Frequent Miler: "Delta is out with a new status match challenge for 2024 and it’s pretty darn generous. If you have elite status with a competing airline and have plans to fly Delta this year or next, this status match challenge is well worth considering. If you match early in the year and complete the challenge, you could get two full years of elite status!"
Eligible airlines for status match:
Direct link to status match/challenge
Points Wire Note:
If you have status with an eligible airline program, this is actually a great status/match challenge. I would expect Delta to make some awful changes to elite status in the next couple of years, but you can still get some value out of it in the meantime!
Please keep in mind that SkyMiles still has terrible redemption rates if you're starting/ending in the U.S.
One Mile At A Time: "IHG One Rewards has just launched a lucrative sale on award nights, which could save you quite a few points on a redemption. This promotion is initially only available to those with a co-branded IHG credit card, and in a few days it will be extended to elite members as well."
If you need additional points, you can often buy IHG points with a 100% bonus which brings your cost to 0.5 cents per point. That's the best time to buy.
I wouldn't recommend transferring Bilt Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points as you can get much more out of those points with other transfer partners.
Amex currently has two Amex Offers for Hyatt stays. These offers appear to be targeted.
Spend $500+ at Hyatt in Canada, get $100 back as a statement credit. This offer expires April 30, 2024 which means you must register and complete your payment by then.
List of eligible Hyatt properties in Canada.
Spend $400+ at Hyatt in Latin America, get $100 back as a statement credit. This offer expires January 31, 2024. You must register and complete your payment by then.
List of eligible Hyatt properties in Latin America.
Some important terms:
Book with Hyatt Privé to get benefits such as:
If a property is not available via our self-serve booking portal you can submit a request to here. For manual bookings, your booking must total at least $1,000.
*Room-to-room or suite-to-suite. You can't upgrade from a room to a suite.
When you spend $1,000+ with Homes & Villas by Marriott, you can get $250 back as a statement credit.
Only properties in the U.S. Canada, the Caribbean, Central American, Mexico, and South America are eligible.
You must pay by April 15, 2024.
Stack Marriott Home & Villas Promo
You can stack this Amex Offer with a Homes & Villas promo to earn 2x on all home rentals in 2024. However, you need to book by January 31, 2024 and stays must be 2+ nights to earn 2x points.
Points Wire Note:
I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to book, but you can get a nice return by stacking these offers.
One Mile At A Time: "United MileagePlus has a published status challenge program, which is currently valid for requests received through December 20, 2024."
"With this program, you can have your status matched for a period of 120 days, and then your status can be extended based on qualifying activity within that period. As it stands, United is offering this program in order to earn Premier Silver, Premier Gold, and Premier Platinum status."
"Officially it’s not possible to get a status match to Premier 1K, though anecdotally there are many reports of top tier elites with other airlines getting matched to this. Global Services matches aren’t possible, however."
Points Wire Note:
If your current airline status is expiring and/or you plan on flying United more often, this could be worth it. Just keep in mind that you can only request a match with United every five years.
Also, you'll want to make sure you can hit the challenge requirements within 120 days of matching to extend your status. If you match after July 1, 2024 and meet the challenge requirements, your status will be valid until 2026.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited's offer for unlimited matched cash back for 12 months is coming to an end. I'm still confirming the exact end date, but I wouldn't hesitate to apply if this has been on your list.
Don't forget, the cash back this card earns can be combined the points with a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred. This allows you to transfer the points to airline and hotel partners. You just need one of these three cards to turn the Freedom Unlimited's cash back into fully transferable points.
Freedom Unlimited Bonus Categories
This offer could help you earn a ton of Ultimate Rewards points.
There's another offer available via referral: $200 cash back plus 5% back on gas and groceries for 12 months up to $12,000 spend. Which is best for you depends on your spend habits.
Check out 35 great ways to book business class with Chase points.
The American Airlines shopping portal is currently offering 9X points on accessories purchased from Dell. If you're just a bit short of earning the next level of status with American Airlines, this could be a great way to top off your Loyalty Points before the deadline of February 29, 2024.
Even better, if you have an Amex Business Platinum, you can use your $200 Dell credit for the January to June timeframe and get reimbursed for all or part of your purchase.
Dell allows you to split payment across multiple cards online so you can use an Amex Business Platinum to cover $200 of a purchase and another card to cover the rest, if you prefer.
Nice flag by Frequent Miler.
Thai Royal Orchid Plus isn't a loyalty program you hear about much in the U.S. as their award rates aren't particularly competitive. However, Royal Orchid Plus has launched a 50% off award promo for Thai Airways' flight between Bangkok and Istanbul. This brings the one-way award rate down to 45,000 miles for business class and 21,250 miles for economy class.
You must book your ticket by January 15, 2024 and complete your travel between January 15 and March 15, 2024. The change fee is $200/$150 for business/economy class, respectively.
You will be on the hook for carrier-imposed surcharges which brings the one-way taxes/fees to ~$272 on business class award or ~$186 on an economy award.
For context, Air Canada Aeroplan requires 60,000 miles and Avianca LifeMiles requires 78,000 miles. However, they do not pass on the surcharges so the taxes/fees will be closer to ~$20. Turkish Miles&Smiles also requires 45,000 miles plus taxes/fees. Still, it's fun to see Thai's program offer some solid value!
If you want to book this promo as part of a trip to Southeast Asia and Europe or the Middle East, you'll need Citi ThankYou Points as that's the only program that transfer to Thai Airways.
Personally, I love niche booking opportunities for business class award tickets and would consider this if it fit my schedule.
Points Wire Note:
Your best bet to earn Citi ThankYou Points is the Citi Premier Card. You can pair a Citi Double Cash, Citi Custom Cash, or Citi Rewards+ with the Premier to earn additional points. However, the Citi Premier is the key to accessing transfer partners.
The Points Guy: "Following a presidential decree, Turkey (also known as Turkiye) has lifted its tourism visa requirements for six new countries — including the United States and Canada."
"The decree, signed by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Dec. 22, has largely slipped under the radar. It was announced in the Turkish Official Gazette on Dec. 23 and applies to tourists visiting Turkey from the U.S., Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Oman and Saudi Arabia."
Points Wire Note:
Previously, Turkey charged ~$20 for an e-visa so this isn't going to save you a ton of money. However, it's nice to no longer have to handle the logistics of applying for a visa.
Head for Points: "In early 2023, Marriott Bonvoy decided that downgrading millions of elite members to nothing for 2023 would be bad for business. It announced a ‘soft landing’ after 2022 had finished. This annoyed people who had gone out of their way to requalify because they otherwise expected to drop back to nothing."
"According to a message on the Bonvoy website, you will be getting a soft landing again for 2024."
Points Wire Note:
I'd like to see more loyalty programs implement soft landings. Going from top tier to zero overnight is an easy way for a customer to cut ties immediately. With a soft landing at mid-tier, airlines and hotels can maintain the connection. On the airline side, British Airways does this so it's not unprecedented.
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