Southwest is running sale in which you can save 20-40% on both cash and award tickets if you book by January 11, 2024. Eligible travel dates: January 30 - May 22, 2024.
Use the promo code WOW.
The discount is determined by the day you fly:
Blackout Dates:
Points Wire Note:
Don't forget, if you currently have Southwest flights, you can rebook to get the cheaper rate.
Dan's Deals: "Unfortunately, finding standard award space at the resort is typically very difficult for even a single night, but currently, award availability at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives is wide open for nearly all of 2024! Talk about a unicorn, this certainly won’t last long."
To quickly find dates with standard room availability, follow these steps:
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."
Lufthansa runs a monthly promotion called Miles & More Mileage Bargains. They offer discounted award rates on select routes in economy, premium economy, and business class. The promo is similar to Flying Blue's Promo Rewards.
These Miles & More Bargains can provide 50%+ off the award rate for a round-trip ticket, but you'll be on the hook for the carrier-imposed surcharges. Unfortunately, the surcharges on flights operated by Lufthansa group airlines such as Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, etc. are steep.
This means your total taxes/fees on an award ticket can exceed $1,900 for a round-trip ticket from the U.S.
Sure, 55,000 miles for a round-trip business class ticket to Europe is great, but you can find cash tickets in business class for less than what the taxes/fees on the award will cost!
The Bulkhead Seat: "The Park Hyatt Marrakech was originally slated to open in 2024, but it finished ahead of schedule and is open now. The 130-room hotel is designed in traditional Moroccan style and offers three dining outlets, a spa, a fitness center, meeting spaces, and two pools. The 19-acre resort is located at the base of the Atlas Mountains and about nine miles from Marrakech’s historic Medina district. The Park Hyatt Marrakech sits adjacent to the Al Maaden Golf resort (offering guests easy access to the 18-hole course)."
Points Wire Note:
The Park Hyatt Marrakech is a Category 6 property which means you can book with 25,000 Hyatt points on Standard dates. On Off-Peak and Peak dates, you'll need 21,000 and 30,000 Hyatt points respectively. You can transfer Bilt Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt, so it's easy to earn the points you need.
Avianca LifeMiles is running a promo for award bookings on Avianca flights if you book by December 29, 2023. When your redeem points for two (four, six, or eight) passengers, you'll get a 50% rebate on the miles you redeem. This means you need the total miles for the booking, but you'll receive 50% back after taking the trip.
Some important terms:
Points Wire Note:
If you're planning some travel to or within South America, this is a fantastic deal. You shouldn't have any problem earning LifeMiles as they're transfer partners of Amex, Bilt, Capital One, and Citi. Plus, you can buy LifeMiles during a promo.
Disclosure: I serve on a Bilt advisory board and may earn a referral bonus if you use the links below.
3 Transfer Bonuses Up To 150%
Bilt is bringing back three massive transfer bonus promos for Rent Day On January 1, 2024.
If you transfer Bilt points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, or IHG One Rewards on January 1, you can get a 75% to 150% bonus. Your transfer bonus is based on your Bilt Rewards status.
Blue member must transfer at least 2,000 Bilt points. Your transfer bonus is based on your Bilt status as of January 1, 2024.
Double Points On Rent Day Purchases
On Rent Day, you can earn double points on all purchases (not including rent). This includes double points on Bilt's bonus categories which means you'll earn the following:
You can earn up to 10,000 bonus points on Rent Day. You must use your card 5 times per statement period to earn points.
$5 Lyft Credit
Once you've linked your Bilt and Lyft accounts, you can activate a $5 credit. On January 1, you'll need to select "Activate credits" in the Bilt app on the Rent Day tab. Within 72 hours, you should see a credit under "Lyft Pass" in the payment section of the Lyft app. Your credit is valid for 90
Points Wire Note:
Award Wallet: "The biggest hassle in using this free night certificate — besides finding award availability — is that you've needed to call Hilton Honors to redeem it. If you're traveling overseas, that could be an expensive call. Or, perhaps it's inconvenient for you to make a phone call. Maybe you just prefer not to talk on the phone."
"Well, the good news is that you can now book Hilton Free Night Rewards via Hilton's website chat function."
Points Wire Note:
While the Hilton free night certs are the most valuable hotel certs you can earn via credit cards, the fact that you can't easily redeem online is so strange. Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott all issue free night awards from credit cards and as elite status benefits while allowing members to use them via the usual online booking process.
Turkish Miles&Smiles is offer 50% off economy award tickets from New York and Beijing which means you'd only need 15,000 Turkish miles for a one-way ticket. You must book by December 23, 2023 and travel between January 16 and May 31, 2024. Dates between March 27 and April 15, 2024 are excluded.
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.