Monday Quad

NOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation between December 18 and 31, during which there may or may not be any posts. But, we’ll ring in the new year on January 1, 2024 with the 2023 version of Travel Hacking as Told by GIFs though, so no need to be up in arms. What’s this “may”, you ask? I’m soliciting for guest posts and I’ll use those during the regularly scheduled newsletter. They should be non-sponsored, non-promotional, non-political, and at least travel hacking or churning adjacent. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, it’ll be the third easiest gig you’ve ever gotten!

1. American Express Offers site has a few new card linked offers:
   
   – 4,500 Membership Rewards after $300 in Delta gift card spend
   – 15x points on $300 in Delta gift card spend
   
   It’s possible for both of these offers to appear on the same card, and yes, they do stack, and yes, Delta gift cards have a decent resale rate.
   
2. American Express has a targeted 20% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to Singapore Airlines through December 31.
   
   The best use of Singapore miles continues to be for expanded availability in Business and First class on Singapore metal. They’re occasionally useful for domestic first class on United too.
   
3. American Express has a widely available 30% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic miles through December 31.
   
   The best use of Virgin Atlantic miles is domestic first or international business on Delta, or international first and business on ANA. Delta awards can be found with flexibility, and ANA awards can be found with timing.
   
4. Alaska Airlines has announced that it’ll be buying Hawaiian Airlines in 12-18 months. There are two interesting bits here:
   
   – Alaska isn’t a transfer partner of any major bank currency, but Hawaiian is. You may be able to leverage transfers to Hawaiian in the future as a backdoor transfer to Alaska MileagePlan.
   – If you’re at all interested in a potential merger-arbitrage opportunity for Alaska and Hawaiian, you should keep a close eye on the Spirit-JetBlue DoJ antitrust trial for a potential blueprint of the future, closing arguments start tomorrow on that one.

Have a nice Monday!

The second easiest gig you ever got.