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.
View From The Wing: "American Airlines has increased first and second checked bag fees to a most-expensive in the industry $40 per first checked bag on domestic U.S. itineraries and $45 for the second checked bag. They’ve also increased checked bag fees for travel to Central America and the Caribbean."
Points Wire Note:
While I wouldn't make co-branded credit cards a focus of a points strategy, a Barclays or Citi AA card could make sense if you need to check bags regularly on domestic/regional flights.
If you're in Washington, DC this weekend, I'll be speaking at the FTU event on Saturday, February 24. Naturally I'll be talking about booking premium cabin flights, specifically first class, with points and miles - my favorite!
For those already attending, make sure you say hi!
Tickets to the event are $149 (or $100 for FTU Online Members) and include admission to the Travel & Adventure Show as well.
Bloomberg: "Capital One Financial Corp. is exploring a potential acquisition of credit-card lender Discover Financial Services that would rank as one of the largest deals globally so far this year, people with knowledge of the matter said."
"McLean, Virginia-based Capital One is working with advisers and has been holding talks with Discover about a deal, the people said. Shares of Discover have fallen about 2% this year, valuing the Riverwoods, Illinois-based company at $27.6 billion, while Capital One has a market capitalization of about $52.2 billion."
Points Wire Note:
This would also give Capital One access to Discover's processing network which is a smaller competitor to Visa and Mastercard. If this acquisition is approved by regulators, Capital One would have its own in-house processing network just like American Express.
One Mile At A Time: "Etihad Airways has a great inflight product in first class and business class, and historically it has been pretty easy to redeem points for these experiences. In particular, Etihad has partnered with American AAdvantage and Air Canada Aeroplan, meaning you could redeem both points currencies for travel in Etihad premium cabins."
"Unfortunately in recent months, it seems like actually redeeming partner miles for travel in Etihad premium cabins has become more challenging. In this post I wanted to cover the trends that we’re seeing when it comes to Etihad award availability, including a possible 30-day rule on redemptions."
One Mile At A Time: "In early 2023, Etihad Airways unveiled plans to introduce a new business class seat, which is debuting on newly delivered Boeing 787s. It’s not just business class getting a refresh, as there are also new economy seats, as well as improved Wi-Fi."
"There’s now an exciting update — while we still don’t know exactly when this aircraft will enter service, Etihad took delivery of its first of these jets this week, so I imagine it will have its first passenger flight soon."
Loyalty Lobby: "Malaysia Airlines has made some significant unannounced changes to its Enrich award chart, jacking up most business-class award prices by 60% or more."
"These are quite significant changes, and those redeeming for business class are really the losers. I wish that Malaysia Airlines would have given proper advance notice to its Enrich members about these changes."
Points Wire Note:
Previously, Malaysia Airlines was a transfer partner of Citi ThankYou Points. However, that partnership ended in March 2022. At that point, Malaysia Airlines had already devalued the Enirch program to the point that it was mostly useless for those in the US.
One important point to note is that even without a single US-based transferable points partner, Malaysia Airlines still imposed a massive devaluation. While some road warriors have complained that devaluations are caused by people earning points from credit cards, this is a sad reminder that airlines devalue their programs regardless.
Update: This transfer bonus is now live!
Citi is launching a transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Between February 18 and March 16, 2024, you'll be able to transfers Citi ThankYou Points to Virgin and get a 30% bonus.
While award flights on Virgin Atlantic have steep carrier-imposed surcharges which leave you on the hook for sky high taxes/fees, you can get some great value out of Virgin points by booking award tickets on partner airlines.
Air France, KLM, and ITA Airways to Europe standout. Delta can be a great option to Europe as well, just not to/from the UK. All Nippon Airways (ANA) is always a fan favorite for those visiting Japan - though award space is tough. Air New Zealand is also a great option.
Award Wallet: "Housed in the Capital One mobile app is a new lounge capacity tracker. You'll find it in the “Travel” menu under “Lounges.” Selecting a location will show real-time capacity, so you'll know whether the lounge is very busy or nearly empty. And if it's busy, you can join the waitlist and get a text when you're next in line."
"The waitlist is accessible even if you're not standing outside the lounge. This way, you can enter the lounge sooner after hopping off your flight — or get your name on the list while you're still in line at the TSA checkpoint. But after the confirmation text arrives, you'll have 15 minutes to check in at the desk; otherwise, you'll lose your spot in line."
Disclosure: I may receive a referral bonus if you use the links below.
Thrifty Traveler: "Here's your chance to book a stay at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, one of the best points hotels in Mexico and one of our absolute favorites."
"We just discovered a ton of standard room award availability from late February through April 2024 for just 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night, with almost every single night bookable over that span. That's as good as it gets for this high-end property, which rarely sees more than a few days a month of award availability like this, if any."
Points Wire Note:
If you find dates with Standard Room availability for 120,000 Hilton points per night, you can also use a free night certificate earned with one of the Hilton Amex cards. Additionally, Hilton Amex Aspire cardholders have Hilton Honors Diamond status which can be quite useful at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos.
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