day, status tends to go to those who earn it and will use it. You might fit that description if you’re a frequent business traveler who buys expensive tickets. You can still fit that description if you’re a scrupulous leisure traveler who knows what she wants and plans a way to obtain it. Most people just want to get from A to B with a minimum of hassle. Elite status isn’t necessarily for fools, but there are certainly more important things in life than agonizing over your place in the boarding queue.

[Global Entry]

ALERT:

Iberia has drastically devalued its award chart. Flights that were available for 4,500 Avios are now 19,500 Avios. Really the worst devaluation seen on an airline in a long time.

You're saying, I don't live in Spain, why do i care? Well, you might, if you're like me and you stock up on British Airways Avios. BA and Iberia are co-owned by the same company, and some pundits are expecting a similar, drastic devaluation by BA in the next few days. Basically, think of 100 dollars all of a sudden being worth 33 dollars. If you've Avios which you've been saving for short flights, its very possible that BA is going to follow suit and slam their award chart. No guarantees, and we'll see what happens.

Hedge this: Book tickets you're considering flying with your BA Avios now. Since Iberia did in their award chart with no warning, its quite possible (I fucking hope not) that BA shortly does the same thing (I just spent all the time getting myself into position to be BA gold).

Anyway, earn and burn is even more urgent, potentially, with BA flyers. I fortunately spent a bunch of miles just recently to get to Malaysia and back from Singapore, but now I know I'm gonna burn some more flying HKG- BKK on Thursday (if I can). Problem is I have a long itinerary booked on OneWorld to get my BA Gold (BKK-AMM-CDG-LHR-JFK and back), and now those miles could be subject to ridiculous deval. If I plug em into AA or US Airways, then I won't get gold.

[TheBulldozer]

Was not happy to read this a few minutes ago. I was going to save some of these avios for a trip next month but I'll have to see if I can burn them on this bkk meet up. Still not sure if I can even pull it off yet. Should know by tomm.

[Global Entry]

Same here. This was like a gut punch. Waiting to see what happens. I spent a lot of effort hitting BAEC Gold (in October I'll hit) to have this happen Of course I'll still enjoy the lounge access and some other perks, but it does suck. At least I already burnt the vast majority of my BA Avios.

(08-25-2014 05:55 AM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Was not happy to read this a few minutes ago. I was going to save some of these avios for a trip next month but I'll have to see if I can burn them on this bkk meet up. Still not sure if I can even pull it off yet. Should know by tomm.

[TheBulldozer]

I ran all sorts of flight combos last night. I have no clue how I'm going to spend these things. Flight times/connections just work really poorly for me out of my airport.