There’s inexplicably a lot of noise out there in the travel-hacking community this week. Can I offer a suggestion? Before you decide to spend five or so minutes reading an article, read the headline and ask yourself about the author’s motivation. For me it’s become a very effective filter for what’s worth my attention and what isn’t.
With that out of the way:
1. American Express has partnered with Delta to offer targeted status matches to regular American Express Platinum cardholders. You can sign up at this link, and see your matched status tiers at this link. A few notes:
- You need to have United, American, Alaska, JetBlue, or Southwest status to match
- You’ll be matched to a higher tier at Delta than your existing tier
- The terms and conditions say the offer is targeted, but my guess is that it’ll work for anyone
- You’ll have Delta status through August 31 (or through January 2023 by meeting these requirements)
Don’t forget, you can get AA status through spend on a co-branded card.
2. The Point debit card has 10x back at Target up to $500 in spend. If you have a Target Redcard credit card, perhaps the best play is to make a payment in-store. If not, Visa gift cards are your best bet, and make sure you go through a shopping portal in case the purchase tracks.
As usual, if you want the Point card use a referral link for a better sign-up offer than is publicly available. As of yesterday, the sign-up offer is $100 back after spending $1,000.
3. Capital One has a 20% transfer bonus to Aeromexico and Avianca. The latter has a few nice sweet-spots, like:
- First Class (Lufthansa) US-Europe or vice-versa for 66,000 Membership Rewards, no fuel surcharges
- Economy US-Africa or vice-versa for 31,000 Membership Rewards, no fuel surcharges
- Business Class US-Europe or vice-versa for 49,000 Membership Rewards, no fuel surcharges
- Economy continental US-Caribbean for 10,000 Membership Rewards, no fuel surcharges
Hint: There are others too, and they often involve a misunderstanding of basic world geography.
4. Check for email from Citi for a targeted offer of 5x at electronics stores and game stores (and a few categories that aren’t interesting) on both Premier and Prestige cards. Reportedly the subject is: “[Firstname], Use Your Citi Card to Earn Bonus ThankYou® Points on Eligible Purchases. It’s So Simple to Activate!” (Thanks to TheSultan1 and FearTheZ)
UPDATE: Oliver let me know of a similar offer on the Citi AA Business card. His offer was for 5x at electronics stores up to $500 in spend by May 31.
