Update: The promo is live.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club will be running a 40% discount on award flights to celebrate its 40th birthday. Here are the details:
Points Wire Note:
Previously, when Virgin Atlantic has run discounted award rates, it's been possible to include a connection on a partner airline from Paris or Amsterdam on Air France or KLM, respectively. While the connection on a partner airline hasn't received the discount, the Virgin Atlantic flight from London to the U.S. has been.
The benefit of adding the connection is to avoid the Air Passenger Duty (APD) fee when starting your journey from the UK. The APD fee on a business class ticket to the U.S. is over $200.
Katie Genter: "Earlier this month, Choice Privileges hiked the award cost of Preferred Hotels & Resorts stays to up to 87,000 points per night. At the time, I celebrated that award nights at Choice Hotels properties still cost between 6,000 and 35,000 points in most parts of the world (except the Asia-Pacific region, where award nights cost up to 75,000 points)."
"However, this morning I noticed the Choice Privileges website no longer mentions that award nights cost between 6,000 and 35,000 points in most parts of the world. Instead, these mentions now note that reward nights at participating Choice Hotels locations start at 8,000 Choice Privileges points."
Miles4Migrants is running a promotion with Air Canada in which you can earn 7,500 Aeroplan points for every $100 you donate up to 75,000 points. That means you're paying 1.33 cents per point. Not the best we've seen from Air Canada, but not bad. Plus, you get to support a good cause.
They've set a fundraising goal of $250,000 which I expect they'll hit pretty quickly. So, if you want to support Miles4Migrants and earn some Aeroplan points, I would do this sooner rather than later. The campaign ends December 31, 2024 unless they raise $250,000 before that.
Your Aeroplan points can take up to 8 weeks to post.
You can donate more if you'd like, but you can only earn a max of 75,000 points. Of course, you could get friends and family to donate as well.
Loyalty Lobby: "Wyndham is releasing a rather interesting Ultimate Hotel Pass product valid for up to 30 nights within three months."
"There are only 25 Ultimate Hotel Passes available, each priced at $499. You can pre-register your interest to purchase until July 4, and if you are lucky, you will be notified on July 8."
Amex has released another round of targeted Amex Offers. One that might interest you is a Delta gift card offer. You can earn 5,000 bonus Membership Rewards points if you buy $500+ in Delta gift cards. Please note that these purchases will not code as airfare so you can't earn 5x with the Amex Platinum.
Important Terms
One Mile At A Time: "Earlier this year, Cathay Pacific revealed that it planned to introduce free Wi-Fi in business class at some point in 2024. More specifically, the airline has revealed that it plans to trial free Wi-Fi in business class starting in the summer of 2024."
"We haven’t seen many further announcements on that front recently, but it looks like this trial could start shortly. A reliable FlyerTalk member reports that as of June 19, 2024, Cathay Pacific will begin trialing free Wi-Fi on the Airbus A350-900 with the registration code B-LRF."
Points Wire Note:
I've always thought free Wi-Fi in business and first class is a small, but meaningful, perk to offer passengers.
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There's another round of targeted IHG One Rewards promos going around. It's worth checking your account to see if you've been targeted for one of them. Please note that only cash stays are eligible for these promos.
Potential offers you might see:
If you're booking a stay at one of IHG's luxury brands (Intercontinental, Regent, Kimpton, etc.), I would consider booking via IHG's Luxury & Lifestyle program to get additional perks such as daily breakfast for 2, room upgrade, a $100 property credit, and guaranteed 2pm checkout. Benefits vary by property.
If you're booking a stay at a property that doesn't participate in Luxury & Lifestyle, you can use a cashback portal to earn some cash back. I generally find Top Cashback to be a good option, but you can compare options at Cashback Monitor.
The Sonesta World Mastercard is issued by Bank of America. While it's not a top priority card, it's always a good idea to keep an eye on niche cards that could come in handy as your progress in your points journey. As the bonus has been increased recently, let's take a look at it.
Welcome Bonus
Basically, you can earn 155,000 points for spending $7,500 and adding an authorized user.
Bonus Categories
Benefits
Annual Fee
View From The Wing: "The U.S. has some very long flights – over 3,000 miles each way even – the equivalent of Paris to Dubai. Yet airlines treat their domestic premium cabins as an afterthought, in ways airlines throughout much of the world do not."
"Outside of so-called ‘premium’ routes like New York – Los Angeles, you’re likely to find this chicken or what I think is pasta on board an American Airlines flight."
"Airlines in Europe are offering more on one-hour flights than U.S. carriers provide on six and seven hour flights – to customers willing to pay for something better. That’s a combination of food spend and simply caring about the details of what you’re serving."
The Bulkhead Seat: "Basic Economy is the cheapest way to fly, but with these fares come many restrictions without the ability to change flights, cancel, earn full mileage credit, choose seats, check bags for free, or even bring on a carry-on bag. JetBlue is looking to change this last point and the airline will be adding a free carry-on bag to its Blue Basic fares as of September 6th."
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