Apropos of nothing, do you have an American Express Platinum or Business Platinum card? Hmm, interesting. That probably means you shouldn’t worry about Bilt’s stupid elite status challenge tomorrow, right? Still, I bet you can find a few tens of thousands of words written about the match between Friday and now though. Yay marketing!
Today’s the last day of unlimited 1.1 cents per point cash-out. Starting tomorrow, you’re limited to 1 million per calendar year though points cashed-out today don’t apply to that limit.
– 1,000 bonus miles after $1,000 spend (extra 1x) – 7,500 bonus miles after $5,000 spend (extra 1.5x) – 18,000 bonus miles after $9,000 spend (extra 2x)
Even though United MileagePlus miles suck, the third one is a big enough bonus on top of base spend that I’ll hit it.
– Buy in even multiples of $300 – Both variable and fixed load cards work – Look for lower fee Everywhere cards if you know how to liquidate them – Try for multiple transactions back to back
Transfers between Alaska MilagePlan and Hawaiian HawaiianMiles are now live and must be done in 500,000 or fewer mile increments. Sorry to all of you that are moving 37 million miles, that’s a lot of clicking. Also, is this a good time to remind everyone that Barclays Hawaiian card members can transfer miles to immediate family members? No reason.
Unfortunately Membership Rewards transfers to HawaiianMiles are currently being rejected and refunded, so that’s great. #bonvoyed
– Flights with assigned seating will be sold in late 2025 for flights in 2026 and beyond – Checked bags remain free – Southwest will partner with IcelandAir in 2025 – A-List Preferred elites will get free preferred seating selection at booking – A-List elites will get free preferred seating selection at T-48 hours
They’re also scrambling to avoid massive losses by trimming markets and selling aircraft so I expect these details to change somewhat as they continue to focus on top line revenue and making the bottom line turn black. No word from Southwest on the diagonal line.
Citi has a new card linked offer for 4% back at Giftcards.com with up to $30 cash back two times by November 10. Historically these promotions ironically haven’t worked when buying Visa and Mastercard gift cards, but in 2024 they’ve been working as you’d expect. (Thanks to GCG)
Reader Mike let me know about a deal at Aloft Hotels via Wells Fargo Deals through September 30. When I went looking for it, I found a few other good ones, all expiring the same day:
– 10% back at Renaissance Hotels up to $75 cash back – 10% back at Hilton Garden Inn up to $65 cash back – 10% back at TownPlace Suites up to $57 cash back – 10% back at Aloft Hotels up to $57 cash back
Wells Fargo offers are gamble in the same ways as Chase and BankAmeriDeals.
– $140 off of $350+ at most North American Marriotts through November 23 – 4x or 10x Bonvoy points at grocery stores, up to 7,500 bonus points – $75 off of $275+ at Radisson and Choice Ascend properties through November 30
One of my favorite old promotions dates back to when you could buy Sears gift cards through a portal for 10x-25x, then use those gift cards to purchase merchandise for another 10x-25x, netting a total of 20x-50x for things that were marked up only 5-10%.
This ain’t that, but Giftcards.com has a smaller scale version through September 27:
Demand in the fuel points resale market has cooled slightly but there’s still capacity available for sellers. Pepper’s recent changes have stabilized the gift card resale market for BestBuy in particular.
Astute readers will note that 2024 is very different than 2004, and in 20 years it turns out there’s been verifiable change in the world even though it still kinda looks like it used to. So will it work that way again? I’d say the chance is small, but you miss all the shots you don’t take, right? (Sportsball taught me that.)
The Alaska Airlines acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines was completed yesterday, and according to the press release you’ll be able to transfer your miles between both programs without fee sometime in September. In yesterday’s recusals post, I said “I wouldn’t transfer Membership Rewards to Hawaiian miles for the conversion yet because there’s no bonus and you won’t win any prizes for transferring early.” But with the finalized acquisition, I’ve changed my tune because:
– September only has a few weeks left and the waiting time for transfers is minimal – We don’t know if the Membership Rewards and Hawaiian contract has an exit clause that could be triggered by the acquisition, which might remove the option all-together a-la Bilt
Quoting yesterday again because it’s still applicable, “[a]fter this debacle I wouldn’t believe anything you see on this site again personally.”
– Membership Rewards will be able to be converted to Alaska MilagePlan via HawaiianMiles – The Hawaiian co-branded Barclays cards are more valuable than they used to be
I wouldn’t transfer Membership Rewards to Hawaiian miles for the conversion yet because there’s no bonus and you won’t win any prizes for transferring early.
Apparently the Pepper gift card platform’s merchant categorization is now back to normal, and yesterday’s post was all a giant lie. We’re all free to earn 4x Membership Rewards through our gift card games.
After this debacle I wouldn’t believe anything you see on this site again personally.
– Earner Rewards: 45,000 points after $2,000 spend in 180 days, $0 annual fee – Earner Plus: 75,000 points after $2,000 spend in 180 days, $75 annual fee – Earner Business; 80,000 points in tiers after $15,000 spend, $95 annual fee
The major use case for manufactured spenders is gas stations, which earn at 5x, 6x, and 8x respectively. On the burn side both both Vacasa and Wyndham have good options.
– Book two one-ways or one round-trip by tomorrow night – Fly both legs by November 20 – Both legs must be paid flights, and existing bookings don’t count
The promotional companion pass is valid between January 6 and March 6, 2025.
What they’re not telling you is that the big deal isn’t as big as you’d think because they blocked out lots of days from the promotion, so don’t listen when they say “I’m kind of a big deal”. In fact, that’s just good general life advice. (Thanks to FM)
