Category: Airlines

  1. Southwest has a promotional companion pass valid for travel between January 6, 2026 and March 6, 2026. To earn it:

    – Register at this link, or at the bottom of your ‘My Account’ page
    – Book a two one-ways or one round-trip by Thursday, non basic economy
    – Fly by November 15

    Existing bookings don’t count. Both paid and award tickets are eligible.
  2. Hy-Vee stores have $10 off of $150 in Visa and Mastercard gift cards through Monday. Hy-Vee $10 off coupons typically work in multiples, always be probing.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. More Citi cards can transfer to AA Advantage miles:

    – The Strata, Preferred, Double Cash, and Custom Cash transfer at 1:0.7
    – The Strata Premier, Strata Elite, and Prestige cards transfer at 1:1

    (Thanks to DoC)
  4. Citi ThankYou Points has a 25% transfer bonus to Wyndham Rewards through September 20. In semi-related news, Wyndham Vacasa booking windows have dropped to six months.
  5. American Express offers has a targeted offer for $180 back on $1,200+ at Eva Air for flights originating in the US. It may be possible to turn this into discount Southwest Airlines travel through their interline agreement announced yesterday if you want to make life hard and ticket changes even more frustrating.
  6. Capital One Shopping has targeted referral bonuses that offer $40 to both the referrer and referred.

    Capital One Shopping has gotten better about recognizing self-referrals, but good hygiene continues to pay dividends.
  7. Singapore Airlines changed award redemption rates. Most rates are going up 5%-10%, though Asia and South Pacific redemptions drop 5% in price. Flights to Africa and the Middle East are getting 10-20% increases, and there’s new, variable pricing for non-saver awards.

    PSA to travel bloggers: It’s possible to summarize this sort of thing in less than 1,250 words, I promise.

Happy Tuesday!

Another helpful PSA.

  1. Do this now: Register for a targeted United MilePlay promotion. I got “Book and take a trip* in a premium seat three times to earn 50,000 bonus miles.”

    What’s that asterisk, you say? Apparently a trip only counts if it costs $600+ before taxes and fees.
  2. The American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cards continue their march toward the soft embrace of mediocrity, but now at a higher cost to make up for it? On September 18, the cards will:

    – Offer a January – June $300 FHR or THC stay credit
    – Offer a July – December $300 FHR or THC stay credit
    – Increase the annual fee to $895
    – Restrict the 35% points rebate to only the selected airline (Business / First flights on other airlines won’t rebate)

    If your card renewal date is post September 18, I think you’ll be subject to the higher annual fee although that’s not yet confirmed. If you think these changes suck, you and I think alike. If you’re a serial FHR user or abuser who never flies paid premium cabins outside of a single US airline, there’s value here outside of a sign up bonus I suppose. (Thanks to DDG)
  3. We have details for Alaska’s new premiums credit card based on a leaked terms and conditions PDF. The likely sign-up bonus is 105,000 miles and a global 25,000 point companion award after $6,000+ spend in 90 days. The card’s important vitals:

    – Annual fee: $395
    – 3x on Alaska and Hawaiian flights
    – 3x on dining and foreign purchases, 1x elsewhere
    – 10% points bonus with an “eligible” Bank of America account
    – 0.5x status points (1 per $2 spent, regardless of multiplier)
    – 10,000 status points annually
    – Two lounge and WiFi passes every quarter
    – Free same-day changes
    – Global 100,000 companion award after $60,000 spend each card member year

    The actionable part of this rumorlet? Start lowering credit lines and closing cards as necessary to make approvals easy if you want this card, especially because you can probably spend your way toward top status. If you’re a hoser gamer with a business, maybe that’s even better.

Have a nice weekend!

Now just make this a business.

  1. AA’s status match, err I guess “Instant Status Pass”™®©, is back. Matchers from other programs will have status for four months, and a fast track to qualification for the current elite year.

    The current program awards top-tier Executive Platinum status for Delta Diamonds and United 1Ks too. (Thanks to yoshi)
  2. AA and Hyatt’s reciprocal elite status match and fast track programs are back too:

    – Hyatt status for AA elites (register by October 31)
    – AA status for Hyatt elites, targeted (register by September 4)

    You can link your Hyatt and AA programs here if you haven’t already done so. (Thanks to MikeDCA)
  3. Stater Bros stores have $10 off of groceries in the same transaction as $50+ in Visa or Mastercard gift cards through August 12.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  4. Alaska has a new MileagePlan membership promotion for a $25 or $50 discount code depending on your residence running through December 31:

    – $50 for Alaska, California, or Hawaii residents
    – $25 for everyone else

    Let me preface this by saying I don’t think $50 off of an Alaska is worth gaming and I wouldn’t risk my Alaska loyalty account over $50 either, but let’s pour one out for all the extra Alaska accounts created for us from Bank of America’s top notch IT integration.
  5. Air Canada’s Aeroplan is:

