January 20, 2015

Point & Center: $400 Flights to Italy, American Express Transfer Bonus to Virgin America, Last Call for Hyatt Reservations & More!

Sorry for the lack of post the past few days – I was down in Aruba for the long weekend and my schedule didn’t allow me to post any of the news going on from the past week or so. Here is quick roundup of some of the more notable news and developments that I missed.

1. 35% American Express Transfer Bonus to Virgin America – American Express is offering a 35% transfer bonus for all transfers of American Express Membership Rewards points to Virgin America. The normal transfer ratio is 2 Membership Rewards points to 1 Virgin America Elevate point (2:1) so with this promotion, it becomes 2:1.35. Virgin America points are worth ~2.2 cents each since that is the approximate rate they can be redeemed for travel on Virgin America. As in most cases when there is a transfer bonus (with perhaps the exception of the current 40% British Airways transfer bonus), I would not make any speculative transfers unless you needed to top off your account for an award you about to book. In general, I don’t recommend taking advantage of this offer for most people.

2. ~$400 flights New York to Milan on Emirates & United – Emirates is running a promotion in which you can snag a non-stop flight from JFK to Milan for only ~$400 a person roundtrip. United quickly matched the fare for Newark to Milan though availability seems to be more limited than Emirates. The catch for this promotion is this is valid for only groups of exactly of 2 people (Emirates) or 2+ people (United). A single traveler will price out at ~$660. You can travel from February to May though you will need to search to see what dates are eligible for the $400 fares. Here is more information from The Flight Deal.

3. No Foreign Transaction Fees on Barclays US Airways MasterCard – I recently received an email from Barclays informing me that they will no longer charge a foreign transaction fee on purchases made outside of the United States. Previously they would charge 3% for this but in what I’m guessing is an attempt to lure more customers to acquire the US Airways MasterCard before they are unable to offer it anymore, they have removed this fee completely. I’m glad to see another credit card offer no foreign transaction fee but there are much better cards to use for foreign purchases already so this announcement doesn’t make a big difference to me.

4. Last Call for Hyatt Reservations for Affected Hotels Before Award Category Changes on 1/22 – I posted last month a list of some of the key hotels that are changing categories (Park Hyatt Maldives, Andaz Amsterdam, Park Hyatt Seoul, Baha Mar and more) in the Hyatt Gold Passport Program as a result of Hyatt’s annual evaluation of category levels. The change in award category will occur on 1/22 so if you are targeting a reservation at one of the affected hotels, I recommend booking them now even if you don’t exactly have firm dates. There is no cost to cancel award bookings (as long as you do it before the hotel’s cancellation deadline) and generally, Hyatt has allowed you to change dates to a reservation made before the category change without charging you the increased amount of points (though this is a YMMV situation). Basically, I see no downside to making a speculative reservation now to save points.

Here is the complete list of affected hotels.

January 5, 2015

Good Deal Alert: 100,000 Point American Express Platinum, 50,000 Point Premier Rewards Gold Rewards & 30,000 Point Everyday Preferred Credit Cards

I know every blogger has posted about this but I wanted to make sure my readers had a chance to get in on this offer as well. Right now using, the Card Match Tool on creditcards.com, there are some great offers on American Express cards including the Platinum, Premier Rewards and Everyday Preferred cards. However, this is targeted and seems to be aimed at folks who either do not have Amex cards already or barely use their existing Amex cards. Each of the these offers are significantly higher than the standard public offers and I recommend applying for them if you are targeted for any of these offers. Note you cannot get these offers if you already these cards before at somepoint.

To check to see if you got this offer, click the Card Match Tool link and fill out the info requested. Do not worry about putting the last four of your social security number, this does not generate a hard pull nor does this affect your credit score.

The CardMatch Tool

Here are a rundown of the three offers and how I would rank them. Note I only recommend applying for one card if you happen to be targeted for multiple offers.

