Strategies

a white airplane on a runway
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Alaska Airlines Fall Sale: Last Day to Check Bookings for Lower Prices

ByTerence Chan

Just a friendly reminder that today’s the final day of the Alaska Airlines Annual Fall Sale, which features flights starting at $64 across their entire route network. Each city has their own set of deals, but at least from rhe San Francisco Bay Area, there doesn’t appear to be any amazing deals to traditional vacation destinations like Mexico and Hawaii. However, there are pretty good deals to various West Coast cities, including Salt Lake City, Portland, and a couple southern CA cities.

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Korean Air’s Updated Award Ticket Hold Policy

ByTerence Chan

It seems like Korean Air’s SKYPASS frequent flyer program continues to fly under-the-radar, despite the fact that it is a transfer partner of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, and a new transfer option for Starwood Preferred Guest points. They’ve also recently addressed one of the major negatives about the program, which was how cumbersome and painful it was to book award tickets. The website has improved dramatically, bringing it closer to the standards that most of us are accustomed to with domestic airlines.

clouds and sky above the clouds

Would It Be Crazy To Turn My Stay-cation Into A Plane-cation?

ByTerence Chan

It’s been a rather crazy first few months of the year at work so I was actually thinking of taking a couple days off for a stay-cation and some much needed “me time”. At the same time, I have a ton of miles burning a hole in my pocket, and am getting the travel itch since we don’t have any international trips planned until October. Then the idea dawned on me, why not do something that satisfies both desires? In other words, why I don’t I do a stay-cation where I’m traveling, but at the same time not really traveling.

a group of ancient buildings in a field
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How Did You Get Started With This Hobby?

ByTerence Chan

I’m constantly talking to friends, family, and even strangers about the points and miles hobby. I do understand that it can be a bit intimidating to get started, so I’ve even tried to boil it down into a “how to get started” presentation that I’ve given a few times. But even after spelling things out for people, I’ve noticed that the uptake rate has still been pretty low in terms of those that dive head first into it like I had.

a blue airplane with a logo on the tail

Redeeming Korean Air Miles Has Become Significantly Easier

ByTerence Chan

I’m one of the charter members of the “Korean Air Fan Club” and in recent years have been funneling the vast majority of my Chase Ultimate Rewards points into the Korean Air Skypass program. I’m planning a trip to Asia later this year, and decided to finally cash in those Skypass miles. I blocked off an hour of time to go through the incredibly confusing and annoying award booking experience that I remembered from 2014, but to my surprise, I had confirmed tickets in my account in less than 10 minutes.

a logo of a woman with a crown and a cup of coffee
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Thirsty for Points – Maximizing Starbucks

ByPeter

I love Starbucks. More precisely, I love the Starbucks Rewards program. To quote my friend Dr. J, “I go there just to watch those stars fall on my phone.” It’s designed well to entice brand loyalty. More importantly, the program works quite similarly to frequent traveler programs – you earn stars, achieve elite statuses, and get free drinks. As a newly minted points enthusiast, I became excited about playing with a new rewards program and figuring out how to get the most out of it. I started drinking coffee and, a year later, now have two Gold cards.