Yes, JetBlue, AA, and United increased their checked baggage fees and it’s an easy article for every travel reporter or travel blogger to write so we see it everywhere. Even worse, it’s also probably the kind of article that’ll get a disproportionally high number of clicks because airline fees rile people up.
Should you care? I dunno, but it does change the calculus slightly for the enduring value of an airline’s cobranded card if you check bags regularly.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The feedback I’ve gotten for guest post Saturday has been resoundingly positive. I’ve got a few posts left to publish, but I’m running low. If you’re interested in a guest post, please reach out!
Do this now:Register for Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promotion for 3,000 bonus points for every three nights stayed between March 1 and April 30. There’s an additional 1,000 points for some international properties available if you hold a Hyatt credit card too.
I extended my Diamond status through the end of the decade which seems like an insane option to offer, but no complaints. It’s rather niche and limited scope, but this approaches deal of the year territory for people with lots of rolled over MQMs.
The FBNO Amtrak Preferred Mastercard has increased its sign-up bonus to 40,000 points after $2,000 spend in three months, and the $99 annual fee is not waived the first year. Points are worth between 2.5 and 2.9 cents each roughly.
If you ride Amtrak regularly this a great card, otherwise skip it.
In case you’re wondering how Alaska is doing since the Boeing door plug incident: They’re running another deep discount award ticket sale through tonight:
– Short haul: 4,000 miles – Medium haul: 7,500 miles (including Hawaii and Mexico) – Transcontinental: 10,000 miles
The covered dates are for travel between March 12 and May 22, which obviously overlaps spring break, but also Lubbock, TX’s favorite holiday: Pig in a Blanket Day on April 24.
EDITOR’S NOTE: All of the feedback I’ve gotten for guest post Saturday has been resoundingly positive. I’ve got a few posts left to publish, but I’m running low. If you’re interested in a guest post, please reach out!
What’s a weekend kerfuffle you ask? You don’t want to know, but it involves this:
Do this now:Register for your targeted United Mile Play bonus. I got “Book and take a trip one time by March 15 to earn 3,000 bonus miles, minimum $100,” which frankly isn’t bad. But the bad news? The trip must be on United or United Express (shudder) metal.
There’s still value in the IHG program, especially for stays in the middle of nowhere and for Intercontinental brand hotels in conjunction with 4th night free. RIP PointBreaks though, amirite?
– Southwest: 10% back on $50+, up to $400 spend through March 5 – Marriott Fairfield: 10% back on $100+, up to $380 spend through March 19 – Sheraton: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19 – Le Meridian: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19 – Westin: 10% back on $100+, up to $680 spend through March 19 – Four Points: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19 – AC Hotels: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19 – Springhill Suites: 10% back on $100+, up to $430 spend through March 19
The simplest way to game the hotel offers is to buy a gift card at the front desk. But, there are always other ways. With Chase offers, breaking correlation isn’t necessary.
– Personal Gold: 70,000 miles after $3,000 spend in six months – Personal Platinum: 90,000 miles after $4,000 spend in six months – Personal Reserve: 100,000 miles after $6,000 spend in six months
– Business Gold: 80,000 miles after $6,000 spend in six months – Business Platinum: 100,000 miles after $8,000 spend in six months – Business Reserve: 110,000 miles after $12,000 spend in six months
Alaska has a paid and award fare sale with serious teeth through tomorrow evening, including West Coast to and from Hawaii, flights to and from Mexico, and transcons for 6,500-7,500 miles each way
Login before checking the above link. If you get an offer not available link, look for another offer on your AmEx dashboard. (Thanks to Creative_Accounting)
FM notes that the American Express Delta cards have better than public landing page offers for at least two cards during a paid dummy booking:
– Personal Gold: 50,000 SkyMiles and $400 statement credit after $3,000 spend and a single Delta purchase in six months – Personal Platinum: 70,000 SkyMiles and $400 statement credit after $4,000 spend and a single Delta purchase in six months
The regular offer is 70,000 SkyMiles and 90,000 SkyMiles respectively, so you’re effectively selling 20,000 points for 2 cents per point with these offers. I was able to pull up both variants by switching browsers.
– If you’re going to apply head on, don’t forget that you can probably get a much better offer by trying several browsers and connecting to a Dallas VPN – If you can’t find a better offer through a VPN, at least use a referral link – If you triple dipped Business Platinum cards in December 2022, a downgrade might be a better option than closing the card given the current lack of no-lifetime language (NLL) links – American Express’s calendar day ends before midnight Eastern, but after midnight UTC, because reasons
As is typical with targeted promo codes and Southwest, there are a bunch of excluded days and routes, most of which correspond to the days that normies working with school schedules want to travel.
Look, I’m not planning on staying in a Best Western either, but sometimes it’s the best option and in case that happens the promo will already be attached to your account.
Have a nice Wednesday!
You shouldn’t could combine the second and third items at the Best Western Movie Manor (pictured).
