Month: October 2023

American Airlines AAdvantage reward email confirmations have a super-annoying quirk: AA never sends you an email showing both the number of miles redeemed and the record locator in the same message. Instead you’ll get two separate emails:

  • One with the subject “Your recent AAdvantage Award Redemption” (shows miles used)
  • One with the subject “Your trip confirmation (XXX – XXX)” (shows record locator)

If you’re only booking one or two awards per day, it’s easy enough to suss out which redemption email corresponds which which trip confirmation, but it’s still annoying. If you book multiple awards a day it can be really hard to figure out which goes with which, especially months after booking when your email is buried behind thousands of other messages. I can only assume AA does this because their UX team decided that Windows 3.11 was the epitome of user friendliness.

Dave via MEAB slack shared that you can get an email with both the record locator and milage in the same email though, just put the award on hold, then pay for it immediately:

The award hold email lists both the record locator and award cost in a single place.

Have a nice Thursday, and check back tomorrow for all the hot takes on Delta’s devaluation rollback. (Would that properly be called a devaluation de-biggening? I’m gonna say yes, duh.)

A dialog box that says "Are you sure that you don't want to invert the unselected widgets?" with possible responses "Yes, No, Cancel"

AA’s ideal user experience model.

  1. Chase Offers has an offer for 15% back at most Hyatt property brands for up to $323 in spend through the end of the month. It even works at the Hyatt Place Lubbock, sorry.
  2. Do this now: Register for 5x bonus miles up to 50,000 miles total on flights to and from London LHR, Amsterdam AMS, or Paris CDG airports. It’s a great offer of sort, but United found away to “put the Lubbock” into this offer as it is wont to do:

    – Only valid for economy flights
    – Not valid for basic economy
    – Not valid for travel on non-United operated flights

    Travel must complete by December 13. (Thanks to FM)
  3. DoC notes that as of Monday, Chase business bankers have increased bonuses available to targeted clients:

    – Ink Premier: 150,000 Ultimate Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months
    – Ink Business Unlimited: $1,200 cash back after $6,000 spend in three months

    Note that in two player mode with a 40,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus, you can still do better on the Ink Business Unlimited from home. Also, note that I haven’t been able to independently confirm that these offers exist, even in Lubbock.
  4. Southwest has a deep-discount fare sale for flights departing before 8:00 AM or after 7:00 PM local time for travel between November 7 and March 6 booked by tomorrow night. They’ve Lubbocked it up a bit too:

    – Several blackout days around the holidays
    – Not valid for flights on Fridays and Sundays, the two busiest travel days

    It’s worth re-pricing any existing reservations assuming you like to depart when the Sun’s not up.

United will include this shirt in its next MileagePlay promotion, obviously.

You’ve probably figured out by now that I typically do two types of posts: First a deal and shenanigan recap post, and second, a philosophy and wisdom type of post. Sometimes it can be a bit slow for the first type when there’s not much is going on, but that’s definitely not the case today though. Buckle up!

  1. Do this now: Check for a targeted 5,000 – 7,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus for booking a hotel and flight of over $105 through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal. In theory this is limited to Ultimate Rewards earning or transferrable cards. (Thanks to DansDeals)
  2. Southwest has retooled its elite status program to be more generous, following in JetBlue’s footsteps, and running squarely against Delta’s footsteps (Side note, with airlines is footsteps the wrong analogy? Maybe it should be skid marks, contrails, jetways, speed-tape, or gremlins?) The changes:

    – You can book with a combination of cash and points
    – Credit card Tier Qualifying Points (TQP) bonus spend requirements are cut in half
    – A-List Preferred status members will get two free drunks drinks per flight segment starting November 6
    – Segment requirements for A-List and A-List Preferred statuses have dropped to 20, and 40, respectively)

    They still haven’t brought back the lounge seats though. (Thanks to Southwest king-pin Brian M)
  3. The Citi AA Advantage Business Select card has a 75,000 mile sign-up bonus for $6,000 spend in six months, and the annual fee is waived for the first year. This is effectively the best deal we’ve ever seen for this card, and it’s been years since we’ve heard from Toby.

    Note that there’s also a $100 targeted referral bonus from Citi. (Thanks to DDG)
  4. Citi ThankYou Points has a 25% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles through November 4. A few sweet spots:

    – US to and from Africa in economy
    – United short haul US economy and business class
    – Mispriced awards to and from Europe from multiple Eastern US cities

    There are other great values in this program too, always be probing.
  5. American Express has new card linked offers:

    – $15 off of $150 at Home Depot (they sell gift cards)
    – 5x on Amazon purchases
    – $40 off of $200 or more with Frontier Airlines
    – $75 off of $300 or more with Delta Air Lines
    – $150 off of $750 or more at Four Seasons resorts
    – $150 off of $750 or more at Hiltons in Mexico

    Gamers gonna game. (Thanks to Rich)
  6. Citi has added “Leading Hotels of the World” as a transfer partner for ThankYou Points. The transfer ratio is 1:5 but redemptions require a relatively low number of points, so for back-of-the-envelope math just assume that you’re going to get 1.6 cents per ThankYou point.

