Turkey Trip Overview

Posted on October 13, 2014 by 2btravel

Turkey Trip Overview
Booking Flights To Turkey
British Airways First Class Lounge IAH
British Airways 777 First Class IAH-LHR
Transiting Heathrow and British Airways A320 Business Class LHR-IST
Marriott Courtyard Istanbul Airport
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul to Izmir and Back
Ephesus, Mary’s House and Basilica of St. John
Swissotel Efes
Pamukkale Bus and Preiene
Ritz-Carlton Istanbul
Major Sites to see in Istanbul
Radisson Blu Bosphorus
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines 777 Business Class IST-IAH

I have a friend who was renting an apartment for a couple of months in Turkey. Since he was going to be there for awhile, I asked if he’d mind having my two friends and me come for a visit. It turned out his apartment was too small for so many visitors so we’d need to get a hotel. He was staying in the resort town of Kusadasi, which is about 45 minutes outside of Izmir, so we decided to use Izmir for our base in the area. Since most international flights fly into and out of Istanbul, we’d spend time there after leaving Izmir.

While we were in Izmir I knew we’d want to take a tour of the ancient city of Ephesus and we wouldn’t have a car so I did something that’s a bit of an anathema in the points & miles game: I contacted a travel agent. I have a friend here in town who is a Virtuoso agent yet knows my preference to plan as much as possible myself and she put me in touch with a Turkish Virtuoso agent who helped us greatly. I’ll have more on how they helped us but it’s not always a bad thing to pay for travel.

We flew from three different US cities and met up in London before continuing on to Istanbul. We spent a night there before flying to Izmir, where we spent four nights. We then flew back to Istanbul for five nights before returning home.

Stay tuned for the trip highlights as well as details on booking the flights.

Categories: Turkey | Leave a comment

Even More Promos

Posted on October 8, 2014 by 2btravel

Can you tell that we’re right in the midst of shoulder season?  There are all kinds of promos coming through every day.  Here are recent ones I’ve seen, in no particular order:

2014-10-08 IHG Purchased Points Bonus

IHG Rewards Club is featuring a bonus on purchased points this month.  The bonus depends on how many points you’re purchasing.  I’ve got a nice stash of points at the moment so I’ll sit this one out.

2014-10-08 Club Carlson Bonus

Club Carlson is having a sale at select hotels when you book by this Friday, October 10 and stay on select dates through the end of the month.  Talk about restrictions!  Since I just returned from vacation I won’t take advantage of this either.

2014-10-08 New AF A380 Route

I’m not an aviation geek by any means but one of the few planes I can recognize on sight is the Airbus A380, since it’s a full-length double-decker.  Air France is starting a new route, Miami to Paris (CDG), on December 1st.  Remember Air France is part of SkyTeam which means you can use Delta miles on this flight.  Sadly, Delta will not allow you access to La Premiere (first class) and if you book before the end of the year a one-way ticket will cost as much as a round-trip.  However, Air France’s Flying Blue program is a transfer partner of both Starwood and Amex Membership Rewards, so that’s the way to book first class on the new bird.

2014-10-08 Hilton Purchased Points Promo

And finally, if you hold one of the Hilton co-branded credit cards (Amex has two, Citibank has one) you should have received this offer via email.  The link in the mail is specific for each recipient but you can buy or give Hilton HHonors points until October 22 and get a bonus, depending on how many points you buy or give.  Might be a nice way to top off your account if you’re just a little short.

Categories: Air France, American Express, Citibank Hilton Reserve Visa, Club Carlson, Hilton, Hilton Amex, Hilton Surpass, Hotel, IHG, SkyTeam | Leave a comment

A Plethora of Promos

Posted on October 3, 2014 by 2btravel

Oh, I’m so far behind! I went on vacation for 10 days and have been scrambling ever since I got back. There are several promotions going on right now, so let’s get to the good stuff:

30% Bonus on Purchased Club Carlson Points

2014-10-03 Club Carlson Promo

Between now and the end of the month you can get a 30% bonus if you buy 10,000-40,000 Club Carlson points. I recently points for a two-night stay at the Radisson Blu in Istanbul. If you also have the Club Carlson credit card, the last night of any multi-night stay is free! Click HERE to learn more.

 

100% Bonus on Purchased Dividend Miles Extended Through October 12

2014-10-03 US Airways Buy Miles Promo

Buy or gift US Airways Dividend Miles through October 12 and get a 100% bonus. Click HERE to be taken to the US Airways site.

 

 

1000 Bonus Gold Passport Points

 

2014-10-03 Hyatt Mobile Booking Promo

Book your next Hyatt stay via their mobile app and earn a 1000 point bonus. There doesn’t seem to be any limit and it’s good through the end of the year! Click on the HERE to be taken to the Hyatt site.

 

 

2500 Bonus US Airways Dividend Miles

 

2014-10-03 USDM Credit Card Bonus

 

Use your US Airways Dividend Miles MasterCard at gas stations, restaurants, toy & game stores and department stores through the end of the year and receive up to 2500 bonus miles. That’s a bonus of spend in these categories up to $1250. You must activate this offer by October 20th! If you’re already a cardholder, you should have received info about this offer already.

 

That’s it for now. I’ve got some more updates coming including a report on my recent trip to Turkey. Stay tuned!

