American Airlines/AAdvantage

10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles via Verizon & FiOS

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Switch to Verizon/FiOS for the Triple Play package (HD Television, Internet, and Phone services), and receive 10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles. It looks like the cheapest package available is $84.99 per month with a one year contract.

Verizon Link

Here are some key things to note from the terms.

  • Free activation
  • Free wireless router
  • Free installation
  • FiOS TV Prime HD includes 195 stations (includes 50 HD)
  • FiOS Internet 15/5 Mbps
  • Verizon Home Phone includes unlimited local, regional, and nationwide long distance calling
  • Service must be ordered by 8/27/11 and installed on or before 9/27/11.
  • Must maintain service for 60 days.
  • Customers must register at aadvantageverizonoffer.com by 8/27/11.
  • Miles will post within 90 days of account activation.

This is a nice chance to stock up on some miles using some services you might have already been using. As always, you can earn even more miles or rewards by signing up for automatic payments using your credit card.

30,000 American Airline Miles from Loan Depot

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I missed out on an opportunity to earn free miles, shame on me. When we applied for a new loan on our house we just purchased, I was loyal to my bank. I have been working with my banker for over 2.5 years now when ever we looked to refinance or possibly purchase a new home. Everything was so rushed on the purchase of our new home, I did not have a lot of time to mess around shopping the loan. My relationship with my bank was more valuable to me in this instance, and I finally wanted to be able to have my banker earn a commission after all these years of working with us. Plus, the rates and fees were just as comparable to other banks.

However, I missed out on earning free miles. Most, if not all, of the airlines are teamed with various mortgage companies to allow you to earn free miles for closing on a loan. Typically, I have always seen it offered through Lending Tree.

On my Facebook page today, American Airlines posted a deal through Loan Depot. They are currently offering 3,500 miles just for applying for a loan, and an additional 26,500 after the loan is funded.

Seeing as I still would have been loyal to my bank in the end, I could have possibly at least scored the 3,500 free miles for applying for the loan. However, looking more closely at the terms, they will pull from all three credit bureaus for the application process.

In order to be eligible for the initial 3,500 mile offer, the loan applicant must speak with a live Mortgage Banker and complete an initial application (Initial application includes: First Name, Last Name, Contact Phone Number and Email, Current Home Address, Property Address, Current Loan Amount, Current Interest Rate, Loan Purpose, Property Type, Occupancy type, Employer Name, Position/Title/Type of Business, Years on Job, Monthly Income, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, a loanDepot pulled 3-Bureau Credit Report, and Advantage Number).

It looks like a typical pre-approval. If it had been a pre-qualification, where they did not actually pull your credit, that would have been another story. For now I am happy with my decision, and will hold off on having another hard pull on each of our files.

American Airlines Stroller Rules Revised

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My wife alerted me to the news that American Airlines has officially changed their rules for checking baby strollers at the gate. According to the story on the Los Angeles Times, and the official American Airlines policy, strollers need to be under 20 pounds to be checked at the gate. Otherwise, they will need to be bag checked.

This is really unfortunate because one of the major advantages, as I have discussed in my article First Airplane Ride with an Infant, is being able to take a large collapsible stroller all the way to the gate to carry the abundance of baby/kid items necessary to travel.

While it is unfortunate for the revised policy on American Airlines, it is good that strollers are exempt from baggage fees.