Miles and Points, Brighton Beach

1) Free Virgin Atlantic miles, promotion from Melia hotel group and Best Western, oh my! All of that and more at Points and Pixie Dust blog post HERE

2) Via One mile at a time blog, you can temporarily get a 30% bonus on transfers from Membership Rewards to Virgin America Elevate program. It’s very similar to Southwest Rapid Rewards scheme, and with transfer bonus you should get close to 1.42 cents in value per Membership Rewards point.

3) I got an email from American Airlines, saying that if I make an eligible stay in Club Carlson property before July 15, 2014, I would earn 3,000 AAdvantage bonus miles and complimentary Club Carlson Gold Elite Status through February 28, 2015.  I wouldn’t do it just for miles, but you may have something planned already. Check your email.

4) Just a reminder that you have less than two weeks to complete your IHG Big Win.

5) The Flight Deal blog has reported some incredible roundtrip fares to Caribbean ($300) from certain US cities. I’m not sure if they are still available, but check the post with details HERE

I recommend, you subscribe  to that site, so you can always be the first to know when an amazing deal pops up.

6) I have written a post on how American Express is supposed to restrict sign-up bonuses to new customers only, starting May 1st. From different reports on blogs, people have been able to apply and get repeat bonus at this time, as long as they didn’t have that particular product in the last 12 months. I would advise, if you are planning on applying,  don’t wait till the last minute. That’s because it can take Amex up to 10 business days to approve your application, and if it falls  on May 1st, you may be out of luck.

I do make commission on most Amex cards as of now, but this would have been my advice regardless. If one of your friends or relatives has an Amex SPG or Amex Premier Rewards Gold, see if they can send you an invitation which would give them bonus points, rather than using my link.

On my mind

For about a year now I have been planning my parents’ trip here to US. Everything was set. Alas, as the saying goes: “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.”

I won’t go into details here as I have a post written on the matter. The short version is: My parents will have to stay for 3 nights in New York City and I won’t be there. Oh, and they speak no English. So, I am thinking about putting them in the only motel in Brighton Beach. That neighborhood is an enclave of Russian/Jewish immigrants and is also called  “Little Odessa.”

I have always wanted to visit it and even had a friend who lived there for a few years. It’s filled with Soviet style nostalgia, and as someone who grew up in the Soviet Union,  I am weirdly drawn to it, as the photos remind me of my dysfunctional childhood. So, I started my research and found this gem of an article by half Russian/half American author, who is  weirdly drawn to it as well.

Here is one of the quotes: “Once the weather tops 70 degrees, the hardy locals will be quick to fill the beach with nightmare-inducing geriatric Speedo displays and drained bottles of Baltika beer.” I don’t know about you, but I really want to visit it now and write a trip report with photos! Try to top that, Stefan from Rapid Travel Chai blog. That would be one time you don’t want to linger in memories.

Check out the full article and  photo of a Russian lady, walking her dog HERE