Chase Ultimate Rewards is offering a 70% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy if you transfer points by 1:59pm ET on August 14, 2024. To be blunt, this is almost always a terrible use of Ultimate Rewards points. I'd only consider this if you need to top off your Marriott Bonvoy account with a few points to book an award night. Otherwise, you're better off using Chase points for flights.
Amex Membership Rewards has a lucrative transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club. You can get a 30% bonus on the points you transfer to British Airways if you transfer by 11:59pm MT on September 30, 2024.
While British Airways has devalued quite a bit recently, you can combine Avios from British Airways with Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Finnair Plus, and Iberia Plus which each have some great sweet spot redemptions.
I do not recommend speculative transfers for most people.
Amex Membership Rewards has launched a transfer bonus to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles. If you transfers Amex points to Hawaiian by 11:59pm MT on August 31, 2024, you can receive a 20% bonus.
HawaiianMiles are pretty niche but they can be used to book Hawaiian's own flights. Oddly enough, using miles to upgrade to first class (it's really business class), can be a great way to book - especially if there isn't award space.
Of course, if Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines' planned merger is finalized, you may end up with a bunch of Alaska miles. This is not something I would gamble on currently.
I do not recommend speculative transfers for most people.
If you transfer Capital One Miles to Qantas Frequent Flyer by 6:59am ET on September 1, 2024, you can receive a 20% transfer bonus.
In general, Qantas doesn't have great award rates relative to other oneworld carriers, but there are some sweet spots. With this 20% transfer bonus, it might be worth booking with Qantas points on a few more routes.
I do not recommend speculative transfers for most people.
Disclosure: I serve on an advisory board for Bilt and may earn a commission if you use the links below.
Every month, Bilt runs a promo for Rent Day (the first of the month). These promos offer the opportunities to transfers points with a bonus, status match, earn bonus points, and more.
Virgin Voyages Promo
Bilt has partnered with Virgin Voyages to offer some extra benefits on bookings including the ability bring a second guest for no additional cost plus the following:
To take advantage of the offer, you must book by August 1, 2024 at 11:59pm PT.
From Bilt: "In order for a Bilt member to be eligible for the Bilt Exclusive Benefits on their cruise, they must request benefits in the Bilt app after making their Virgin Voyages booking. Members should activate the benefits by entering their name, email, and booking reference number in the Virgin Voyages Travel Experience tab of the Bilt app or website. "
Bilt x BLADE Summer Party
Blade will be hosting this party at their NYC lounges on August 1. You can start at BLADE Lounge West before taking helicopter over Manhattan to BLADE Lounge East. Once there, you'll be able to enjoy music, food, and drinks with other Bilt members.
There are 3 types of tickets:
Your Bilt status determines when you can purchase tickets on July 29, 2024:
Double Bilt Points
On the first of every month, you can earn double points on all non-rent spend up to *10,000 bonus points when you use your Bilt Rewards Card. This includes bonus categories:
Just remember you need to make 5 purchases per billing cycle to earn points.
*The cap on Rent Day bonus points will be reduced to 1,000 bonus points as of October 1, 2024.
Points Wire Note:
If you're interested in applying for the Bilt Rewards card, you can learn more here.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club continues to have trouble booking Air France and KLM flights. There's now a note on the site that indicates they expect this will be an issue until "the start of August."
We'll keep an eye out for an update on this. Hopefully, they actually fix the issue by August!
Skift: "Emirates flies almost a million passengers every week, making it one of the world’s largest international airlines. As part of this, its Skywards program aims to boost loyalty to the brand, converting first-time customers into Emirates devotees."
"The scheme has seen its membership base triple in the last nine years. It currently has around 35 million members, of which five million have made a transaction in the past 12 months."
Points Wire Note:
In the last few years, Emirates Skywards has devalued their award rates significantly, reintroduced carrier-imposed surcharges on award ticket, and then increased carrier-imposed surcharges.
At this point, it's hard to justify using Emirates miles to book award tickets to or connecting in Dubai if other options are available. The only options that I regularly consider are their fifth freedom routes JFK to Milan and Newark to Athens since the rates aren't terrible and they don't tack on surcharges to awards.
Keep in mind that business class on the Newark-Athens route currently has an old 2-3-2 business class cabin layout and angled flat seats.
View From The Wing: "When the program launched they were with another bank, and launched with Wells Fargo in March 2022. Wells didn’t buy the back book. I suspect the lack of revolve by cardmembers – early adopters like me aren’t a super profitable bunch! – led to this decision."
"The legacy cards are being sunset December 31. Keeping a Bilt card means having to apply anew for the Wells product."
Legacy cardholders can apply for the Wells Fargo version of the Bilt card via the Bilt app. The application will be pre-filled and you'll earn 10,000 Bilt points for applying if you apply by August 31, 2024. You will receive the 10,000 Bilt points regardless of whether you're approved. Yes, this means a new inquiry on your credit report which means it will impact your 5/24 status with Chase (if you care about that).
You can use the legacy card until December 31, 2024.
Marriott continues to launch new promos for its Homes & Villas properties. With their latest promo, you can earn 2x points on all home rentals through December 31, 2024. The kickers is that you have to book by July 26, 2024.
Stay must be at least 3 nights. This only applies to cash bookings.
You must register before booking.
One Mile At A Time: "Well, British Airways sure found an interesting way to celebrate the July 4th holiday in the United States. The airline has just hugely jacked up redemption rates on both Alaska and American, and this is a painful devaluation. This is the second time we’ve seen such a devaluation on these redemptions in recent months, and at this point there’s almost no value with these awards"
New Economy Award Rates By Flight Distance
Let's take a look at the new award rates and what the rates were prior now. Keep in mind that this is the second devaluation since December 2023. That's two devaluations in about 7 months.
New Business Class Award Rates By Flight Distance
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