Right before Thanksgiving I posted an article on earning Hawaiian Airlines miles by going through their shopping portal and making purchases at Amazon.com. For many this was old news but still a helpful reminder. Though shopping portals are one of the easiest ways to earn miles, Amazon only partners with Hawaiian.....or so we thought. Reader Vera recently tipped us off to to another site that (indirectly) earns you Lufthansa miles for Amazon purchases: Payback.

This was an exciting scoop, so I had to find out for myself.

Delta Airlines has severed ties with both e-Miles and e-Rewards according to this thread and and this thread on FlyerTalk. As of the New Year, you are no longer be able to redeem currency accrued in either program for Delta SkyMiles.

For those unfamiliar, both e-Miles and e-Rewards are websites that reward visitors with miles or fun money for filling out surveys in a wide range of categories.

This is a multi-part trip report that started here.

After being escorted to our seat from our stellar private car ride, we met two pursers who were extremely friendly and professional. They both offered to show us to our closets and because the flight was 4/8 full today, they insisted that we use the window seats to watch the takeoff and the middle seats to sleep in.

After sitting down in a window seat, the purser came by and handed me my Ginger Ale and Macadamia Nuts. Both were delicious as usual.

In a few minutes, i'll be on a boat in the middle of the Bosphorus River to celebrate New Years. If many of you don't know, the Bosphorus is the river that separates connects Asia & Europe! Turkey puts on an amazing Fireworks display on the Bosphorus bridge and I cant wait to see it!

I've taken a few moments to reflect on what i've been able to do this year and thought i'd share.

In January, I celebrated New Years on the Singapore Flyer. It was an amazing experience that i'll never forget.

2012 was an incredible year for many reasons: I finally got to visit Kauai, one of the destinations that I most wanted to visit. Kauai didn't disappoint at all. Though my flights were just standard domestic first class on US Airways, I got to stay at the St. Regis Princeville for four nights. The hotel blew me away and probably spoiled me for life. It was one of the most relaxing place on Earth.

This is my third post of many which reflect my ongoing winter trip! The trip report started here and links to all the posts.

I was hoping that when we landed, we wouldn't be assigned a gate. The reason behind this was that if you arrive at a non-gate position, you are entitled to a private car transfer to the arrivals hall.

When we landed, I noticed that we turned away from the terminal and parked at a non-gate position.

This is the second post of ?? many about Tahsir's around the world trip. His first post was here, and I'll keep that post updated with links to all the posts.

After departing the gate, the flight to Frankfurt officially began. We were offered pajamas, amenity kits, and a pre-departure drink with macadamia nuts. I don’t drink alcohol but I’m an avid fan of Ginger Ale. I’d like to report that the Ginger Ale was amazing! It was so crisp and fresh.

Tahsir's Itinerary Around the World in First Class is too long for one post.

According to this thread on FlyerTalk and this thread on Milepoint, Southwest will now start charging a no-show fee for those who fail to cancel their tickets before the flight departs.

Extra fees, especially on traveler-friendly Southwest, are never a good thing. But I am shocked that a fee like this wasn't in place before. Now that it is, I honestly can't blame them for implementing it. It makes sense to penalize when Southwest could resell the seat for a higher price at the last minute.

This offer has expired. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

I received an interesting credit card offer via email yesterday and wanted to share it with readers before it expired on December 23rd. Delta Airlines is currently offering 45,000 bonus SkyMiles for signing up for the Delta Gold American Express card. To get the bonus, you must spend $3,000 in the first three months of card membership.