Cleaning Up Odds And Ends From The Week on Sunday, February 17th, 2013
This Just In, 7 Points Per Dollar On Apple Purchases: Via View From the Wing, Staples is going to start carrying Apple products soon. I was in the middle of typing this post when I saw Gary’s post and this immediately became the #1 item to report on. This is pretty big news in my book if you have an Ink Bold card, which pays 5 points per dollar for all office supply purchases, plus the 2 points per dollar you can earn using the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall. I don’t earn a referral credit off this card, I just view it as one of the best cards on the market for both sign-up bonus and spending bonuses. And, as a big Apple fan, this just makes that card even more valuable for me.
Registration For The Hyatt Spring Promotion: It’s time to register for Hyatt’s Spring Promo. Remember that even if you don’t have stays planned at Hyatt it’s free to register and your plans can always change. I wrote earlier that I thought this promotion was weaker than the 2012 fall promo.
You can earn 3,000 bonus points for every 3 nights stayed during the promotion period and, as with the last few Hyatt promos, you earn a 20% bonus if you use your Hyatt Visa Card.
Hilton is Giving Away A Million Points: To celebrate their new property in Las Vegas (Tropicana), Hilton is giving away 1 million Hilton HHonors points to 3 lucky winners. No purchase necessary to enter.
United Makes A Key Benefit Much Harder To Use: While I value my Executive Platinum status with American Airlines much more than my 1K status with United, there is still a decent amount of value to 1K status. One of the benefits offered to 1K members are Global Premier Upgrades (or GPUs). These upgrades can be used on all United metal (flights operated on United planes, not codeshares) and in a few other places, including on Lufthansa. The old process for using these certificates on Lufthansa required requesting a certificate which United would mail to you (yes, postal mail). Then, on the day of travel you could request an upgrade from Lufthansa. Now, United is reporting on Milepoint that the new process will require you to inform United of the name of the person traveling as well as departure and arrival cities, flight numbers and dates of travel and confirmation number at the time you request the certificate.
I’m sure they’re doing this to cut down on people selling the certificates, and I rightfully understand the need to do so. But, this also means that I can’t just hold one in my backpack to use during my travels. I’ve never sold a GPU and don’t imagine I would. But, I have given them away as gifts which will be a lot harder to do now. These certificates are already less valuable than the American Airlines equivalent since they’re available on all fare classes whereas the GPUs require purchasing a ticket in a higher fare class. Further restricting their use is just another reason for me to steer business elsewhere.
