Skift: "Hilton has signed deals for three new hotels in Saudi Arabia: There are two Curio Collections, one focused on “eco” and the other on adventure. And an LXR resort will be an “agritourism” property as part of a tie-in with Saudi’s new farming tourism organization, Dan Company."
"Al-Ahsa Agritourism Resort, LXR Hotels & Resorts will be the most high-end of the bunch and connected to a garden, an amphitheater, dining and retail options, a farmers’ market, and spaces for local agricultural vendors."
"On average, LXR properties are the most expensive in the Hilton network – above the rates of the historic Waldorf Astoria. Average daily rates were $519 according to Hilton’s latest results. It is also one of Hilton’s smallest brands in terms of footprint, with 13 locations."
Points Wire Note:
We've seen quite a bit of movement in the luxury hotel space in Saudi Arabia lately. I'm not surprised to see Hilton getting in on the action. I'll be curious to see the cash rates and award rates at the LXR property.
One Mile At A Time: "As you’d expect, Air France-KLM investing in SAS has major implications for passengers at the airline. SAS will be leaving the Star Alliance, of which it’s a founding member, and will instead join the SkyTeam alliance. While there’s no exact date yet, this is expected to happen in the second quarter of 2024, so somewhere between April and June."
Points Wire Note:
SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) has a solid business class product but isn't know for releasing much award space. I'll be curious to see if this changes with Air France-KLM's investment. If SAS does start releasing award space, the next questions will be how many Flying Blue miles will be required and what the carrier-imposed surcharges will be.
Danny the Deal Guru: "Chase has unveiled a new bonus offer, allowing eligible cardmembers to earn up to 10,000 bonus points on qualifying Chase Travel purchases. The offer is structured to reward cardmembers for their travel bookings, emphasizing hotel stays alongside flights, cruises, or car rentals. This is a targeted offer, but you can try registering to see if you are eligible. Check out the details below and register now."
Bonus Structure
Some Important Terms & Conditions
Disclosure: I may earn a referral bonus if you use some of the links below.
Danny the Deal Guru flagged that you earn a $75 Uber voucher when you sign up for a CLEAR Plus membership with the code promo code SAVETIME75.
If you pay for your CLEAR Plus membership with an Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum, Amex Green, or Hilton Aspire Amex, you can also receive a statement credit covering the $189 fee.
American Express has released another Amex Offer for Amazon purchases. You can earn 5 bonus Membership Rewards points per dollar on Amazon purchases through April 30, 2024. You can earn up to 2,000 bonus points with this offer. That means you'll earn +5 points on up to $400 spent at Amazon. Unfortunately, this is a targeted offer so only some accounts will have it.
Terms & Conditions
American Airlines has released 500,000 economy seats on select one-way flights for only 5,000 American AAdvantage miles. Eligible flights include select destinations within the contiguous 48 US states and to select destinations in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
You can even find flights on transcontinental routes.
Must book by March 15, 2024 and travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from April 2 to May 29, 2024. Flights must be marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle.
Fortunately, these are not Basic Economy award tickets so you'll get the benefits of a Main Cabin ticket.
One Mile At A Time: "Delta has updated its baggage page to reflect new fees for tickets purchased as of March 5, 2024. For domestic flights, the airline has increased checked bag fees from $30 to $35 for the first bag, and from $40 to $45 for the second bag."
Points Wire Note:
Not exactly a shocking move considering Alaska, American, JetBlue, and United just recently increased their checked baggage fees. Still, it's always annoying when airlines choose to sneak in negative changes.
Disclosure: I may receive a referral bonus if you use the links below.
Rakuten is offering up to 12x on Dell purchases. If you have an Amex Business Platinum, this is a great time to use your first $200 Dell credit. If you can find something you need at Dell, 2,400 Amex Membership Rewards points via Rakuten at no cost is a nice bonus!
If you're new to the Amex Business Platinum, cardholders receive can receive up to $200 back from Dell purchases twice per year - once from January through June and once from July through December.
If you haven't joined Rakuten yet, you can sign up and earn a $30 bonus if you spend $30 within 90 days. If you link your Amex Membership Rewards account to Rakuten, you can earn Amex points instead which makes the bonus 3,000 points. In the past, we've seen the bonus as high as $40/4,000 points.
Sign up for Rakuten (my referral)
Direct link to Rakuten/Dell Offer
UPDATE: The increased sign-up bonuses for both cards are expected to end March 6, 2024.
The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card's sign-up bonus got a nice boost. However, the World of Hyatt Credit Card only receive a tiny bump. Both offer two-tier sign-up bonuses. Let's take a look at the new offers:
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card
The extra 15,000 points is new and a nice bump. Spending $7,000 more to get the 15,000 isn't ground-breaking, but it does means an extra 2x on spend. You can also earn five elite nights toward status every $10,000 you spend on the card. If nothing else, you'll earn extra Hyatt points with the second part of the sign-up bonus while earning some elite nights.
This card has a $199 annual fee. It also comes with two $50 credits toward Hyatt each year.
World of Hyatt Credit Card
The language of the second part of the offer makes this seem better than it is. You would earn 1x on the $15,000 spent anyway, so you're really only getting an additional 1x on the spend. That means an extra 15,000 points.
So, if you max out the sign-up bonus offer by spending $15,000 in 6 months, you will earn 45,000 points. The real benefit of this card is the annual Free Night Award (Category 1-4) and the ability to earn a second after spending $15,000 in a year. You can also earn two elite nights per $5,000 spent each year.
This card has a $95 annual fee.
Disclosure: I may earn a referral bonus if you use the links below.
If you're unfamiliar with inKind, it's a restaurant app that provides discounted dining credits in many major cities across the US. I've used it many times in DC and NYC.
Citi is back with another Citi Merchant Offer for $25 back when you deposit $50+ in your inKind account via this link. Make sure you enroll in the Merchant Offer before making the purchase.
Other Ways To Save With inKind
Check out the inKind partner restaurant locations.
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Premium members even get text alerts when there are great opportunities to book business and first class flights!
To make choosing your next card a bit easier, we've ranked the best credit card offers to help find the best bonuses.
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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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