Travel

US Airways Chairman Offer Pulled & Death of Grand Slam

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Obituary
For Immediate Release

130214 US Airways Tombstone

US Airways belonged to the third of five generations of family in the Star Alliance, a leading maker of frequent flyers around the world. After struggling with trying to purchase American Airlines, who was in the midst of bankruptcy, US Airways died February 14 at hubs around the world. He was 34.

“He was very customer friendly and curious,” said Rev. Benny Thompson, a friend from back in the All American Aviation days. “He would go out of his way to make the customer happy, and was often seen flying below the moon.”

US Airways was headquartered out of Tempe, Arizona, USA. His grandfather and father were traveling salesmen who discovered a line of aircraft meant for packages and began marketing them for passengers instead.

Not only was the death of US Airways discovered today in a back alley of American Airlines, but also the long-lived US Airways Chairman credit card offer was pulled.

The merger of US Airways with American Airlines quite possibly means the official death of the greatest mileage promotion that ever lived, the Grand Slam. While it may not have been a mistake fare getting us to Japan and back for mere pennies, or the free AirTran flights for dumpster diving for Wendy’s cups, the Grand Slam promotion marked a fun and exciting promotion to take part in transaction with its partners for free or very cheap and walk away with enough miles for a domestic airline ticket, if not more. Sadly, it took some peanut butter to prove to all the mileage chasers that the Grand Slam promotion would not return in 2012; however, now the final nail may have been placed in the coffin.

US Airways is survived by its executor, American Airlines, as well as United, Delta, Southwest, and other small domestic carriers.

US Airways donated their body to the Aviation Museum. A memorial service will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, at All Saints Church.

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Today marks quite a big day news wise for US Airways, with the announcement this morning that they are merging with American Airlines. What is even more baffling to me is that American Airlines in the midst of bankruptcy, yet they are the ones who appear are coming out on top of the merger. I am not following the intricate details of the US Airways/American Airlines merger as close as Gary, but at least that is my understanding. However, the big news in terms for us that earn US Airways Dividend miles is that after being alive for years, the best offer for the US Airways Chairman credit card was pulled today.

Earlier in the week, once news started to flutter about an announcement of the merge, I went and applied for my wife using the Chairman link and was instantly approved. The great thing about that offer was the first year annual fee was waived and there was an annual 10,000 mile bonus upon renewing.

The absolute best part about the US Airways credit card is the ability to open up the card again, and again, and continue to keep getting the bonus (although now that the merge is in process, that loophole may close). Barclays is also synonymous with offering a 15,000 mile bonus after spending $750 over a three month period. I have plans of opening a second US Airways card for myself in a couple of months, but I want to offset when we may get targeted for the extra bonus.

(Update: Since publishing this article, our affiliate offer has been reduced) So what this means is that the current best offer for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard® comes by way of our affiliate link. The card boasts 40,000 30,000 Dividend miles after first use. The only differences between our offer and what used to be offered via the Chairman’s link was that the $89 annual fee is not waived. Plus there is no mention of an annual 10,000 mile bonus upon renewing each year, although there are reports of people getting it still.

I still think the US Airways Dividend mile card is a powerhouse of miles because of the ability to possibly open it again and again before the merge with American Airlines is completed. I am in no way saying you have to run out and get the US Airways card now because it could potentially be around for quite a while until the merge is finalized. For example, when Continental was combining with United, the Continental credit cards remained around all the way up until the merge was completed. What I am saying though is that you may want to consider opening the US Airways card now, since it may give you the opportunity to open another in 3-6 months, scoring another bonus.

The US Airways card offered in this post is an affiliate of InACents, which we receive a commission if you are approved for the card. Thank you!

Update: After this post went live, user kdoughboy on FlyerTalk found three (3) links to applications that offer only 35,000 miles, but the annual fee is waived the first year, and there is mention of the 10,000 mile retainer each year. The links are below, but none of them are affiliate links:

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1695&cellNumber=19 (T&Cs at bottom)

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1695&cellNumber=31 (click link at top of app for T&Cs)

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1695&cellNumber=36 (T&Cs at bottom)

All these links go directly to the application, but you can see the bonus information in the T&Cs.

Update 2/15/13: The below link is offering 40,000 miles with no annual fee; however, the page states “We apologize for the inconvenience, but our website is experiencing technical issues. Please contact us at 1-866-419-6437 or try again later.”

https://www.barclaycardus.com/app/japply/WebAppGate.jsp?prodidreq=CCMWC47830

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Update on Auditing Best Buy Reward Zone Point Conversions

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Let me preface this article by saying no wonder Best Buy is a sinking ship of consumer electronics. So lets take a look at some of the latest developments in the Best Buy Reward Zone program, and what you can do to minimize the impacts.

Our family collect Best Buy Reward Zone (BBRZ) points as part of the Audience Rewards program. Answer some simple Broadway trivia questions approximately every 10 days, which we give you the answers; then convert the points out into a mileage or other reward program of your choice. The result is more airline miles for you, less likelihood of the miles expiring due to inactivity, and the ultimate goal of getting you to your favorite travel destination, all for FREE!

