Embracing Solo Travel | SingleFlyer

Free Rental Car Status through MasterCard

October 9, 2018March 26, 2015

A little known benefit of a credit card you may already own is free rental car status through MasterCard World Elite. For example, my Barclaycard Arrival + MasterCard is World Elite. If you have a MasterCard (and most people d0), check the front or the back of the card for the “World Elite” title under the logo. Common airline credit cards that are World Elite include Hawaiian, American, and Virgin.

Once you have identified you MasterCard Elite, the easiest way to enroll is to call 1-855-802-1387 from the US. Currently the offers are for Avis, National, and Sixt. So what do you get with the rental car status? Here is a handy chart that shows you the benefits:

Hyatt Olive 8 Seattle Review

September 6, 2019March 22, 2015

Hyatt Olive 8 Seattle Review Loyal Hyatt visitors to Seattle are faced with a tough decision: Grand Hyatt or Hyatt Olive 8. There is also a Hyatt Place and a Hyatt House (opening May 2015); however those properties are outside the downtown core. If you are in town for a conference … Read more

Gay Travel Discount on Alaska Airlines

March 22, 2015March 20, 2015

While browsing Facebook I came across a sponsored post by Alaska Airlines which is rather common. The focus, gay travel, was new. Or at least I hadn’t seen it before.

When I clicked through the ad I found that Alaska has an entire web page on their site devoted to discounts to various LGBTQ Pride events. The discounts are short term (I’m assuming only over the Pride weekend/event) and relatively small (7% or 10%), still a nice acknowledgement and support of the LGBTQ community.

Clearly Alaska has made promoting equality as a company a priority; they score a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. Alaska is one of only five airlines to score a perfect 100.

Boeing 777 Memorabilia

May 30, 2017March 19, 2015

I was going through a bunch of my old stuff today and found some fun Boeing 777 memorabilia from the launch in 1994. Hard to believe the 777 is almost 21 years old!

My father worked for Boeing for 40+ years and used to give me freebies that the company gave their employees. While I have thrown away a good amount over the years, I kept a hold on to these items (probably because they were so small!)

First item is a sealed commemorative coin from the first 777 roll out on April 9, 1994.

See the rest of the Boeing 777 memorabilia below:

Mileage Run Beijing in Business Class

July 23, 2022March 17, 2015

I was alerted to an amazing business class fare from Washington DC to Beijing by OneMileataTime. In the rule of travel hobbyists, I booked immediately and knew I could sort out details later. I couldn’t pass by a mileage run in business class.

I am glad that I booked quickly because the fare was gone in less than an hour. Read more to find out additional details.

Daily Getaways Valuation

July 25, 2022March 17, 2015

The US Travel Association is once again running its Daily Getaways promotion. Beginning March 23 there will be a different offer for a limited time each day. An interesting change this: there is NO added discount for using an Amex card. You can find discounts on rental cars, hotels, and theme parks. Only the first three weeks’ offers have been posted as of this post.

Likely the most popular offers will be for the hotel stays that, for the most part, come in the form of loyalty points. Below I have created a grid that shows the cost per point for each of the hotel point offers.