Travel on Points: "There is a new Southwest credit card spending offer that could net you up to 8,000 extra Rapid Rewards points. This one is a bit different since it needs to be located in your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and not via Chase"
Offer Terms: Earn 4x up to $2,000 through February 29, 2024.
Log into your Southwest account to check for the offer.
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 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.
You can receive instant Hilton Honors Silver status through April 29, 2024 with an option to earn Hilton Honors Gold Status if you stay 8 nights by that date. If you earn Gold status, it will be valid through March 2026.
As far as mid-tier hotel status goes, Hilton Gold is solid as you receive daily breakfast or a food & beverage credit (depends on the location and brand) as well as space-available room upgrades.
You can also get Hilton Gold status just by being an Amex Platinum or Amex Business Platinum cardholder.
Nice find by Miles Earn And Burn.
Hyatt Place properties aren't the most luxurious, but sometimes it fits the bill.
Check your Chase cards for an offer to get 10% back up to $40 back when you spend $100 at Hyatt Place. The offer expires March 3, 2024. Your payment must be complete by this date.
I found this offer on my World of Hyatt credit card.
My friend God Save The Points touched on something that has been frustrating me recently after a recent stay at the Viceroy Santa Monica.
He notes that "In travel, and particularly hotel loyalty, the gesture of buying someone breakfast has been a long standing tradition to honor those who book directly or show an amount of loyalty by earning a level of elite guest status."
Regarding his recent stay, he had this to say: "Like many leading hotel groups, Viceroy offers a preferred partner ‘Guild’ rate, which is bookable by top travel agents and provides a slew of direct booking benefits and perks for agents and their clients. A $50 hotel credit, “daily breakfast for two”, late checkout and a welcome amenity are among the rate benefits here."
In recent years, I've seen a breakfast credit offered at more and more properties for both top tier elites and those who booked via preferred booking programs (Hyatt Privé, Marriott STARS, etc.).
It's particularly frustrating since the credit often doesn't cover breakfast if you get a main course, coffee, and juice. This is especially true at many big city properties in the U.S. as the credit has to cover gratuity (20% is often standard) and taxes (10% in some cases) as well.
Let's take the Conrad Washington, DC as an example. Hilton Gold and Diamond members get a $25 credit ($50 for two people). A main course is $25, a regular coffee is $6, and juice is $7. Throw in 20% and 10% for tax and you've nearly doubled the credit.
In the case of the Hilton dining credit, you at least know the cap ahead of time even if it's absurdly low based on the prices hotel restaurants charge. However, in many cases, you don't find out that it's a credit (that's too low) until check-in.
Hopefully, preferred booking programs and loyalty programs will start requiring properties to cover breakfast fully - even just a main course plus coffee or juice.
In the meantime, make sure you confirm the breakfast details when you check-in so you're not caught off guard.
Alaska Mileage Plan is running an award sale to start the year. You can book domestic flights as was well flights to Mexico and Hawaii from 4,500 miles one-way. To get the promo award rate, you need to book by 11:59pm (time zone not specified) on January 5, 2024. It looks like flights through March are eligible.
Miles Earn And Burn flagged some more specific award rates (one-way):
Points Wire Note:
You can compare to Alaska's award chart to see if you're getting a promo rate.
View From The Wing: "Seeing a ‘marketplace’ in awards develop so quickly points to the old adage, ‘why we can’t have nice things.’ It’s a great innovation to see awards become transferable. I love making it easier to extend my benefits and take care of family and friends. That makes status more valuable to me."
"Of course that transferability already reduces breakage, the likelihood of an award expiring unused. That means these program changes are expensive for Hyatt. A marketplace marginally increases that, but unless it does so materially it may just be noise – something worth doing for members, even with some portion of members breaking program rules."
Marriott Bonvoy and United MileagePlus top tier elites have offered some reciprocal perks for years, but this is the first time I've seen them run a promo.
Now, Marriott Ambassador and United Premier 1K members can special reciprocal benefits if they meet spend thresholds by March 31, 2024.
Sign-up for Marriott members
Sign-up for United members
Points Wire Note:
Naturally, this promo won't apply to tons of people as it only applies to top tier elites with each program. However, it's a good idea to keep an eye on how loyalty programs are operating.
For those eligible to participate, I don't think you need to make this a priority. The Marriott Suite Night Awards can be tough to use and some brands/properties won't even accept them. The 40 PlusPoints could be useful though.
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.