Travel on Points flagged a Hyatt Vacation Club virtual timeshare presentation promotion that you could use to earn up to 15,000 World of Hyatt points.
Timeshare Offer
Eligibility Restrictions
There are several other restrictions. You can't participate if you have done a previous presentation in the last 6 months, have a Hyatt Vacation Ownership contract pending or on hold, or have a contract with WHV Resort Group or any affiliate canceled in the last 90 days. Additionally, owners with delinquent maintenance fees or are in foreclose and those who have purchased within 90 days are not eligible.
To earn the 15,000 points or $150 gift card, both parties must be on the video presentation.
Points Wire Note:
Do NOT let them bully you. Many of the agents who do these presentations are aggressive and manipulative. After seeing this recap of a timeshare experience, I would be tempted to record the video presentation and any interaction with a timeshare agent.
One Mile At A Time: "Amsterdam Schiphol is a logical location for oneworld to open a lounge. Keep in mind that the intent of the oneworld lounge network is to offer lounges at airports where oneworld carriers themselves don’t operate lounges, but where there are a significant number of oneworld carriers with lounge needs."
"I recently had the chance to check out oneworld’s new lounge at Seoul Incheon, and I’ll be reviewing it soon. In terms of soft product, I’d definitely recommend managing your expectations with these lounges, as I didn’t find the lounge to be much better than your typical contract lounge in terms of food and drinks, aside from bartender-made cocktails."
Frequent Miler: "If you earned more Delta MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Miles) in 2023 than were needed for the level of elite status you attained, then the remaining MQMs will have rolled over into 2024. But… Delta no longer measures MQMs at all."
"So, what can you do with those seemingly useless rolled over MQMs? Delta is offering three options: 1) Convert them to redeemable miles; 2) Convert them to MQDs; or 3) Convert each 100K MQMs into an extra year of elite status."
IHG is running a promo that offers 3x bonus points on stays at EVEN Hotels, Atwell Suites, avid hotels, and Garner between March 1 and May 31, 2024. You must be a resident of the US or Mexico to participate and you need to register for the promo prior to your stay.
Award nights and Points & Cash rates are not eligible. An eligible qualifying stay requires a total spend of at $30 per night.
JetBlue increased the cost of checked bags without an announcement. They simply changed the rates listed on their site. An airline hiding a free increase... just what customers love to see.
Your first checked bag will now cost $35 and a second checked bag will cost $50 if you pay at least 24 hours prior to departure. If you wait until within 24 hours of departure, your first checked bag will cost $5 and your second will cost $60. Third and fourth checked bags will cost $125 and $150, respectively.
Mosaic elite status and Mint (business class) tickets also continue to included two free checked bags. If you have the JetBlue Plus Card, you and three travel companions on your reservation can get a one free checked bag if you pay for the flight with your card.
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.
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.
Flyertalker eponymous_coward flagged that Alaska Airlines has changed how it handles checked bags through on other airlines when on separate tickets. Previously, Alaska was willing to do this. However, they've made the customer-unfriendly decision to stop.
For example, if you want to fly from Portland (PDX) to Hong Kong (HKG), but Alaska doesn't have award space on the flight from PDX to Los Angeles, too bad. Even though you're connecting on their oneowrld partner Cathay Pacific from LAX to HKG, you'll have to collect your bags at LAX and recheck them.
American Airlines has done this for years and it's an absolute pain.
In light of British Airways' recent changes to elite status qualification, Virgin Atlantic has launched a new status match + challenge promotion.
Once you meet the qualifications, your new elite status will be valid for 12 months. Since Virgin Atlantic is now part of SkyTeam, you'll also have benefits when many partner airlines.
If you have mid-tier or top-tier status with any of the following 12 airlines, you are eligible to participate: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, El Al, Emirates, Hong Kong Airlines, Iberia, Lufthansa, Pakistan International Airline, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, or United Airlines.
How It Works
Direct link to status match offer
Earn Up To 10K Bonus Points
If you book a round-trip Upper Class ticket by February 18, 2024, you can earn 10,000 bonus Virgin points. You can also earn 5,000 bonus points for premium economy or 2,000 bonus points for economy.
Travel on Points: "Flying blue promo awards just got more lucrative, or user friendly at least. In the award travel space, flexibility is paramount and equates to value."
"Flying Blue offers monthly promo awards, where they publish a list of city pairs that they offer a promotional, discounted award flight offering. Previously, these promo awards were very restrictive. No changes or cancellations were allowed on them. However, Flying Blue recently amended this policy and now allows changes or cancellations to Promo Rewards for a €70 fee plus fare difference."
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