Doctor Of Credit reports that Chase is making some changes to the no-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card. Unsurprisingly, these aren't positive changes.
Going forward, cardholders will receive 5 free elite night credits per calendar year instead of 15. The card will come with complimentary Marriott Silver status which requires 15 elite nights.
Considering the fact that the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless comes with 15 elite night credits each year and has a $95 annual fee, I can't say this changes surprises me.
The Bonvoy Bold card's 2x on travel bonus category will change to 2x on grocery store, rideshare, and internet/cable/phone service purchases.
The changes will take effect on July 10, 2024. More changes are expected to be announced.
View From The Wing: "Delta appears to be eliminating its checked baggage delivery guarantee (“Bags on Time”) program next month."
"Customers could claim 2,500 miles whenever their bags failed to show up on the carousel within 20 minutes of arrival on a domestic flight. You could request the miles on your phone while standing at baggage claim, and in my experience claims were approved instantly."
"The person who shared this with me attributed it to the high cost of the program driven by awareness in viral TikTok videos and increasing ‘gaming’ of compensation."
Points Wire Note:
Whether you think it was fair to check as many bags as you could and hope for a bag delay so Delta would have to give you 2,500 SkyMiles, I don't think anyone can be surprised by this. It's a reminder that taking things to extremes in points and miles without consideration for how it will look to a bank, airline, or hotel can have negative consequences.
You may be able to get the Amex Blue Business Plus with a welcome offer of 50,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $8,000 in 3 months.
Considering the fact that the Blue Business Plus often doesn't come with a welcome bonus, this is an amazing offer. Typically, we only see the welcome bonus increased to 15,000 or maybe 25,000 points.
If you're targeted, this is a solid welcome bonus for this no-annual-fee business card that earns 2x on all spend up to $50,000 per year.
A similar offer seems to be available via select cardholder referrals. The only difference being the minimum spend is bumped up to $10,000.
Avianca LifeMiles is offering a 15% bonus if you transfer Amex Membership Rewards points by March 15, 2024. Please note that you won't see this offer on your Amex account has this is a transfer promo on the LifeMiles side. The 15% bonus miles can take up to 24 hours to post.
LifeMiles is already one of the best ways to book flights Star Alliance carriers so this bonus is just icing on the cake. For example, most routes between the US and Europe require 63,000 miles for a one-way business class award ticket. With this promo, you'd only need to transfer 55,000 Amex points to get the 63,000 LifeMiles.
The Amex Gold Card has been revamped as of July 25, 2024.
Welcome Bonus
You may need to use an incognito browser to see the 100,000-point offer. Some people are seeing 90,000 points. The public offer is only 60,000 points.
Some referral links seem to generate the 100,000-point offer if you open via incognito mode.
Use a reader referral
Direct link to offer
Bonus Categories
Benefits
Annual Fee
In general, Amex welcome bonuses offered to new cardholders are often better than via affiliate or direct links. However, this time, we're talking about the referral bonus you'll receive if someone uses your referral link.
You'll still earn a set number of points, but Amex has added an extra part of the bonus to incentivize additional spend:
"Earn +10 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide for 3 months, on up to $25,000. This is on top of what you already earn on your Card. This offer can only be redeemed once. Offer ends 05/22/2024. Terms apply."
If you refer someone from your Amex Gold or Business Gold, that would mean you could earn 14x Membership Rewards points at restaurants! You could potentially earn 250,000 points from this offer!
Want to earn some referral points? STTP Premium members can submit there referrals to several Amex cards. Please only submit if you have a link to the best offer. The point is to get applicants the best offer. You can log into your STTP account to submit your referral links.
Update: American has pushed the start date to July 11, 2024.
Paddle Your Own Kanoo: "American Airlines said on Tuesday that it will soon stop awarding frequent flyer miles and status Loyalty Points through its AAdvantage program to passengers who don’t book direct with AA or a small number of partner airlines and ‘preferred’ travel agents."
"The change will come into effect on May 1, 2024, but tickets issued before that date, regardless of the date of travel, will earn miles and Loyalty Points no matter where the ticket was bought from."
Points Wire Note:
While you'll continue to earn American miles and Loyalty Points on non-basic economy tickets booked through select travel agents, we don't have any indication of who the eligible agents are at this point. Given how small commissions are on flight bookings, this feels like they're playing at the margins rather than focusing on driving revenue from the core business.
I have a feeling that corporate travel agents may be exempt from this change. Can you imagine the outrage from road warriors if they no longer earned elite status and miles for all their time traveling around the country or world?!
Frequent Flyer Bonuses: "For the next two weeks ASMALLWORLD has a new special offer to earn 20% more Miles & More miles and receive a discount when you purchase a Prestige membership. ASMALLWORLD bills itself as a social network for travel that provides a bunch of perks and benefits when you join."
Benefits
The upside to Miles & More miles is that you can book Lufthansa first class up ~360 days from departure. This gives you a massive advantage over those booking with partner programs which only get access within ~14 days of departure (if not even close to departure). A one-way first class award ticket requires 91,000 Miles & More miles.
Of course, you'll be on the hook for surcharges which are steep from the US. However, the surcharges aren't as bad on one-way flights from Europe to the US so that's what I'd book. The flights from Europe are daytime flights, so you can actually be awake to enjoy the experience!
Cost
During this promo, the cost is steep at 4,950 EUR (~$5,355). A small silver lining is that the purchase codes as travel.
Disclosure: I may earn a referral bonus if you use the links below.
It's back as of August 12, 2024!
Rakuten is offering 100% cash back at NordVPN. You can earn 100x Membership Rewards points if you link an eligible Amex card to Rakuten. This means you can earn Amex points for 1 cent per point.
Please note that you will only earn Amex points or cash back on your initial purchase so your best bet is to pay for a one or two year plan in full.
If you don't have a Rakuten account, you can sign up and earn a bonus 10% back (or 10x Amex points) on purchases made during your first seven days with Rakuten.
Exclusions: Cash Back is only available to new NordVPN customers. Cash Back can only be earned on the initial sign-up. Limited to one per member. Cash Back is not available on NordPass, NordLocker, Incogni and Dedicated IP subscriptions or refunded orders.
Posting Time: Cash Back will be automatically added to your Rakuten account within one week.
Direct link to Rakuten x NordVPN offer
Note: During previous promos, I heard reports that people were only seeing it track up to ~$81 in purchase price. Please keep that in mind. You might be able to email Rakuten a receipt if your purchase amount exceeds $81 and they don't give you the correct cash back or points initially.
Disclosure: I may earn a referral bonus if you use the links below.
Both American Express and Chase issue co-branded Marriott cards. The Marriott Bonvoy Business Card is issued by Amex and the only Marriott business card.
I consider it a niche card as the bonus categories are weak. To me, the real benefit is the 15 elite night credits you get each year as a cardholder. This can make it easier to qualify for the more useful elite status levels with Marriott Bonvoy - Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador.
You also receive an annual Free Night Award worth up to 35,000 Marriott points on your account anniversary.
New Welcome Offer
However, there's a new welcome bonus offer that makes this a particularly good time to get the card.
You can top off each free night certificate with an additional 15,000 Marriott points.
If you'd like more info on this card, you can check out my quick review.
If you'd like to apply, this is my personal referral (not an affiliate link).
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