OPEN Benefits

Last Day For Increased SPG Amex Bonus

September 14, 2015By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

Last day for the increased sign-up bonus on both the personal and business SPG Amex card.

American Airlines Makes It Tougher To Earn Elite Status With Credit Card Spend

Another airline is looking to thin out the elite ranks. American Airlines makes an announcement today that will reduce the number of elite members. Is more to come?

It Appears Hyatt Is Increasing The Price Of Points & Cash Awards Soon. Book Now Under Current Prices!

Time to get those hands busy booking some reservations using Hyatt’s points & cash rates. We’ve got multiple rumors that the price of Points & Cash are going up on November 1st.

Now Boarding: Harlan Vaughn, Out & Out

This week’s episode of the NowBoarding podcast features Harlan Vaughn, author of the Out & Out blog on Boarding Area. Hope you enjoy the show!

British Airways Drastically Increases “Fuel Surcharges” On Award Flights. Is American Airlines Next?

Looking for good news as we head towards the holiday season? Best to look elsewhere than British Airways. Their present for you this holiday is greater fuel surcharges on award flights from the US to Europe. Isn’t that great?

Is It Tru? A Review Of Tru By Hilton

Is it Tru? Did I enjoy my first experience at a Tru hotel? Or was I Tru Blue? Only one way to find out!

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]