    – Introducing three new mileage acronyms: status qualifying credits (SQCs), status qualifying segments (SQSs), and status qualifying dollars (SQDs)
    – Awarding redeemable miles based on ticket cost
    – Giving 25k status for new Aeroplan cardmembers
    – Awarding 35k status with $75,000 spend on the Aeroplan Mastercard annually

    I had a really hard time not writing ‘stupid’ instead of ‘status’ for each of those new acronyms, but I held back. I do hope going forward your internal monologue will read the first ‘S’ in those acronyms as ‘stupid’ though.
  6. Like the Barclays JetBlue Business Mastercard mentioned yesterday, two Barclays Jetblue personal Mastercards also have increased sign-up bonuses:

    – JetBlue Premier: 80,000 TrueBlue miles and 5 tiles after $5,000 spend in 90 days
    – JetBlue Plus: 60,000+20,000 TrueBlue miles after $1,000 spend in the first 90 days and $7,000 spend in the first year

    Both also require that you pay the annual fee because reasons.

Always be probing.

SQS indeed.

  1. AirCanada has a targeted offer for Chase Sapphire Reserve card holders for a 5,000 point Aeroplan Rewards Certificate, which reduces the cost of a flight award by 5,000 points. You’ve got until August 18 to register, and the certificate is good for a year.

    This works on both business and personal Sapphire Reserves, but not everyone is targeted. (Thanks to IronDukey)
  2. The Barclays JetBlue Business Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 80,000 TrueBlue points after $2,000 spend and paying the $99 annual fee within 90 days.

    Side note: How many people paid everything but the $99 fee and let the bill default, causing this rule?
  3. Citi Shop Day offers 20x rewards when shopping through the Citi Shop browser extension to several online retailers, including buyer’s club favorites like BestBuy and Kohls. Watch for exclusions though, they’re real and they’re not spectacular.
  4. US Bank is sending bonuses for spend in August and September, registration required. Check for email from [email protected]:

    – $50 statement credit after 10 transactions
    – $100 statement credit after 20 transactions
    – $150 statement credit after 30 transactions

    To qualify, each transaction must be $75+, making this a bonus 6.67% cash back in addition to regular rewards for maximizers. (Thanks to Jonathan)
  5. Alaska is adding flights ton London, England and Reykjavik, Iceland from Seattle in Spring 2026 on 787-900 and a 737-MAX8 aircraft respectively, and these will likely be easy awards for the first couple of weeks that they’re bookable.

    I wouldn’t want to fly the Iceland route for eight hours on a domestically configured narrow body aircraft, but you do you, dear traveler.
  6. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have a coupon 10x points on Zift Zillions through Saturday, as reported a couple of days ago. Starting today, there’s an additional $10 grocery certificate with $50+ purchased on various gift cards, including Zift Zillions cards, limit one per transaction.

    Obviously if you thought 10x was good on its own, 10x + $10 in a slightly annoying to use grocery certificate is slightly better. (Thanks to SideShowBob233)
  7. Southwest has a paid and award sale for 40% off of base fares booked by tomorrow night with promo code LUVFALL, a promo code obviously created to celebrate their fall from grace.

    The concept of “base fares” didn’t used to matter much with Southwest, but now that we’re in the “Southwest-is-basically-Ryanair” era of travel, I’d like to share a reminder that anything not included in the fare itself won’t be discounted, like seat selection fees and checked bag fees. Sometimes booking a bundle that’s 40% off that includes seats and checked bags in the fare is cheaper than booking basic and paying for add-ons, but only sometimes.

Happy Wednesday!

LUV’s fall from grace, illustrated.

  1. Yesterday (and if you’re lucky still now), SoFi Banking had a bonus of $400 or 40,000 Membership Rewards on Rakuten, in addition to a $325 sign-up bonus from SoFi with $5,000 in direct deposits.

    If you already have a SoFi account, maybe this is a good indication that it’s time to close it to set yourself up for the future.
  2. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and fixed value Visa and Mastercards gift cards running through Tuesday, August 12. The big brain play here is gift card reselling, but there’s a slightly less big brain play made popular on reddit a few days ago too.
  3. Alaska is running an award sale for fares booked tonight and flown between August 19 and December 17. This one has:

    – Transcons from 7,500 miles
    – Mexico from 7,500 miles
    – Alaska from 17,500 miles
    – Hawaii from 7,500 miles

    Based on my searches, Delta is quietly matching this fare sale to and from Delta hubs.
  4. You’ve now got another Card Pointers free alternative in addition to  faux-cardpointers amex-load-offer.js. The US Credit Cards 101 Chrome plugin adds a button to the American Express offers dashboard to add an offer to all cards on the same login simultaneously, rather than just to a single card.

    One day, credit card issuers will learn about database atomicity, but we’re not there yet.

Happy Thursday!