1. American Express Platinum Card (60,000 to 100,000 points)

60k to 100k Points after spending $3k in 3 months
$450 Annual Fee NOT Waived
$200 Airline Travel Credit Annually (since this is calendar year you can do this twice and cover $400 of the $450 annual fee)
Elite status with Starwood, National, Hertz & Avis Rent a Car
Lounge Access with Delta, Centurion, & Airspace Airport Lounges
Free Global Entry or TSA Precheck

The normal offer on this card is 40,000 points and 100,000 points is the about the highest offer I’ve seen (some rare people have seen 150,000 point offers). I’m sure people have concerns over the annual fee but the points are easily worth ~$1,500 plus you get $400 in airline gift cards plus the other perks listed above. Keep the card a year and then cancel the card before the next annual fee is due. I wrote how to get a 100,000 point offer on the Business Platinum Card here.

2. American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (50,000 points)

50k Points after spending $1k in 3 months
$175 Annual Fee IS WAIVED the 1st year
Triple points on airfare, double points on gas and groceries

The normal offer on this card is 25,000 points so this is double the standard offer. This is a solid card to rack up points if you pay for airfare typically or do not currently have a card that earns a bonus at gas stations or grocery stores.

3. American Express Everyday Preferred Card (30,000 points)

30k Points after spending $2k in 3 months
$95 Annual Fee NOT Waived
Triple points on groceries, double points on gas
50% bonus on points if you have more than 30 transactions in a billing cycle

A relative newcomer to the Amex lineup, the standard offer on this card is 15,000 points so again double the standard offer here. If you hit the 30 or more transactions in a month you actually earn 4.5x on supermarkets and 3x on gas which is fantastic.

Neither my wife nor I were targeted for any of these as we already have a ton of Amex cards and use them heavily. In speaking with my clients about this offer (who got early access to this deal as a perk for being a client if it made sense for them), only 2 out of 10 clients who have written me back so far were targeted so this is definitely limited. However, its well worth a shot to see if it works for you. Good Luck!

*Unlike many of the other blogs discussing this offer, I do not have an affiliate link for creditcards.com. Didn’t see too many bloggers mentioning a disclosure that they got paid on these offers…

December 29, 2014

Travel Hacking Year End Checklist: Here is What You Need to Do Before January 1st

Year end is here and as such, there are several calendar year opportunities that you want to make sure you’ve taken advantage of before Thursday. Additionally, there are some limited time opportunities that may not be around much longer, so I’ve included those items below as well.

The clock is ticking…

Here is a list of items you want to make sure you’ve taken care of before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st.

1. Spend the $200 American Express Platinum Airline Credit – Each calendar year, Amex Platinum cardholders (both personal and business) get a $200 airline credit to spend toward fees on a specified airline. You must first select the airline here and if you made a selection last year, it is automatically carried forward for 2014 (you can change this selection once a year in January). Even though the official language regarding this credit is meant to cover baggage fees, lounge passes etc., I always buy gift cards to make sure I fulfill this $200 credit, since I wouldn’t complete it on fees alone. Buying $50 Delta e-gift cards or $100 American Airlines gift cards does the trick.

2. Spend the $300 Ritz Carlton Credit Card Travel Credit – Similar to the Amex Platinum above, the Ritz Carlton credit card offers $300 annually in travel credit for baggage fees, lounge passes, seat upgrades and other fees, but with two key differences: 1) The $300 credit can cover multiple charges from different airlines and 2) You have to call in to request reimbursement. This second part makes it a little trickier to use this credit for gift cards since they aren’t technically eligible for reimbursement and by having a person manually review every charge (as compared to the Amex Platinum where the credit is automatically generated) it is harder to get reimbursed for gift cards. There are two good threads that have some reports on people getting reimbursed for gift cards here and here. It seems buying gift cards in denominations of stated fees, such as pet fees and checked baggage fees have been working if you are willing to fudge the truth on what the charge is actually for if the agent asks. This is a YMMV scenario.

3. Book Hyatt My Elite Rate & Book via Hyatt Mobile App- I’ve covered this before but Hyatt is ending the My Elite Rate in 2015. If you have any known paid stays upcoming in 2015, you might want to lock in the My Elite Rate now and if you see it go cheaper or your plans change, you could always cancel as most My Elite Rates are cancelable up until a few days before the stay. In addition, the ability to earn 1,000 bonus points if you book a stay via the Hyatt mobile app is ending on 12/31.

