Free Giveaway and Nuggets 9.14.12

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1) Yesterday’s incredible JetBlue deal ends today at 11:59 PM ET. Anyone can get $100 off on a roundtrip fare and enjoy the best economy class in the US. I got a roundtrip from Burbank to Vegas for $25.

2) A reader passed along an email he got from TACA LifeMiles–and I got the same–saying that any activity in his LifeMiles account would result in a 500 mile bonus. As if we needed another reason to buy LifeMiles for 1.37 cents.

By the way, the more I’ve considered whether I should have shared–with screen shots–how to book any Star Alliance award for 1.37 cents times the number of TACA LifeMiles it costs, the more I realize I absolutely made the right decision.

The TACA deal is so great not because of the cash and miles option, but because of the 100% bonus on purchased miles and reasonable award chart. The cash and miles option–which is hardly a secret–merely lowers the cost of miles from 1.5 cents to 1.37 cents.

That’s a nice marginal improvement, but the majority of the good deal comes from the 100% bonus pricing miles at 1.5 cents. And TACA is doing everything they can to advertise that sale.

All this is to say that more publicity won’t kill the TACA deal, so take advantage with a clean conscience.

3) My brother passed along an interesting Economist article on Japan Airlines (JAL) coming out of bankruptcy. (But will they ever come out of ba.com award-search-engine disappearance? I know these are unrelated.)

Basically the government propped up JAL with a sweetheart deal unavailable to rivals:

The write-offs alone exceed the amount JAL has earmarked to buy 44 new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, he says, whereas ANA has to fork out the money to buy 55 of them…The long-haul Dreamliner is part of that strategy: JAL is opening potentially lucrative new routes such as Tokyo to Boston.

And this:

JAL gives investors coupons that they can use for cheap flights if they don’t dump their shares. This helps to explain why 70% of the IPO has been bought by individual investors.

I’d be interested in learning more about those coupons if anyone has any more info (or is a JAL shareholder.)

4) LAX now offers 45 minutes of free wifi. If you want more, you’ll have to duck into a lounge or pay $5 for an hour or $8 for 24 hours.

It’s possible airports make more from free wifi by more people choosing to route through an airport or people showing up earlier for a flight because they know they can work and buying things while at the airport. But I doubt it. Either way, it’s good news for me and you.

5) It’s Aloha Friday, so I’ll give away a gogo wireless pass. Comment below for a chance to win a single-flight pass that expires 12/31/12.

Gogo internet is available on select planes on Air Canada, AirTran, Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, United, US Airways, and Virgin America