Travel Deal of the Day (December 31, 2008)

Two end of the year travel notes:

(1) With the end of the year approaching, you should note that certain frequent flyer programs (e.g. Mileage Plus) are changing required redemption amounts in 2009. If you have enough miles to redeem an award, you should consider redeeming miles today rather than waiting until 2009 as you may be required to use more miles if you wait.

(2) The end of the year is a good time to check frequent flyer/frequent stay account balances. If you have not used certain frequent flyer/frequent stay accounts recently, you should check the rules of those programs to see if miles expire without activity. If you must have periodic activity to retain your miles/points, you may want to find the least expensive way to accrue miles/points. In some programs, something as simple as buying a single song on Apple Itunes for $1 can save all of your miles.