Upon our discussion in early January showing you how to get the BBRZ converted out, we discovered their Facebook page was handing out free points for taking one question surveys and entering some simple contests.

Then we started to see some real potential for growing your BBRZ account balance exponentially more than that through the Audience Reward program, and the waterfall of free points worked like a charm. In our post “Why You Should Add Best Buy Reward Zone Points to Your Mileage Portfolio?”, we elaborated on how the BBRZ program could be a mile-cow. The key was making sure your redemption for certificates was set high within the BBRZ program, and making sure to liquidate old points before Best Buy deleted them for you.

Sure enough, people started experiencing issues of their balances being cleaned out by Best Buy. Even after people had moved out all of their points, Best Buy was proceeding to issue certificates on points earned this year at lower levels than their accounts were set up to redeem.

For some reason, we were immune to that process, presumably because we cleared out all of our 2012 points. That is until this week.

Feb 2013 BBRZ Balance

Upon logging into my BBRZ account via Facebook to earn today’s 25 free points, I noticed my account balance had gone from a hefty 685 down to 175 points. Best Buy had taken the liberty to issue me a $10 certificate (500 BBRZ points) and remove 10 of my points.

This makes zero sense, because if they were removing points above the certificate threshold, why would they have not just deleted all 185 extra points? My experiment on how BBRZ conversions would all work out came to fruition.

So what to do?

Well I decided to call Best Buy (1888-237-8289) to see what I could get resolved. After running around through a complicated automated system, I eventually got a live agent. You would think you were accessing your deepest, darkest secrets when discussing your account with Best Buy, as there were more security questions than even my bank asks.

After briefly explaining that my points were automatically converted into a Best Buy certificate, and going over how we already move old points out and set the redemption level to 1000 points = $20 certificate, the agent set off to work. Within minutes my certificate was reversed, and I was told the 500 points would be back into my account; however, due to the auditing process of the program, I would not see the balance show up until after February 23, 2013.

I thanked the agent and proceeded back to check into my BBRZ account online. Sure enough, 500 points were credited back to my account, although the overall balance was still off. Talk about a ridiculous way to run the program! Note: The Best Buy Facebook app and points.com shows me the correct point balance; only the Best Buy Reward Zone site shows the incorrect balance.

The moral of this story is that if you want the points back in your account, do not be shy about calling Best Buy and having them reverse the conversion.

So what does this mean now?

As of right now, we have 700 BBRZ points in our account (200 balance + 500 “pending”). The coming days are going to be packed full of free BBRZ points. On February 17, we will be able to select a new members choice item, earning 25 points. Also on February 17 we will be able to virtually design a kitchen, earning another 50 free points. Then the daily survey questions will earn 250 points (10 more days * 25 points). By then the Best Buy Reward Zone program should have their auditing complete and everyone’s accounts updated. However, this also means I am going to approach the 1,000 point mark in the coming days.

That means I need to pay careful attention to our balance so that we do not get issued another certificate at the 1000 point level. This also means you need to be really cognoscente of your real point balance. If the balance shows 200, but you really have 500 points, you need to pay attention to when you are getting close to the 1000 point level and move the points out.

For reference, 1000 Best Buy Reward Zone points is equal to 474 US Airways or Hawaiian Airlines miles; 263 American Airlines or United miles; 279 Frontier Airlines miles; 340 Aeroplan miles; 249 Alaskan Airline miles; 400 Amtrak points; 510 Asia miles; or 215 Virgin America miles.

Besides the whole ridiculous aspect of Best Buy deciding a customers point balance should expire each year, if Best Buy can not design a computer system to handle their reward program, how are they to be a trusted resource to sell electronics?

Come on Best Buy, your auditing process of accounts is costing you more money than just letting the customers point balance grow. If you must take away from your “loyal” customers, then maybe adopt an expiration policy similar to airlines (i.e. the points expire after 18 months of inactivity).

With a little bit of effort, we will be sitting on the beach somewhere, thanks to Best Buy.

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Legoland California Free Child Ticket Offer via Red Tricycle Promotion

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The year has started out slow with good offers on tickets to Legoland Parks. For quite a while there was no current offering of the great discount of a free child ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket at the Legoland California location, until now. However, the offer is for a very limited time, so act now if you plan on going this year.

The Red Tricycle group has partnered with Legoland California to celebrate the opening of their new Legoland Hotel. After entering the contest [http://www.redtri.com/landing-page/win-one-night-stay-at-first-north-america-legoland-hotel-plus-tickets-to-legoland-california-resort] to win a one night stay at the California Legoland resort, as well as tickets to Legoland California, and a $100 gift card, located inside of your confirmation email is the real prize for all the losers…a free child ticket with one paid adult ticket to Legoland California Resort.

Go to LEGOLAND.com/RedTri and use the coupon code “13004“ when purchasing your tickets. One time use only. Expires on March 10th, 2013, but is still working as of 11/27/13.

To find all of the current discounts for Legoland, please visit our Legoland Promotions, Discounts, and Coupons (Buy One, Get One) page. Also consider connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, or even email to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in discount Legoland admissions.