4. Maximize Chase Freedom 4th Quarter 5% Bonus – The Chase Freedom Q4 5% Bonus is Amazon.com, Zappos.com and select Department stores. In these categories you will earn 5% cash back up to $1,500 in spend in these categories. I’m a big Amazon shopper so I will always stock up on Amazon gift cards when the 5% bonus is active on the Freedom card to make sure I hit the $1,500 in spend. You could take a similar approach for department stores or Zappos by buying gift cards for future purchases.

5. Apply for the US Airways MasterCard – I’m technically cheating on this one since I believe this offer will be around after 12/31 but now is a great time to apply for the US Airways MasterCard. This card is going away at some point in early 2015 (maybe January 18th?) and this is the final call to earn a signup bonus on this card. The current offers are 50,000 miles after first purchase that is valid for everyone and an offer targeted for Preferred Members that offers the same 50,000 miles + 10,000 miles upon renewal. I’ve heard several reports that if you apply for the offer meant for Preferred members but you aren’t a Preferred member and you do not get automatically approved, Barclays will no longer approve you for this offer if you call the reconsideration line. In that case, I recommend going for the standard 50,000 offer and remember there is a refer a friend offer ongoing.

6. Earn 500 Free Points from Virgin America – This is a pretty easy 500 points for a minute of work but this offer expires on 12/31. Here is the link to the offer as well as my write-up on the offer.

7. Check Your American Express Offers – Many good deals expire on 12/31/14 including $10 off Uber, $15 off Toys R Us, and others. If you didn’t register for some of these offers earlier, they may not appear in your account now and others were more targeted. However, for the ones you do have, check to see if any expiring 12/31 offers are worth taking advantage of.

8. Try to Earn 1,000 Free Hilton HHonors Points – Hilton HHonors is running a targeted promotion that gives users 1,000 free HHonors points for updating your email address. I wasn’t targeted as I got a message indicating they had my email address on file. This offer expires on 12/31 so I think its worth a minute of your time to see if your account is eligible for a free 1,000 points.

9. Take 10% off Hyatt Stays with Hyatt Gift Cards – I’ve discussed this deal previously and while the expiration date for this promotion isn’t known, it is widely assumed to be 12/31/14.

I’m sure I missed something here. What else are you doing before year end? Thanks to PointChaser for inspiration of this post.

December 18, 2014

40% Bonus on American Express Membership Rewards Transfers to British Airways

American Express has announced a 40% transfer bonus on Membership Rewards transfers to British Airways through January 31, 2015. This is without a doubt one of the best transfer bonuses this year, if not the best, and the second highest ever transfer bonus to British Airways with the highest being 50% in May 2012.

British Airways Avios are great for short to medium length, non-stop flights as the cost in miles is significantly less than other airlines. I’ve discussed using Avios here, here and here. As a reminder, here is what their award chart looks like.

I’ve discussed in the past how valuable flexible points/miles are as you are never truly committed to one program and it allows you to keep a wide range of options open for award travel for your next trip. With this transfer bonus, this might be one of the few times I would transfer some points to British Airways to take advantage of this bonus, even if I don’t have an immediate need for them. Obviously, doing this removes the greatest perk of MR points which is the flexibility but I think this offer is too strong to pass up if it syncs up with your travel goals.

You really need to evaluate this offer based on your home airport, travel habits and travel goals. For example, my home airports are JFK or LGA so that is a plus since American has a large presence at each. For short to medium length flights, I don’t mind flying coach so that’s another plus. Lastly, being on the East Coast, the Caribbean is pretty close and I’ll never say no to a nice beach vacation. Sum that all up and I know I can/will redeem these points for travel on American Airlines to either the Caribbean or somewhere domestically.

Kenny, over at Miles4More, has put together an awesome series of flights that are cheap with Avios. Here is the link to the East Coast series but he has listings of flights from other areas of the country as well on his site – it’s worth a read.