    You can find a list of properties here.

Have a nice Tuesday friends!

Today’s post as a Disney attraction. Just like the Disney version, you end up in hell.

  1. Do this now: Register for IHG’s Q4 promotion for 2,000 bonus points every two nights through the end of the year.
  2. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard, the SLS of credit cards and an original Unsung Hero, seemingly has made the 15th of every month its online spend targeted offer day. And given that [checks notes] the 15th was yesterday, we have new offers for cumulative online spend through November 14:

    – 250,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points on $800
    – 200,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points on $800
    – $80 statement credit on $800
    – $50 statement credit on $750
    – $30 statement credit $400

    These offers stack with existing offers. Also, fun fact: This card used to be the Sears credit card and I’m eternally jealous of anyone that has one that still carries Sears branding. Instead, I just have to be happy with having the second most ridiculously branded card, Buick. (Thanks to Gasongasoff, David 99, birt, and Brandon)
  3. Meijer has a promotion for 50,000 Meijer points with $500 spend, limit one per account. Amazon gift cards are excluded, but other popular bulk brands like BestBuy, Home Depot, and Apple aren’t.

    Gift card resale rates for most of these brands is currently hovering around 93%.
  4. Chase has a 25% transfer bonus from Ultimate Rewards to AirFrace/KLM FlyingBlue miles through November 30. Sweet spots:

    – Delta domestic short haul in economy
    – US to and from Europe in business class
    – Europe short haul in any class
    – Promo awards

    You can also book international first class on China Eastern, but that puts you closer to the cockpit where there’s still a decent chance that you’ll smell cigarette smoke cause China Eastern., but it’s less prevalent than pre-COVID. (Thanks to DoC)
  5. Safeway’s Just4U rewards program lets Alaska residents redeem for Alaska Airlines miles under the right conditions, and through tomorrow those redemptions are at triple their regular redemption rate.

Happy Monday!

Just like the Citi Sears card, the Sears branded rocket is the best branded rocket. It’s science.

  1. The American Express’s Business Gold card has had an extremely rare public 150,000 Membership Rewards sign-up bonus for several days. I haven’t mentioned it before today because people have wasted literally hours trying to get it to appear with very limited success, and I think your time is worth something. But we now have a new efficient method make it appear:

    – Visit this link in a private or incognito window
    – Verify that you see an offer for a Business Platinum card at 170,000 Membership Rewards (and reload if you don’t)
    – Click the Hamburger Menu (☰) icon
    – Click “Most Popular Cards”
    – Click “American Express Business Gold Card”

    This link has lifetime language, but that doesn’t matter. Instead remember that if you don’t get a pop-up during application telling you that you’re ineligible for a bonus, you’ll get the sign-up bonus regardless of the language. (Thanks to irieriley via MEAB slack and C-MontgomeryChurns)
  2. PayPal has an offer for 1.5% cash back at giftcards.com. This stacks with existing shopping portals and card linked programs too. (Thanks to Zp via MEAB slack)
  3. Clear has a promotion for a $75 Uber voucher with a new membership using promo code CLAIMUBER75 through October 24, and it may surprise you to learn that American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cards have an annual Clear credit. If only there were someway to have multiple email addresses 🤔.

    This promotion requires that you don’t opt out of Clear’s promotional emails until your Uber voucher is delivered, and lately Uber has (sometimes) blocked multiple Clear vouchers on the same account. Just make sure to turn off auto-renew after creating your account. (Thanks to MsTuffy)
  4. While we’re talking about being surprised, it may also surprise you to learn that Staples has a promotion starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday for fee-free $200 Visa gift cards, limit eight per transaction.

    Don’t forget that the American Express Business Gold card now has a monthly $20 credit at office supply stores. (Thanks to DoC)
  5. The Chase Freedom Unlimited has a Discover-esque sign-up bonus for 3x Ultimate Rewards everywhere within the first 12 months of holding the card. The card has no-annual fee, and unfortunately isn’t a Freedom Flex Mastercard for extra shenanigans, but that’ll do donkey, that’ll do. This bonus isn’t available by referral but could be in a few weeks, so if you’re in two-player mode I’d wait to see how that pans out.
  6. American Express Offers has a new offer for $40 back on $200 or more in airfare at JetBlue. Now if only there were a way to book a non-basic economy flight and refund it to a travel bank, or maybe even something more sinister. Alas, here we are.

Because you haven’t had enough surprises today, apparently “surprise burgers” are a thing. 2023, amirite?

  1. T-Mobile is switching accounts on older, less expensive plans to more expensive plans, which affects cell phone churners disproprtionatly. It is possible to opt-out but you’ve got to call customer service and tell them that you want to do so.