The American Express technology team’s unofficial poster.
(Sorry, sometimes database humor can’t be helped)

  1. The Delta American Express SkyMiles cards have new, targeted no-lifetime language (NLL) offers:

    – Personal Gold: 70,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived
    – Personal Platinum: 100,000 SkyMiles after $5,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Reserve: 100,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business Gold: 90,000 SkyMiles after $4,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived
    – Business Platinum: 110,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business Reserve: 125,000 SkyMiles after $10,000 spend in six months

    Obviously the business cards are better options for most. (Thanks to DDG)
  2. The AAdvantage eShopping portal has a back-to-school spend bonus for 2,000 extra miles after $1,200+ cumulative spend through August 11.

    If you’re buying, uh let’s say screwdrivers, from giftcards.com, you can think of this as +1.67 miles per dollar on exactly $1,200 worth of screwdrivers, but +0 bonus loyalty points because bonuses don’t count for those.
  3. The annual fees on the Southwest personal cards all jumped yesterday, and in case you missed it, they also dropped their annual $75 Southwest credit in exchange (I guess?). The bonuses are all heightened at 100,000 Rapid Rewards points, but we’ve seen that on personal Southwest cards in the past with lower fees and with the annual credit, so let’s just file this as lame. Notes:

    – You have five months to hit the sign-up bonus
    – The offer lasts through September 17
    – The offer is also available via referrals

    If you wait until mid-September to apply via referral and wait until January to finish the bonus spend, you’ll earn the points in 2026 setting you up for a huge Companion Pass head start. That of course assumes the Companion Pass will still exist then, I wouldn’t put it past them to #bonvoy you somehow, Lubbock style.
  4. HawaiianMiles, and their ability to be used to upgrade flights on Hawaiian metal, will be gone on October 1. After that date, your Hawaiian credit cards will earn Alaska MileagePlan miles. (Thanks to revenue_management)

Have a nice weekend friends!

Unboxing your giftcards.com purchase.

  1. The Imprint Rakuten Visa credit card launched with no annual fee and a market trailing $25 or 2,500 Membership Rewards bonus after $500 spend in 90 days. Earnings:

    – 4x through the portal up to 28,000 miles
    – 2x at grocery and restaurants
    – 1x elsewhere

    The commentary about this card is negative, but you can link it to your Membership Rewards account and it has plenty of utility as an uncapped RAT-free grocery 2x earner and as a third party American Express. (Thanks to David)
  2. The Chase United Business Visa cards each have an increased sign-up bonus of 100,000 MileagePlus miles and 2,000 PQP after $5,000 spend in three months:

    – United Business: $150 annual fee
    – United Business Club: $695 annual fee*

    *Also gives unlimited cheese cubes when visiting a United Club, participation may vary.
  3. The Delta SkyMiles Shopping portal has a bonus of 2,000 SkyMiles after $600+ spend through August 11. Giftcards.com is there too at 1x, making exactly $600 in spend approximately a 4.3x earner.
  4. The more “modestly appointed” US airlines are running fare sales, ordered by fewest blackout dates to most:

    – JetBlue: 25% off base fares with promo SAVE25 booked by Thursday for travel August 12 through November 20
    – Breeze: 35% off base fares with promo LETSROLL booked by Friday for travel August 8 through January 31
    – Southwest: $39+ fares booked by Friday for travel between August 12 and January 26

    It ended yesterday, but even Avelo ran a base fare sale this week. Taken in sum I think this tells you a lot about the low-end airline industry’s economic outlook.
  5. Southwest’s seat assignments take affect on January 27, 2026, and you’ll be able to book those assignments starting on Tuesday. In a move surprising no-one, bookings for travel between January 27, 2026 and March 4, 2026 also become available on Tuesday.

    Post-change, the major Southwest seating challenge will be trying to convince a stranger in your seat that in fact “A” and “F”, not “C” or “D”, are the window seats. (Thanks to Brain M)
  6. Hy-Vee grocery stores have $10 off of $150+ in Visa and Mastercard gift cards through Tuesday.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  7. The Incomm gift card sites have fee-free Visa and Mastercard gift cards:

    – MasterCardGiftCard.com: Use promo NOFEESMC25 through August 24
    – VanillaGift.com: Use promo VGBTS25 through August 24
    – TheGiftCardShop.com: Use promo BTS25 through August 31

    These sites won’t earn points on first party American Express cards, and they can be a pain to liquidate online. These are Sutton gift cards, but not the good kind.

Coming soon to Cleveland passengers: “No, C21 is the gate, not your seat.”

  1. The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select personal Mastercard has a heightened offer of 80,000 AA miles after $3,500 spend in four months, and the annual fee is waived for the first year.
  2. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points sale on third party gift cards excluding Amazon, and fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards tomorrow only.

    For those keeping track at home: Kroger had more days with 4x fuel points earning in the last two months than days without. In a turn everyone could have predicted, that’s flooded the fuel points market pushing points rates way down.
  3. Canadian carrier Porter Airlines tickets can now be booked with Alaska MileagePlan. Carry-on bags are included. (Thanks to FM)

Happy Thursday!

The inspiration for this summer’s Kroger “(Almost) Everyday Sale Price” 4x promotions.