Frequent Miler: "Wyndham Rewards is out with a new offer for those willing to sit through a timeshare presentation – a 3 night getaway plus 30,000 points for $199."
Important Terms
Eligible Locations
Points Wire Note:
Timeshare sales people can be pushy and borderline abusive. Do not feel bad about sitting through a presentation then telling them a firm no. Don't bother engaging if they push you. Say no and move on. You don't owe them anything.
Bloomberg: "Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. agreed to cap credit-card swipe fees — a deal that US merchants say will save them at least $30 billion over five years — in one of the most significant antitrust settlements ever, following a legal fight that spanned almost two decades."
"The deal, which is subject to court approval, also would allow retailers to charge consumers extra at checkout for using Visa or Mastercard credit cards and use pricing tactics to steer customers to lower-cost cards, according to a statement Tuesday from attorneys representing the merchants."
View From The Wing notes that this "will not have a material impact to credit card rewards."
If you're curious how this impacts the push by some members of Congress to wreck credit card rewards, don't expect this to stop that push. He notes that "It does undermine the case for Durbin-Marshall legislation to limit card interchange although retailers will argue that it does not – when I debated the law’s main lobbyist/proponent in November, he conceded that the legislation was just a start and they would keep pushing for more."
Monkey Miles: "Southwest is running another Companion Pass promotion ( they just had a flash promo ) on their much desired Southwest Companion Pass where you can nominate another person to fly with you and just pay the taxes and fees on their ticket. This time around it’s a trial Companion Pass that lasts for a couple months as long as you buy a roundtrip, or two one-ways, in the next couple days."
Important Details
If you complete the necessary steps, you'll get the Southwest Companion Pass between August 5 and October 2, 2024.
Amex is out with a fun targeted Amex Offer for flights on British Airways. You can get $180 back as a statement credit if you spend $1,200+ with British Airways by June 23, 2024. You don't have to travel by this date, but you need to have paid by then.
Important Terms
Ideally, you'll get this offer on the Amex Platinum so you can earn 5x on the purchase(s).
Ending Soon: This promo ends March 31, 2024.
"Hyatt has acquired Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and has a promotion offering 5x World of Hyatt base points for buying Mr. & Mrs. Smith gift cards, plus one elite night for every $300 in gift cards purchased. The catch is that you won’t have any additional earnings with Hyatt when you go to redeem those gift cards through Mr. & Mrs. Smith."
Update: Shortly after launching the ability for family pooling, United pull the option because of some tech issues. However, it seems they have fixed the issue and it's now on the site again.
While United doesn't have great award rates relative to its competitors, the ability to pool miles among friends and family (for free) could be quite useful. Neither American nor Delta have this feature, but Air Canada Aeroplan does.
Important Details
Joining And Leaving A Pool
Direct link to miles pooling page
Points Wire Note:
If there's one thing that disappoints me about this new feature, it's that you're restricted to booking flights operated by United. It would be much more useful if you could book award tickets on partner airlines.
For example, this restriction will prevent you from booking a United flight to Europe and connecting on a Star Alliance partner such as Austrian, Lufthansa, or Swiss. Since United doesn't fly to a ton of cities in Europe, that really restricts your options.
As for the restrictions on joining and leaving a pool, I think it's clear that you shouldn't join a pool unless you're about to book.
In the coming months and years, many airlines are set to introduce new business and first class products. Some are exciting, some less so, but they all bring an improved inflight experience. Naturally, I'm hopeful that many will be bookable with miles (at reasonable rates). One Mile At A Time has done a nice job putting together a comprehensive list of the new first class and business class products that have been announced as well as their expected launch timelines.
Delta SkyMiles is notorious for not publishing award charts and for having some of the worst award rates in the industry. However, you can sometimes book Delta flights with Virgin points at reasonable rates. Business class to Europe (not the UK) is one of the best sweet spots.
However, you can also use Virgin points to book short-haul flights on Delta in economy. Award Wallet flagged 462 routes on which you can use 7,500 Virgin points for a one-way economy flight on Delta.
Whether you're booking a short flight for a vacation or to position for an international trip, these could come in handy.
Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi points can be transferred to Virgin Atlantic.
You can find the best credit card welcome bonus offers here.
The Mile Lion: "Trip.com has launched an interesting fast-track offer with Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (JMB), that allows you to earn JMB Sapphire status (equivalent to oneworld Sapphire) after completing a single round-trip JAL Business Class flight."
You must book by April 14, 2024 and travel between May 15 and July 31, 2024 to be eligible for this promotion. Only select flights from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Singapore are eligible for this promotion.
Points Wire Note:
If you'll be in Southeast Asia during that timeframe, this could be a fun way to fast track your way to Oneworld Sapphire status. Onewold Sapphire status via Japan Airlines provides lounge access when on domestic American Air and/or Alaska Airlines flights.
Frequent Miler: "Choice Privileges has long partnered with Preferred Hotels & Resorts, and it has previously been possible, but usually very, very difficult, to book participating Preferred hotels with Choice points. Not anymore! It’s now very easy! You can now book Preferred hotels online with your Choice points!"
Points Wire Note:
You can transfer Citi ThankYou Points and Wells Fargo points to Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio.
If booking a cash rate at a Preferred Hotels & Resorts property, you can book with Preferred Platinum Partner benefits via select travel advisors - click here to book. Benefits can include daily breakfast for 2, a $100 property credit, room upgrade (if available), and more.
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In August 2018, I started the Straight To The Points flight alerts newsletter with the goal of making it easier to book business and first class flights with points & miles and fare deals.
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