Categories: Club Carlson, Credit Card Promos, Hotel Promos, Hyatt, US Airways, US Airways MasterCard | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Now I Understand

Posted on September 15, 2014 by 2btravel

This weekend I traveled to Europe.  In the past, I’d read other bloggers moaning and groaning about London’s Heathrow Airport.  I never understood this as my one experience there had been fine.  Now I know that’s because my flight terminated here and I wasn’t transiting.

This weekend I transited for the first time and man, what a terrible experience!  Just so many ways this experience could be better organized.  I hope to cover that in more detail in a future post but suffice it to say that now I understand why everyone is so unhappy!

Categories: British Airways | Leave a comment

Win 200K AAdvantage Miles

Posted on September 7, 2014 by 2btravel

2014-09-07 AA Sweepstakes

American Airlines has a new sweepstakes that starts today and runs through the end of the month.  Enter and you could win 200,000 AAdvantage miles.  You can enter once a day and if you choose to receive certain emails from American you can get up to 5 extra entries.  Click HERE for the AAdvantage shopping portal where you can sign up.

Categories: American Airlines, Contests | Leave a comment

US Airways Dividend Miles on sale

Posted on September 6, 2014 by 2btravel

2014-09-06 US Airways Miles Sale

US Airways is well-known for selling miles at a discount. Now through September 30, 2014 they’re offering a tiered bonus when purchasing Dividend Miles. This can be a great way to top off your account if you’re just a little short of an award. Or if you want a business class ticket, you can buy 50,000 miles with a bonus of another 50,000 and, voila, you’ve got enough for that ticket. Just be sure that you can’t otherwise get the business class seat for less than the $1750 + tax price for those 100K miles!

To get the bonus, go to the US Airways website and click on the Buy Miles link. From there you’ll be prompted to log into your US Airways Dividend Miles account.

Categories: US Airways | Leave a comment

Avianca LifeMiles on sale – Before Price Increase & Devaluation

Posted on September 5, 2014 by 2btravel

2014-09-05 LifeMiles Sale

Avianca’s LifeMiles are an unusual currency. They can often be purchased cheaply and used for flights on Star Alliance carriers. But they come with at least one noteable restriction: all your flights must be in the same cabin. If a particular cabin is not offered on a give route, that doesn’t matter, you can’t downgrade, you’re just out of luck. In my case that’s a big impediment because United, the only Star Alliance carrier in my city, only flies 1-cabin regional jets to my airport. Therefore, if I wanted to use LifeMiles for an international trip in a premium cabin, I’d have to position myself to another airport first. Also, I’ve read that if you’re trying to book something more than a simple trip and have to call in that the call center is (not surprisingly) mostly Spanish speakers and it can be hard to find someone to help. For these reasons I’ve never gotten into LifeMiles.

Right now Avianca is offering LifeMiles at 2-for-1 pricing. Miles are available in blocks of 1000 miles for $30 USD + taxes. A maximum of 150,000 LifeMiles may be purchased during a calendar year.

This sale is good until September 30, 2014. Beginning October 1st, the cost of purchased LifeMiles will increase. At the same time Avianca announced this price increase, they also announced an award chart devaluation effective for flights on October 15th and beyond. That means it’ll take more LifeMiles on that date than it will today.

Here’s the updated award chart for Star Alliance flights using LifeMiles

If you want to compare the old and new charts, Lucky has provided that in this post

Categories: Avianca | Leave a comment

Marriott eBreaks for Next Weekend

Posted on September 1, 2014 by 2btravel

2014-09-01 Marriott eBreaks

Want to get away next weekend?  Marriott has certain properties on sale this Thursday through Sunday (Sept 4-7).  Not all properties are included but if you can sneak away on a whim, now’s the time!  Check HERE to see if the property you’re interested in is featured.

Categories: Hotel Promos, Marriott | Leave a comment

Discover Q4 Bonus Registration Now Open

Posted on September 1, 2014 by 2btravel

2014-09-01 Discover Q4 Registration

Each quarter the Discover Card offers bonus categories in which you can get 5% cash back. Registration is now available for 4th Quarter shopping in October, November and December. This quarter’s bonus categories are online shopping and department stores. So if you’re planning to load up for Christmas, wait until October to do it!

Log into your account on the Discover website to sign up.

Categories: Discover | Leave a comment

Bonus on Purchased Alaska Air Miles

Posted on August 31, 2014 by 2btravel

Alaska_August2014_BuyBanner_Final

Now through October 14th you can earn up to a 40% bonus on purchased Alaska Air miles. The bonuses are tiered:
Buy 5,000 – 19,000 miles, get a 20% Bonus (2.29 cents apiece)
Buy 20,000 – 34,000 miles, get a 30% Bonus (2.115 cents apiece)
Buy 35,000 – 40,000 miles, get a 40% Bonus (1.96 cents apiece)

Normally Alaska miles cost 2.75 cents apiece.

Is it worth it to buy them? Not speculatively. A couple of bloggers (One Mile At A Time, The Points Guy) who publish their point valuations rate these points at 1.8 to 2 cents apiece. So if you’re going to buy them without a current purpose, buy at least 35,000 miles. But if you only need a few miles to top off an award, it may very well be worth buying even a few thousand points.

Categories: Alaska Airlines, Purchased Miles | Leave a comment

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