UPDATE: These welcome bonus offers are expected to end on May 1, 2024.
Amex has rolled out two all-time high welcome bonus offers for Marriott cards.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card
Benefits Of Note
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card
Benefits Of Note
Eligibility Restrictions
Please keep in mind that there are a ton of eligibility restrictions that are based on if/when you've previously had a co-branded Marriott card from both Amex and Chase.
Points Wire Note:
Marriott credit cards aren't generally top priority cards, but this is a good time to get the Brilliant or Bevy since the welcome bonuses have been increased to all-time highs.
One Mile At A Time: "All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced plans to significantly devalue award redemptions through its Mileage Club frequent flyer program."
"With this devaluation, we’re seeing changes to the ANA international award chart, as well as to the partner airline award chart. ANA Mileage Club has historically had really attractive redemption rates, among the lowest in the industry. With these changes, redemption rates will still be competitive, but just not as good."
Points Wire Note:
It's been a rough few weeks with devaluations. The silver lining is that the new redemption rates are still competitive generally.
Doctor Of Credit reports that Chase is making some changes to the no-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card. Unsurprisingly, these aren't positive changes.
Going forward, cardholders will receive 5 free elite night credits per calendar year instead of 15. The card will come with complimentary Marriott Silver status which requires 15 elite nights.
Considering the fact that the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless comes with 15 elite night credits each year and has a $95 annual fee, I can't say this changes surprises me.
The Bonvoy Bold card's 2x on travel bonus category will change to 2x on grocery store, rideshare, and internet/cable/phone service purchases.
The changes will take effect on July 10, 2024. More changes are expected to be announced.
View From The Wing: "Delta appears to be eliminating its checked baggage delivery guarantee (“Bags on Time”) program next month."
"Customers could claim 2,500 miles whenever their bags failed to show up on the carousel within 20 minutes of arrival on a domestic flight. You could request the miles on your phone while standing at baggage claim, and in my experience claims were approved instantly."
"The person who shared this with me attributed it to the high cost of the program driven by awareness in viral TikTok videos and increasing ‘gaming’ of compensation."
Points Wire Note:
Whether you think it was fair to check as many bags as you could and hope for a bag delay so Delta would have to give you 2,500 SkyMiles, I don't think anyone can be surprised by this. It's a reminder that taking things to extremes in points and miles without consideration for how it will look to a bank, airline, or hotel can have negative consequences.
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The Flying Blue status match promo has been extended to included members in the U.S. and Mexico. The cost of the match depends on the status level to which you match:
Canadians can match at the following price points. Note that Canadians can match to Platinum status.
If you're based in the UK, you can match to all three status levels:
Those living in *eligible European countries can match up to Platinum as well.
*Eligible European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Avianca LifeMiles is offering a 15% bonus if you transfer Amex Membership Rewards points by March 15, 2024. Please note that you won't see this offer on your Amex account has this is a transfer promo on the LifeMiles side. The 15% bonus miles can take up to 24 hours to post.
LifeMiles is already one of the best ways to book flights Star Alliance carriers so this bonus is just icing on the cake. For example, most routes between the US and Europe require 63,000 miles for a one-way business class award ticket. With this promo, you'd only need to transfer 55,000 Amex points to get the 63,000 LifeMiles.
Head for Points flagged three negative changes to Etihad Guest's revamp.
First, your points expire every 18 months unless you take a flight on Etihad or a partner. Head for Points was told that award flights will count, but that's not specified in the terms currently.
Next, Etihad Guest is implementing some wild cancellations fees. Based on when you cancel, you could lose up to 75% of the miles you used to book.
Finally, Etihad Guest Gold and Platinum members won't receive lounge access unless they select it as a benefit. This won't affect tons of travelers, but that's not a good change.
Executive Traveller: "Etihad Airways will roll out significant changes to its Etihad Guest loyalty program this year in a sweeping revamp which the Gulf carrier promises will make the scheme 'simpler, more rewarding and more personalised.'"
The changes are expected to launch in June of this year with most relating to how elite status is earned. While that's important for some road warriors who travel to/from/through the Middle East regularly, the part that matters to most award rates. According to Etihad, the economy and business class award rates to 70-80% of destinations will be reduced.
Points Wire Note:
Broadly speaking, Etihad Guest's award rates are awful whether you're flying economy, business, or first class. For years, they had some niche uses on partner airlines or even their own flights, but that changed last year when they heavily devalued their award charts. Yes, it was only March 2023 when they last changed their award rates - clearly, that didn't go well.
I'll be curious if any US routes see decreased award rates for business class and by how much. I could see them reducing economy rates but not business class and/or reducing business class rates by such a small rate that it doesn't really matter.
Given Etihad Guest's history, I'm not getting my hopes up but would love to be pleasantly surprised.
Update: American has pushed the start date to July 11, 2024.
Paddle Your Own Kanoo: "American Airlines said on Tuesday that it will soon stop awarding frequent flyer miles and status Loyalty Points through its AAdvantage program to passengers who don’t book direct with AA or a small number of partner airlines and ‘preferred’ travel agents."
"The change will come into effect on May 1, 2024, but tickets issued before that date, regardless of the date of travel, will earn miles and Loyalty Points no matter where the ticket was bought from."
Points Wire Note:
While you'll continue to earn American miles and Loyalty Points on non-basic economy tickets booked through select travel agents, we don't have any indication of who the eligible agents are at this point. Given how small commissions are on flight bookings, this feels like they're playing at the margins rather than focusing on driving revenue from the core business.
I have a feeling that corporate travel agents may be exempt from this change. Can you imagine the outrage from road warriors if they no longer earned elite status and miles for all their time traveling around the country or world?!
Frequent Flyer Bonuses: "For the next two weeks ASMALLWORLD has a new special offer to earn 20% more Miles & More miles and receive a discount when you purchase a Prestige membership. ASMALLWORLD bills itself as a social network for travel that provides a bunch of perks and benefits when you join."
Benefits
The upside to Miles & More miles is that you can book Lufthansa first class up ~360 days from departure. This gives you a massive advantage over those booking with partner programs which only get access within ~14 days of departure (if not even close to departure). A one-way first class award ticket requires 91,000 Miles & More miles.
Of course, you'll be on the hook for surcharges which are steep from the US. However, the surcharges aren't as bad on one-way flights from Europe to the US so that's what I'd book. The flights from Europe are daytime flights, so you can actually be awake to enjoy the experience!
Cost
During this promo, the cost is steep at 4,950 EUR (~$5,355). A small silver lining is that the purchase codes as travel.
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