Not to steal the thunder from his articles but here are some great redemptions with Avios:

JFK to Miami – 7,500 Avios each way (Only ~5,400 American Express Membership Rewards points each way with bonus)
JFK to Antigua (or the Caribbean in general)- 10,000 Avios each way (Only ~7,200 MR points each way with bonus)
LAX (or the West Coast in general) to Hawaii – 12,500 Avios each way (Only ~9,000 MR points each way with bonus)
BOS to Dublin – 12,500 Avios each way (Only ~9,000 MR points each way with bonus). Or double this for business class – that is a steal!

And I could go on. This bonus transfer is good through 1/31/15 so you have time to figure out your future travel plans and if using BA Avios makes sense. Remember a good way to stockpile your American Express MR points is with the recent hack I discovered for the 75k Business Gold as well as a 100k Platinum offer.

December 17, 2014

Point & Center: 50,000 SkyMiles Offer on Delta Gold Amex, Free Gogo Internet for American Express Business Platinum Cardholders, New IHG “Set Your Sights” Promotion & IHG Buys Kimpton Hotels

It’s only Wednesday but it feels like a lot is going on in the points and miles world this week. Here is a quick summary of some items I haven’t blogged about yet.

1. 50,000 SkyMiles Offer on the Delta Gold American Express – With the new rules from American Express limiting a signup bonus to only once a lifetime for each personal card, it makes sense to only apply for a card now from American Express when the offer is at its peak. Currently, for one week only, the Delta Gold Amex (and the business card as well) is increased to a 50,000 mile offer if you spend $1,000 in 3 months.

This is the highest offer I can remember is quite some time but here are they key details of the offer:

50,000 miles after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months
$50 statement credit after first purchase with Delta in the first 3 months
Free checked bag and priority boarding on Delta flights
Annual Fee of $95 is waived for the first year
Offer expires December 21, 2014

If you are short on Delta miles or have a bunch of Delta flights upcoming in the next year and you want to avoid the checked bags fees, this card could make sense to get now when the offer is the highest. And with Delta introducing one ways awards starting 1/1, I’m hoping Delta miles get a bit easier to you though I’m not holding my breath on that.

Here is the link to the personal card.

Here is the link to the business card.

2. Free Gogo Internet for American Express Business Platinum Holders – Earlier this year, American Express added Boingo internet as a new benefit for personal Platinum cardholders and now they are following suit on the Business Platinum card by offering 10 Free Gogo internet passes annually. Gogo all day passes cost $16 so this benefit could be worth $160 annually if you fly enough. Just remember that Gogo is only on certain airlines including Air Canada, Alaska, American, Delta, United, US Airways & Virgin America (along with a few others).

3. New IHG Promotion “Set Your Sights” – IHG has been on a roll with unique, targeted promotions that have some real value to them if you are able to meet the stay requirements. They just announced their newest promotion, “Set Your Sights” in which each member has a list of requirements to meet to earn potentially 50,000+ points. My offer is below which I don’t think is all that great since it requires 5 nights minimum. I’ve seen offers where only 3 nights could meet all the criteria for the bonus points. Make sure to check out your offer and register for the promotion as it could be lucrative if it meets your travel plans.

4. IHG Buys Kimpton Hotels – In a potentially exciting move for IHG members, IHG has announced it has purchased the Kimpton boutique brand of hotels for $430 million dollars and will incorporate them under the IHG company. This is exciting because IHG members will eventually have the option to redeem points or the annual free night from the IHG credit card on Kimpton properties. Kimpton has 62 hotels, all in the US, but they are known for the uniqueness and willingness to provide great customer service. They have some great locations with exciting hotels including NYC, Aspen, and San Francisco.

I stayed in one in Phoenix for the #westcoastDO and had a nice stay while I was treated great as a top-tier Inner Circle member. My hope is the match top tier Inner Circle member to Ambassador status with IHG but it is too soon to tell how that will shake out.

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Points & Miles Travel Consulting

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