    T-Mobile’s official statement on the matter is: We are not raising the price of any of our plans; we are moving you to a newer plan with more benefits at a different cost. I wish this was MEAB parody but it’s not, it’s real. Welcome to dystopian late-stage capitalism double-speak town.
  2. Breeze has a promotion for 40% off paid airfare promo code MIXITUP for round-trip travel booked by today with travel dates extending through September of next year. And since we have news about Breeze, it’s time once again to play Breeze route bingo. Today’s dart-board route [drum roll]:

    ISP (Islap, Long Island) to CHS (Charlston, SC)

    If you had ISP-CHS on your bingo card, be sure to approach the desk for your grand prize (40% off of round-trip Breeze flights booked today.)
  3. JetBlue is revamping their status program starting January 4. There is one significant change from my perspective, and that is that Mint Upgrade certificates can be used at any time, not just within 48 hours of travel. This makes the status match for Delta Elites even more valuable. (Thanks to VFTW)
  4. If you hold a Barclays Wyndham card, check your email for a targeted offer for 1,000 bonus Wyndham points after three digital wallet payments by November 30. (Thanks to scdawn)
  5. Do this now (if you have high level Marriott status): Register for 500 bonus United Miles for stays at Marriott properties and 750 bonus Bonvoy points when flying United.

Tonight’s dinner in your dystopian late-stage capitalism double-speak town.

  1. Bank of America has an annual promotion called “More Rewards Day” on a single day when all of your Bank of America cards earn an additional 2% cash back or 2x points on spend. It’s back again for 2023, and it’s scheduled for November 9.

    Last year it was very lucrative for some and frustrating for others because it was effectively capped only by your credit lines, but sometimes Bank of America’s fraud algorithms ran rampant like a rabid bunny with a Napoleon complex. As a result, Bank of America has limited rewards to $2,500 in purchases per personal card or corporate account this year.

    Now’s a good time to apply for Bank of America cards so that you’ve got them in-hand to hit minimum spend for November 9.
  2. Plastiq has a storied past with churners. Once upon a time it was one of the easiest platforms for no-cost or low-cost debit liquidation, but that slowly eroded into crapulence and then bankruptcy. Some highlights:

    – A great way to have scheduled tiny transactions in June 2021
    – Plastiq: The Zigening in March 2022
    – When IT and Promotions Fail Together in August 2022
    – Plastiq: A Slow Requiem in November 2022
    – Plastiq declares bankruptcy in May 2023

    They were acquired by Priority Technology Holdings in bankruptcy, and a few weeks ago a judge approved the new company’s bankruptcy exit plan.

    Plastiq’s background helps frame the news that they shared: Plastiq will be accepting American Express cards for payments starting in a few weeks. Knowing Plastiq, it’s not going to be implemented properly. Always be probing.
  3. American Express Offers has an offer for $200 back on $2,000 in spend through November 21, up to two times. So far it’s been seen on both the personal and the business Amazon cards, but likely exists on other cards too. (Thanks to Ragerz78)
  4. Chase Offers and BankAmeriDeals have an offer for 10% back on IHG purchases of $100 or more, up to $31 cash back through November 15. Yes, you can capture these without staying at a Holiday Inn Express. (Thanks to DoC)

Happy Wednesday!

Bank of America’s fraud algorithms personified.

Since today is Prime Day and Amazon is the easiest to deal with when working with buyer’s groups, it’s a good time tocheck those dormant WhatsApp and Telegram notification channels today and tomorrow. Just remember the golden rule with Amazon and buyer’s groups: Never use an Amazon gift card.

With that, it seems like everyone wants to have their own promotions this week which culminated in a few interesting deals:

  1. Capital One has $50 to $200 off of some flights booked through their travel portal this week. The level 201 play: Book in conjunction with a VentureX $300 travel credit and convert to a travel wallet or travel fund with your airline of choice, provided your airline of choice has such a thing. (Thanks to The_Most_Hye)
  2. Meijer MPerks has 10,000 points with $100 or more in Happy, Choice, and One4All gift cards through Saturday, limit one per account. Scale with multiple MPerks accounts.
  3. Chase Offers has $50 off of $250 or more in JW Marriott and W Hotel brands booked by October 31. Yes, you can find a way to use these without actually being #bonvoyed if you try. There are also targeted offers for Sheraton, Renaissance, Springhill Suites, and other Marriott brands, and ditto on the #bonvoyed thing. (Thanks to DoC, FM)
  4. American Express’s “offer week” is a lame attempt at generating buzz, but it has produced a few slightly useful offers (registration required):

    – $50 off of $100 at Dell through October 18, so you can have a pricier order canceled
    – $80 off of $200 at Hilton through October 13 for stays through the end of the year
    – $50 off of $200 at Lowes through October 13 for a store that sells gift cards, but not well
    – $60 off of $200 at Hertz through November 8 as a new target for correlation breaking

    Each requires enrollment either directly through the American Express offer week page or via your AmEx Dashboard.
  5. Rakuten has 10% cash back at popular merchants like Dell and Sam’s Club this week, and remember that 10% should actually be at least 11% cash back with Rakuten via the Membership Rewards backdoor.
  6. Do this now if you hold a Delta credit card: Register for a $100 Delta eCredit for booking a non-basic economy paid international flight by Friday for travel by March 24, 2024 with some black out dates around Christmas and New Years.

Good luck, and remember that if you don’t buy something, you saved 100%, or maybe 0%. It can be hard to tell, but either way you still have your cash.

Amazon sent this to the last guy that used a gift card to send a Kindle Fire to a buyer’s group.