As of January 1, 2025, the Capital One Venture and Capital One Spark Miles cards will no longer receive two annual lounge passes that can be used at a Capital One Lounge or Plaza Premium Lounge. At that point, cardholders will be able to pay $45 per person to visit a Capital One Lounge. That's a $20 discount off the standard price.
Points Wire Note:
There's no way around it, this is a blow to the value of both cards. Given how crowded Capital One Lounges have become, I'm not surprised by the change. Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders will continue to have lounge access with the option to bring two guests at no cost.
For context, the Venture and Spark Miles both have $95 annual fees while the Venture X and Venture X Business have $395 annual fees. However, the latter two cards also come with annual $300 credits to Capital One Travel. This can easily make up the difference between the annual fees.
One Mile At A Time: "Friday, December 15, 2023, is National Ugly Holiday Sweater Day (apparently?). To celebrate, Alaska Airlines is offering priority boarding to those who wear ugly holiday sweaters on that day."
"This ugly sweater promo is valid across all Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights, and eligible passengers will be able to board early, after first class passengers and elite members (following Group B)."
Similar to Marriott's partnership with United, you can now link your Marriott Bonvoy account to your Singapore KrisFlyer account and get some flight benefits.
Singapore KrisFlyer Benefits With Marriott Bonvoy Status
Marriott Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador status provides complimentary Singapore KrisFlyer Silver status with an option to upgrade to Gold status. To earn Gold status, you need to take four flights on Singapore Airlines with six months. Not a bad way to earn Star Alliance Gold status!
Marriott Gold members can earn Singapore KrisFlyer/Star Alliance Silver status with two flights within six months. However, there aren't a ton of benefits to Silver.
Marriott Bonvoy Benefits With Singapore KrisFlyer Status
Those with Singapore KrisFlyer Gold, PPS Club, or Solitaire PPS Club get complimentary Marriott Gold status with an option to earn Platinum status with ten qualifying nights at Marriott properties in six months.
KrisFlyer Silver members can earn Marriott Gold with three qualifying nights within six months. Marriott Gold doesn't provide a ton of benefits.
You can link accounts here.
Points Wire Note:
Singapore Airlines often runs good premium economy fares from the U.S. to Southeast Asia. One round-trip ticket with a connection in Singapore in each direction could be enough to earn Star Alliance Gold status if you have Marriott Platinum (or above).
Fun note: The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex offers Platinum status just for being a cardholder.
Award Wallet: "In a bit of sad news, British Airways just devalued partner awards on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. This devaluation was unannounced, seemingly left for British Airways Executive Club members to discover on their next award bookings."
"British Airways raised the prices for award flights on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines — as much as 23% on select routes."
Points Wire Note:
This is the kind of avoidable behavior that makes customers not trust airlines.
Frequent Miler: "Every couple of months Choice releases a new batch of Sweet Spot Rewards where they reduce the number of points required to book award stays at ~30 properties."
"Most properties tend to be in the US, but there are usually a few in Canada and overseas. That’s the case again with this latest batch and there’s a particular gem in Venice (as in Italy, not the beach in California) that looks like an incredible redemption opportunity."
Points Wire Note:
In most cases, I wouldn't transfer Amex points to Choice Privileges. However, if you have the Citi Premier, you can transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Choice at a 1:2 ratio. While I still prefer using Citi points for premium cabin flights, this is your best option if you need a stay at a Choice Hotels property.
Monkey Miles: "American Express is offering 50k Membership Rewards if you open a new business checking account with them and fulfill the following requirements:"
Deposit $5k+ within 20 days of account opening
Maintain an average balance of $5k+ for at least 60 days
Make 5+ qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening
More info about the offer.
Thrifty Traveler: "The ability to book Aeromexico flights with Virgin Atlantic points has been around for a while … but only by calling Virgin to book, which can be a pain. Not anymore: As of sometime last week, Aeromexico flights are now bookable online through Virgin."
Points Wire Note:
I would compare Air France-KLM Flying Blue rates before transferring points. Also, keep in mind that Virgin Atlantic's online search can be tricky. If you enter an airport code or city and it doesn't show, click "Full Airport List" then click "Alphabetically" to search for the airport/city.
"Earn 10% back, up to $40 as a statement credit when you spend $100 or more directly at Air Canada, including taxes and after any discounts. Offer valid one time only. Offer expires 12/31/2023."
Points Wire Note: It's important to remember that this offer can only be used once. However, you can use this offer to get a discount on award ticket taxes/fees.
The Mile Lion: "If you want to enjoy elite status benefits from one frequent flyer programme, but wish to accrue miles with another, you may have wondered whether that’s even possible."
"It is. That’s known as FQTV/FQTS splitting, and if you haven’t come across those terms before don’t worry- many check-in agents haven’t either!"
FQTV: Program for mileage earning
FQTS: Program for status benefits
Skift: "In total, around 115.2 million travelers will fly, drive, ride the bus or take the train during the holiday travel season, according to a forecast from AAA."
"Air travel is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels, with AAA predicting 7.5 million travelers will take to the skies, surpassing a 2019 record of 7.3 million."
Points Wire Note:
Hopefully, you already have TSA Precheck and Global Entry. If you have the Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum, or Amex Green, now would be a great time to use your annual credit on a CLEAR membership. TSA PreCheck is great but it can be even faster with CLEAR at some airports.
Sign up for free flight alerts or upgrade to Straight To The Points Premium.
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.
Whether you need help figuring out the best ways to earn or redeem points and miles, I’ll work with you to create a personalized strategy that’s easy to follow.
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.
I started Points Wire to make it easier for you to keep up with the news you need to know without all of the fluff.