PSA for Delta Platinum and Diamond elites: You’ve only got until tomorrow night to select your 2023 Elite Choice benefits before they vanish forever, much like the lasting value in the Delta Co-Branded credit card partnership.
Alaska has 30% off of economy fares booked by tomorrow night for travel between February 8 and March 13 with promo code THANKYOU30, but only on certain days depending on the origin and destination. This sale seems to be one of the ways Alaska is saying “thanks for putting up with doors flying off of our aircraft”; we’ll do a lot for 30% right?
They’re also awarding 2x elite qualifying miles (EQMs) for Alaska ticketed flights on Alaska metal through February, and targeting some with 3x too.
There are a few new card linked offers for airfare:
– Chase Offers: 5%, 10%, or 15% back on up to $450 in airfare with Alaska through February 15 – BankAmeriDeals: 10% back on up to $450 in airfare with Alaska through February 15 – American Express Offers: $50 off of $200 or more in airfare with Delta through April 30
Both of these can be turned into travel credits by booking non-basic economy fares and canceling directly with the airline after 24 hours, or you can play even bigger games if you prefer.
One of the bookmarks in the unpublished Hitchhikers Guide to Churning includes chase.com/mybonus, which is useful for checking for quarterly spending offers on all of your Chase cards. A new type of general purpose link surfaced over the weekend too:
This link shows upgrade offers for converting a Chase card to a more premium Chase card in the same family, similar to how an ordinary beer might be upgraded to a Pan Galactic Bonvoy Blaster, but with effects on your financial health rather than on your sobriety. (Thanks to reddit_user_2016)
Happy Tuesday friends!
A degenerate redditor reads the scoffs at the unpublished Hitchikers Guide to Churning manuscript.
EDITORS NOTE: In 2024, I’m going to try and have a guest post on Saturdays. Today’s guest post is from the strong analytical mind of MattD (maybe the D stands for doppelgänger? Probably not).
Alaska plans to introduce their new award chart in March. Since joining OneWorld this was expected to happen as Alaska tries to become a global airline without any routes leaving the Americas.
Still, I have been keen on earning Alaska miles when an opportunity or safe way presents itself. I looked back on previous Alaska award bookings and all but one were flights to Asia. I will show below why I’m still earning Alaska miles and for this example, I chose Bangkok, Thailand as my comparison point.
Below in Table 1, we will examine the old price of routes along with the new pricing with percentage increase. At first glance, the numbers look gnarly and all hope should be abandoned.
Table 1: Old Alaska Award Chart vs New with Percent Difference for a Business Class Flight to Bangkok
Airline
Old Price
New Price
SEA/YVR
LAX
DFW
ORD
JFK
Cathay
50,000
85,000 (+70%)
85,000 (+70%)
85,000 (+70%)
85,000 (+70%)
Hainan
50,000
85,000 (+70%)
JAL
60,000
85,000 (42%)
85,000 (42%)
85,000 (42%)
85,000 (42%)
85,000 (42%)
Emirates
105,000
130,000 (24%)
130,000 (24%)
130,000 (24%)
130,000 (24%)
85,000 (-19%)
Singapore
100,000
85,000 (-15%)
85,000 (-15%)
13,0000 (30%)
13,0000 (30%)
13,0000 (30%)
Removed Finnair because there’s no reason to fly out of the way unless there’s a bar onboard to post a picture of.)
40,000 was used as the old standard credit card sign-up bonus and 65,000 was used as the new standard credit card sign-up bonus, which is a 62.5% increase in miles earned.
Obviously, the Cathay sweet spot is dead and will rest in its forever home with 100,000 Emirates First Class.
Alaska awards are only getting more expensive if the miles are earned from flying/organic credit card spend. But, the inflation in Alaska credit card bonuses since 2020 means most of these routes increased less than 10%. In fact many have become cheaper if you’ve earned your miles from well-timed sign up bonuses. Table 2 shows the old and new award chart looking at how many sign up bonuses it would take to buy a business class ticket to Bangkok.
Table 2: Alaska Sign Up Bonuses Needed for a Business Class Ticket
Airline
Old Price
New Price
SEA/YVR
LAX
DFW
ORD
JFK
Cathay
1.25
1.31
1.31
1.31
1.31
Hainan
1.25
1.31
JAL
1.50
1.31
1.31
1.31
1.31
1.31
Emirates
2.63
2.00
2.00
2.00
2.00
1.31
Singapore
2.50
1.31
1.31
2.00
2.00
2.00
Color coded to show which award increased vs decreased measured in sign up bonuses
While the new award chart has closed some sweet spots, new ones have opened up, like flying a beach towel in business class can now be had for 50,000 miles or 80% of a sign up bonus.
This won’t last forever as Alaska will keep devaluing enhancing their program faster than the credit card bonus increases. In the meantime though I will keep earning and burning Alaska miles.
