20K FREE United Miles

Here's one of the best frequent-flyer-mile deals I've seen in a long time. Right now when you sign up for the United Mileage Plus Visa Card, you'll get 20,000 bonus miles when you make your first purchase with the card. But here's the best part: the usual $60 annual fee is waived for the first year! That's almost like getting a roundtrip domestic ticket (25K miles) absolutely free. Or use those bonus miles to top up your United Mileage Plus account to snag a business class upgrade, or even an international trip. I've got about 30,000 United miles right now, so an extra 20,000 will give me enough miles to fly to Europe...for absolutely nothing! Remember: you've got to cancel the card at the end of the year, or face the $60/year fee. But by then, you'll have socked away those FREE 20K miles!

Bump Your Way to Free Travel

Usually when it's time to fly home from a trip, I just want to get on the plane and get there as soon as possible. But I have friends who actually make it their goal to get bumped from their flights. Some have managed to get bumped up to three times in the same day...paying for their airline travel for the next year. Getting bumped from an oversold plane can earn you some serious cash, a hotel room, airline tickets and more. If you decide you want to try your luck at this game, BumpTracker can help you make sure you don't accept an offer that's too low from an airline that's desperate for your seat. BumpTracker posts details from bumped flyers, revealing what these passengers received in cash, tickets or other compensation from specific airlines. Plus you can submit the details of your recent "deal" and view Tips and Tricks for serious bump addicts. So if you've got some extra time on your hands and don't mind delaying your trip for a bit, be sure to check out BumpTracker before you head for the airport.

The SeatGuru Knows All

It's a sad-yet-inescapable fact of travel: Airline seats are horrendously uncomfortable. But you can improve your chances for getting a SLIGHTLY more comfortable ride when you consult with the SeatGuru. Billed as "your enlightened guide to airline seating," SeatGuru lists the seating configurations for the planes of over 25 different airlines. The site provides insider tips for choosing a seat with a bit more legroom, one that's far away from smelly bathrooms or busy galleys, or even which offer a plug for your laptop computer. Even better, SeatGuru tells you which seats to avoid at all costs. There's even a mobile option that lets you view seating maps right on your cell phone, perfect for all you road (or is that air?) warriors out there.

Become an "Elite" Traveler (on the cheap)

Money may not buy happiness, but now it can at least buy you a little more leg room on United. If you've traveled on United recently, you know the airline offers something called Economy Plus seating to passengers who qualify as Mileage Plus Elite members. In a nutshell, these are people who are VERY frequent flyers on United. Economy Plus seating offers a generous 5 additional inches of legroom, plus allows you to board the plane first. For anyone who's been trapped like a sardine in a plane's economy section, those 5 extra inches can make all the difference between a crappy flight and a fabulous flight.

But United has just introduced a new program called Economy Plus Access that lets you purchase your way into this preferred seating area. For $299/year, both you AND a traveling companion will be upgraded automatically to the Economy Plus section (pending availability) when booking your ticket. And the service is available for both domestic AND international flights! So while the annual fee might seem a bit stiff, it could certainly become worth it if you fly a lot of United domestic flights, or even just one long international flight.

By the way, you can sometimes snag an Economy Plus seat when checking in for your flight at the airport. On a recent trip, I was given the choice to upgrade my ticket for a fee of $49 (I declined).

Happy flying!

Grrrrr...Airfare Watchdog on Alert for Great Deals

My travel bargain hero, George Hobica, is at it again, with his new Airfare Watchdog BLOG. Faithful Travel Coach readers might remember my earlier post about George several months ago. Well it seems George (aka the Airfare Watchdog) has a new name and vastly improved look for his BLOG featuring the best deals in airfares. Be sure to sign up for one of his excellent (and free) Airfare Report newsletters with "unadvertised fare wars you won't find anywhere else." George has garnered a lot of favorable press over the last several month for his dogged (hey, maybe THAT'S why he's called the Airfare Watchdog!?) pursuit of airfare bargains. Do your travel budget a favor and check him out.

Fall Airfare Sales

If you've been waiting to book your fall travel, the wait is over. Most airlines have just announced their VERY brief fall airfare sales for travel through December 15th. But you've got to hurry to take advantage of these fares. Here are just a few of the sales being offered:

Northwest (must book by August 2!)
Delta (must book by August 2!)
American (must book by August 12)
United (must book by August 12)

Check your favorite airline's website as most are matching the sale fares from other carriers.

Happy flying!