You have to book by tonight, but for travel at least 21 days out so that you’ve got plenty of time to anticipate your upcoming crappy flight, unless your airport is SNA; they continue to exclude it from sales because reasons.
The fuel points market remains unseasonably strong because: (1) Pepper has flooded the market so there are fewer buyers at Kroger, and (2) lots of Kroger stores have put all high-value third party gift cards behind the customer service counter. One of those things will probably change soon.
BankAmeriGuy makes his fifth blog appearance for BankAmeriDay.
The major airline shopping portals have a big holiday bonus promotion before black Friday, all of which are more lucrative than typical:
– AA: 4,000 extra AAdvantage miles with $1,600+ through November 17 – Alaska: 1,500 extra MileagePlan miles with $650+ through November 18 – Delta: 2,000 extra SkyMiles with $1000+ through November 18 – Southwest: 4,000 extra Rapid Rewards with $1,000+ through November 24 – United: 5,000 extra MileagePlus miles with $1,200+ through November 22
– 150,000 Shop Your Way points with $1,500 spend through December 31 – 10% statement credit with $350-$400 spend in utilities each month through January (total $120) – $125 statement credit $600 spend in utilities, each month through January (total $375)
My offer was stolen out of my glove by rabid baseball fans this month, or at least I assume that’s what happened. (Thanks to GoBolts, SPX, BrandonV, IAD_Flyer, and birt)
I suppose an American with status in Air Canada could match too with a sleight of hand, and for the right use case Platinum is absolutely worth $499 CAD. I mean, what could that possibly be in US dollars? $20? $25? Yes I could look it up, but [insert excuse here].
I’m also seeing limited availability promotional business class awards from Seattle and Denver, the only two cities I bothered to check, for 50,000 FlyingBlue miles each direction.
– 30,000 Membership Rewards with $2,000 at ANA – $100 statement credit after $500+ with Delta – $250 statement credit after $1,000+ with Delta – $75 statement credit after $300+ at US and Europe Destination by Hyatt properties
The easiest hotel play is to buy a gift card at the front desk. For airlines, it’s figuring out how to refund to a travel bank or travel wallet for future use. Gamers may find more lucrative options too.
Happy Monday!
More outsized value: Multi-country soda arbitrage.
Without trying very hard, I found round trip fares in premium economy from my airport for about $160, or in first for about $250. I think you could do better if you live in ORD or MCO especially, but probably in lots of other places too. I really could also just try harder and do better.
– Cancellation fees are increased to $100 per ticket – Transatlantic business class redemption cost range: 28,500 – 77,500 miles – Transatlantic economy redemption cost range: 6,000 – 25,000 miles – Award surcharges are also variable, often lower than before – There is last seat availability for award redemptions
For now this is a positive net change and availability at low levels isn’t too hard to find, but I expect neither will be the case in three years.
United’s elite status requirements are increasing for elite year 2025, in both the number of Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) required to reach different Premier Stupid Levels (PSL). On the plus side though, you can earn more PQPs from credit card spend (CCS) on premium co-brand cards, but the United Club cards are the only ones worth using with 1 PQP per $15 spend (P15S), up to 15,000 PQPs annually each for both the personal and business:
– Silver: 6,000 PQP, or 5,000 PQP + 15 PQF, or $90,000 card spend – Gold: 12,000 PQP, or 10,000 PQP + 30 PQF, or $180,000 card spend – Platinum: 18,000 PQP, or 15,000 PQP + 45 PQF, or $270,000 card spend – 1K: 28,000 PQP or 22,000 PQP + 60 PQF, or $420,000 card spend
I don’t want to yuck your yum (YYY), but getting both a personal and business United Club card to earn 1.5x on $420,000 spend with no additional kickers doesn’t feel terribly appealing in light of a litany of other better options (OBOs).
The sign-up bonus for both is 5,000 Mileage Bank miles after $5,000 spend in three billing cycles, and the Premium tier has an additional 5,000 miles after another $2,000 spend. For ongoing spend, you’ll earn 0.5x on the Basic or 1x on the Premium. Both cards earn 2x on JAL flights.
The Whale Angle
The Premium tier earns 5 Life Status Points (yes, that’s really what they’re called) for every $1,500 in spend. After 1,500 Life Status Points earned, you get JAL Global Club Three Star status for life, which also gets you JGC Premier status (second to highest JAL frequent flyer tier), which includesoneworld Sapphire status, and potentially also includes oneworld Emerald status; the terms are rather-unclear and no-one’s had time to try this yet to be sure. So, just spend $450,000 and get lifetime Sapphire or Emerald status, provided you pay 2,000 miles as a “membership fee” annually. Quirky enough yet?
Oneworld Sapphire is great because it grants you access to:
AA lounges including Flagship even when flying domestically
Alaska lounges, even when flying domestically
If you end up with oneworld Emerald, you’ll also get access to:
Qantas First lounges, even when flying domestically
Cathay Pacific First lounges, even when flying domestically
If $450,000 in spend is just another couple of days for you and you could easily burn 450,000 JAL Mileage Bank miles, then you can have some fun and some weird status if nothing else.
The Other Quirks
There are more quirks to contend with:
Mileage Bank miles expire after three years even if you hold the card, unless you hold JGC Four Star status or higher in which case they don’t expire. Don’t worry, Four Star only takes $900,000 spend at 1x
Paid tickets earn 10% “sector bonus” miles for every flight for cardholders
You earn 5,000 bonus miles on your first flight paid for with the card
You earn 5,000 bonus miles when booking your first flight with JAL International
There’s a promotion code to use during application, but it’s prefilled and non-editable: AFSPG1024
There’s more too, but the main quirks are covered.
Bonus: JAL MileageBank Sweet Spots
JAL MileageBank is traditionally a great program with a few (surprise) quirks. Sweet spots include:
140,000 miles for JAL first round-trip awards
100,000 miles for Emirates business one-way awards
24,000-30,000 miles for an upgrade from paid economy to business on JAL metal
Distance flown based partner redemptions with three stop-overs, including mixed partners
– Transcons at 9,000 points – Hawaii at 9,000 points – Alaska at 20,000 points – Mexico at 9,000 points
These continue to be the best award sales that no-one talks about, especially since you’re still able to transfer Membership Rewards to Hawaiian, then Hawaiian to Alaska MileagePlan miles.
– Earn elite qualifying miles (EQMs) on award travel redemptions based on distance and ticket class, a minimum of 1 EQM per mile flown including partner redemptions – Earn 1 EQM per $3 spent on a co-brand credit card, up to $90,000 spend – Earn EQMs for mileage partners, especially the MileagePlan shopping portal – Milestone rewards like AA – Multi-partner award redemptions are coming this “winter”
It’ll be relatively easy to earn MileagePlan status via manufactured spend next year, which when coupled with AA status, could make you a double oneworld Sapphire, capable of viewing the Double Rainbow.
If you’re banned from Barlcays, getting a GM card may be a back-door way back in, but historically Barclays is tough on bans so I wouldn’t count on it.
Do this now: Register for your targeted United Mileage Play offer. My offer was “Book and take a trip in a premium seat 2 times to earn 21,000 bonus miles.” My fine print says travel by December 13 and each ticket has to cost $500 before taxes and fees, so best case this is a +2x miles on spend deal.
– $100 back on $300+ at Radisson Blu or Cambria hotels through November 30 – $100 back on $300+ at Small Luxury Hotels through December 31 – $150 back on $650+ at The Hotel Collection properties through December 7
The top two are gameable, the bottom one, probably not so much. How do you game these? As always, buying a gift card is the simplest way, but not the only way.
