Doctor of Credit: "The refer-a-friend bonus on the family of Chase INK cards is slated to change from the current 40,000 points per referral down to the old 20,000 points offer."
You'll now see the following language on your Chase Ink Card referral page: "As of 9/3/2024, you’ll no longer earn 40,000 bonus points for each business. Instead, you’ll earn 20,000 bonus points for each business, up to 10, that gets approved."
You'll still be able to earn up to 200,000 points via referrals per year.
Loyalty Lobby: "Choice has launched its Summer 2024 promotion, valid for stays between June 5 and August 5, 2024."
"Choice Privileges members earn at least 8,000 points for every two stays consumed during the promo period. You must register for this offer."
Doctor of Credit flagged a new promo for those with an Amex Personal Checking account.
If you have the offer, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points for every $2 spent on your Amex debit card up to $1,500 in spend. The standard earn rate for the Amex debit card is 1x per $2 spent.
While this isn't a particularly impressive earn rate when you consider that the Amex Blue Business Plus and Citi Double Cash are no annual fee credit cards that earn 2x on everything, it's interesting to see an offer like this on a debit card.
MilesTalk: "In October 2022, they overhauled the referral program and stated you could earn up to 2,025,000 points (requiring 450 successful referrals)."
"Apparently, however, they changed the program again in February of 2024 – now limiting each account holder to 50 lifetime referrals maximum. So if you had been referring 20 people a year since they launched, you’re done forever."
Oman Air
Oman Air is set to join the oneworld alliance by the end of 2024. While Oman first mentioned its plans to join oneworld in 2021, it's nice to see it coming together.
If they open up business and first class award space to partners, that would make this even more exciting. I'll be curious to see what happens to their Aeroplan partnership. Of course, Aeroplan hasn't had access to business and first class award space for a while.
Fiji Airways
While Fiji Airways is currently a oneworld Connect member, they're planning to become a full oneworld member in the next 12 months. This will mean more oneworld partners will have reciprocal benefits with Fiji Airways.
View From The Wing: "At the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference this morning, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom declared that the carrier’s plan to eliminate mileage-earning from some travel agency tickets is off. It was too confusing. They still care about moving to NDC (new distribution capability), which mileage-earning on agency tickets was a lever to push agencies to adopt, but it is something that will happen 'over time.'"
Frequent Miler: "Avianca LifeMiles apparently began offering family pooling a couple of months ago. That’s a piece of news we had missed until the announcement of last week’s LifeMiles credit cards, which include automatic Silver elite status. One of the benefits of LifeMiles elite status is the ability for an elite member to pool miles earned by their under-18 children with their own miles for free, which is a nice benefit for families traveling on paid tickets."
Danny the Deal Guru: "More American Express cardholders are now seeing referral bonuses for 25,000, 30,000 or 35,000 Membership Rewards points. Check your personal and business Amex cards to see if you have these increased bonuses in your accounts. This can be a great time to refer friends and family members to sign up for Amex cards. They get the signup bonus and you earn up to 30,000 points."
Points Wire Note:
STTP Premium members can submit their Amex referrals if their referrals have the best welcome bonus available to applicants. Log into your STTP account to submit your links.
Loyalty Lobby: "The new home for the Conrad New Your Midtown is now confirmed to be affiliated with Marriott, where it will be called The Luxury Collection Manhattan Midtown Hotel."
"The London NYC joined Hilton’s Conrad brand in 2019 but leaves it five years later to become affiliated with Marriott’s Luxury collection."
Hyatt "announced that ATONA, the modern hot spring ryokan (Japanese-style inn) brand, will open properties in Yufu, Yakushima, and Hakone. The ATONA brand was announced in 2022 under a joint venture between a Hyatt affiliate and Kiraku, a Japanese company dedicated to preserving valuable assets for future generations. The first ATONA ryokans are slated to open in 2026 across some of Japan’s top hot spring destinations and areas of natural beauty."
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