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Amazon is running some deals on gift cards for the holidays and the promo includes some useful gift cards for travel.
Here are a few that stand out:
One Mile At A Time: "Historically, which qualification year credit card spending counted toward was based on when your credit card statement closed, rather than when you completed spending. Your last statement close date prior to the end of the program year would be the last to earn you Loyalty Points toward that year’s status."
"With the latest change, all credit card spending that posts to your account before the end of February will count toward the current elite qualification year, so credit card statement closing dates no longer factor into this."
Points Wire Note:
Most people who are earning points and miles via credit cards don't need to worry about earning airline status. However, those who travel for work regularly should make sure they remember this!
Amex continues to roll out more targeted offers on its co-branded hotel cards. In this round, they've released two targeted Amex Offers for Marriott Bonvoy Business cardholders. Keep an eye out for one of these offers:
Nice flag by Danny the Deal Guru.
The higher offer is a replica of the Amex Offer that was just released for the Hilton Business Card!
Don't forget, if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, there's an Amex Offer for a Free Night Award worth up to 85,000 points.
Select Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex cardholders can earn a Free Night Award worth up to 85,000 Marriott points. To earn the award, cardholders need to register then spend $4,000 by March 15, 2024. You can top off Free Night Awards with up to 15,000 Marriott points. That means you can use this award to help you book a room that requires 100,000 points.
If you have the Marriott Brilliant card, use this link to see if you have this targeted offer.
Nice find by Redditor TheSultan1.
I guess Marriott didn't want Hilton to have all the fun!
One Mile At A Time: "As of December 6, 2023, IHG One Rewards has rolled out a feature whereby members can transfer their points to other members."
"This is available exclusively to IHG One Rewards Diamond members, as well as IHG Business Rewards members; all other members have to pay $5 per 1,000 transfered points (which is an awful deal, since that’s roughly what I value IHG points)."
Please note that you can transfer a max of 550,000 IHG One Rewards points per year in increments of 1,000 points. Additionally, new members have to wait until their accounts have been open for 30 days to send or receive points.
Transfer points from this link.
Head for Points: "[Lufthansa] has been running a number of promotions linked to this, but none have generated any real interest. And then, with no external promotion at all as far as I can see, it turns out there is an exceptionally generous hotel booking deal."
"You will earn 30 Miles & More miles per €1 you spend with Booking.com in December. You can stay at any point in the future."
This is ~28 miles per dollar. You can earn a max of 150,000 Lufthansa miles which would cost ~$5,395 (€5,000).
You need to book by December 31, 2023, but you can stay after that.
Points Wire Note: Lufthansa Miles & More has a few sweet spots, but the standout is that you can book Lufthansa first class whenever Lufthansa releases award space. Partner programs only get access within about two weeks of departure. The taxes/fees from the U.S. will be $800+, but are lower from many countries in Europe. Please note that Lufthansa miles expire after 36 months.
Keep an eye out for this scam targeting Booking.com.
I may earn a commission if you use the links below.
There's a new Amex Offer for you to send $30+ to Venmo/PayPal users with your Amex Send Account and get $10 back. This offer expires March 4, 2024.
To use this offer, follow these steps.
1. Enroll in Send & Split. It's easy from the Amex app (more info here).
2. Add money to your Amex Send Account from your eligible Card (Tap the Card icon on the top left of the Amex App Home screen > Amex Send Account > ‘Add Money’).
3. Send $30+ to any Venmo/PayPal user.
Points Wire Note: CardPointers+ is an easy tool that can help make sure you don't miss an Amex Offer thanks to its Chrome extension that will automatically add all of your offers.
Aviation Week: "The agreement, signed by Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas and Turkish Airlines' Levent Konukcu, the flag-carrier's chief investment and technology officer, also covers each airline's loyalty programs. Additionally, the airlines say they are “exploring opportunities to develop a broader loyalty agreement covering both global networks.”
Points Wire Note: We haven't seen what Riyadh Air's inflight product will look like, but this partnership should mean that we'll be able to redeem Turkish miles to book when they launch flights (assuming they release award space).
Ben Smithson and Nick Ewen: "If you've used Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program to book Delta-operated flights in the past, listen up. You have just a couple of days before Virgin significantly increases the price of many Delta award itineraries."
Starting December 7, 2023 for flights from January 1, 2024 onward, a new chart will take effect for flights that aren't to/from the U.K. and Europe.
All but the shortest Delta flights will require 29-60% more Virgin points. Awards in domestic first class and Delta One on routes that are no more than 3,000 flight miles will require 20-51% more Virgin points.
Points Wire Note: There aren't any positives to this. None of the award rates are improving. Plus, this is a no-notice devaluation which isn't exactly the most respectful way to treat customers.
Award Wallet: "American Airlines is introducing another way to earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points — this time through expanding its partnership with Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus. For now, Aer Lingus will be an earning-only partner. However, American Airlines plans to continue to grow its partnership with Aer Lingus."
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