My Week in Points January 20-26: UA taketh away, Hilton begrudgingly bestows

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Accor:

  • Like many US-based miles hounds I have Accor Platinum status. Unlike many, I actually have a stay at one of their hotels as I type, so this timely tip to convert points to Iberia Avios and on to British Airways is superb (Loyalty Lobby).

United:

  • I had 5,000 miles and now I don’t. Many of us in the same boat. View from the Wing links to several of his posts on this sordid affair. Not going to fight but as I continue to ponder moving from Delta to United, what I see does not make me think the grass will be greener. At least send me a courtesy email if you are going to take my miles away.

Delta:

  • Last week my initial impression Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) was not as vehement as it should have been. Now that I realize taxes and fees are excluded, too, I find it especially insulting that so many dollars handed to Delta will not count. This piece in Fortune takes an example of a $826 ticket to London that would only net $184 (an extreme case, yes) so would need 14 trips to qualify for Silver or 68 for Diamond. Note that the article incorrectly states that Delta American Express cardholders will be exempt, failing to mention the $25k annual spend requirement on the card to earn the exemption.

Credit Cards:

  • Think long and hard before bringing the trouble of 2 Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Cards on yourself, or at least use different HHonors account numbers for each. After a long battle, recounted in mundane detail, I finally got my second set of weekend night certificates. Nice to have some extra months in which to use the certs, which have a 12-month validity.
  • My first two Bank of America business cards have had their first statements and bizarrely I cannot pay them from my online account, even though all the details and “Pay this card,” links are there, and I can pay my personal cards online with no issues. Yes, I have signed up for e-everything on those accounts. I sent a secure message and the reply told me to call, so instead I finally paid via BlueBird.
  • My and wife’s Barclays US Airways Premier World MasterCards finally got, in the January statements, the 15k miles for targeted offers for spend in September-November, pretty slow. Most people seem to get offers like that within a few months of account opening.
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john
john
11 years ago

So ummm… I may be the dumbest one here… but is there anywhere a good explanation of the BOA e-crap/how to auto pay your ccs? Its so easy with literally every other bank that I just dont get what BOA is after with their weird system. You sign up for e-crap and they say its not ready yet and then they might cancel it on you and in the meantime your bill might be due.

Rapid Travel Chai
11 years ago
Reply to  john

@John – I will investigate, I thought either I am an isolated case or just incompetent, but it seems systemic.

Mary E.
Mary E.
11 years ago

Hi RTC,
I had the worst time trying to pay for BofA Alaska Airlines year fee after getting the card. I don’t have checking with them. I finally had to just call, and ask for the payment address and then send it through my bank as a Bill Pay. The actual payment address wasn’t anywhere in the literature. Go figure.

Rapid Travel Chai
11 years ago
Reply to  Mary E.

@Mary E – this is absurd!

William
William
11 years ago

Hey Cute Travel Chai, in order to pay your BofA Credit Card, you may use the “transfer” function instead of “Pay this card.” Basically, you transfer some money from your checking (if you have one BofA checking) to your credit card.

Rapid Travel Chai
11 years ago
Reply to  William

@William – thanks for the suggestion, I don’t have BOA checking but will take a look if I can get this to work, such a silly issue.