Amex Centurion Error
The Amex Centurion Card minimum is now $250,000 in spending over a 12-month period, not $150,000 as you stated in last month’s issue. Moreover, when you achieve this threshold, you’re not necessarily invited to join. Instead you might have to call American Express. –David QuarlesRight you are. I wasn’t aware that the spending minimum had changed. I apologize for not catching it. –MB
South Africa Score
I recently subscribed to your newsletter and—lo and behold—the April issue was all about travel to South Africa. My fiancé and I are getting married this February in Cape Town, and we’ve invited 60 friends to join us. Many tried to obtain tickets through their loyalty programs or AMEX Platinum to no avail. As soon as I read about the Delta flight in your article, I emailed and called everyone we’d invited. With tenacity and patience, several of my friends succeeded in booking these flights. We would never have known about them without you. Thank you so much for letting us in on this secret and for helping make our wedding so special. –Alyse K.Congratulations and I’m glad FCF could help. I just checked again and availability is still very good for travel to Jo’berg on Delta all year long—just in case you want to expand the guest list. –MB
Credit Card Miles for Sale
Your articles on credit cards have stated that Amex Starwood Starpoints cardholders can purchase 20,000 miles per year, and regular American Express cardholders can purchase 500,000 miles for 2.5 cents each. I have made several calls and was told that American Express offers neither deal. Where did you get this information? — Tonya M.You can buy the 20,000 “Starwood Starpoints,” which are earned with the company’s co-branded Amex credit card, directly from the Starwood loyalty program. More: https://starwood.mpmvp.com. The 500,000-mile purchase option is a standard feature of Amex Membership Rewards. More: membershiprewards.com. –MB
More low fares to Hawaii
The August issue mentions a round-trip fare to Hawaii from Boston of $1,434 as a rock-bottom fare. But Baltimore-Washington International to Honolulu on American costs $1,292, with a connection at DFW. About a month lead time is needed to get this fare. –Bernard S.I don’t catch everything, and I’m shamefaced to have missed this one, as BWI has for years had some of the lowest fares from the east coast to Hawaii—and to the rest of the US too! In other words, this is one of the leading “low-cost airports.”–MB
AA Travel Club
Do you recommend American’s new TrAAvel Perks program? – Laura WarnerNo. The heart of the program is the free companion ticket coupons, and they are valid neither for First Class tickets nor valid with upgrades to First. –MB
Tall Order with British Airways
Is there any way I can buy 200,000 miles on BA, and if so, what will it cost? – Don C.BA only allows Executive Club members to purchase miles; the annual limit is 15,000. Starwood (see left) allows you to buy 20,000 points, which, when transferred to BA, nets 25,000. So there’s 40,000. However, BA allows up to seven people living under the same roof to pool their miles. So, if you are a family of five, you’re in. The cost is $437.50 per 15,000 BA miles—25,000 Starpoints cost $1,000. Otherwise there’s no way to buy that many miles. However, take a look at page 4 article on Alaska Airways’ mileage purchase program, which you can indeed use to redeem on BA. –MB
Amex Centurion Error
The Amex Centurion Card minimum is now $250,000 in spending over a 12-month period, not $150,000 as you stated in last month’s issue. Moreover, when you achieve this threshold, you’re not necessarily invited to join. Instead you might have to call American Express. –David QuarlesRight you are. I wasn’t aware that the spending minimum had changed. I apologize for not catching it. –MB
South Africa Score
I recently subscribed to your newsletter and—lo and behold—the April issue was all about travel to South Africa. My fiancé and I are getting married this February in Cape Town, and we’ve invited 60 friends to join us. Many tried to obtain tickets through their loyalty programs or AMEX Platinum to no avail. As soon as I read about the Delta flight in your article, I emailed and called everyone we’d invited. With tenacity and patience, several of my friends succeeded in booking these flights. We would never have known about them without you. Thank you so much for letting us in on this secret and for helping make our wedding so special. –Alyse K.Congratulations and I’m glad FCF could help. I just checked again and availability is still...