Category: Points

If there were a “Churning and Travel Hacking 101” textbook, one of the first chapter titles would be:

The Value of an Unredeemed Point is Zero

Chapter 3 Title from MEAB’s fictitious book, “Churning and Travel Hacking 101”

The reason this book doesn’t exist though is because I’m not sure what else to write about the topic; if you never redeem a point, it never had any monetary value and you probably should have earned cash instead.

Happy Wednesday! #tiniestblogpost

Shining example of a pulitzer class chapter title, for future reference.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for double points at Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels through October 15, up to 25,000 total bonus points.
  2. Do this now: Register for targeted American Airlines promotions for bonus miles or loyalty points (EDIT: Fixed link). My singular offer was 5,000 bonus AAdvantage miles after two paid flights in any cabin in August or September.
  3. IHG seems to have devalued its points at most properties, with awards now pricing between 0.45 cents per point and 0.55 cents per point as compared to cash rates, though the bright side (?) is that redemptions seem to top out at 500,000 points per night. I’m still able to find outsized value around major holidays in major cities, but the chicken is pretty far gone from the coop.

    This actually happened a few days ago and I’ve been waiting to hear more experimentation from the community, but coverage has been weak at best; probably due to the Big Point lobby’s tentacles in mainstream media, or something.
  4. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercards, excluding Amazon. The promotion runs tomorrow only.

    Often single day or single weekend promotions at Kroger have weird coding, so always be probing.
  5. Alaska Airlines released its July Global Escapes promotional cities, which give discounts for travel to or from several cities between October 1 and January 31, 2025 in economy or premium economy only. This month’s promotional cities: Guadalajara, Athens, Muscat, Taipei, Rome, and Delhi.

How the Big Point lobby operates.

  1. Do this now: Check for targeted Q3 spending offers at chase.com/mybonus. Most offers are a variation of:

    – 5x or 7x at gas, grocery stores, or restaurants up to $1,000 spend
    – A bonus 1x or 2x on up to $6,000 or $9,000 in spend
    – Stupid HBO Max offer

    Checking each card in a new incognito tab avoids errors and false negatives. Or, you could develop a bot to check all of your chase cards for you #itsbeendone.
  2. Today is Bilt’s 25-100% transfer bonus to Alaska Airlines MileagePlan, on up to 50,000 transferred miles.
  3. Chase’s Q2 Pay Yourself Back categories have been extended through the end of Q3. Wholesale clubs continues to work well in bulk with golden items, and with Visa and Mastercard gift cards.
  4. Office Depot/OfficeMax has $15 off of $300 or more in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday. For best results, buy even multiples of $300, try for multiple transactions back-to-back, and look for the cashier with dead eyes. (Thanks to GCG)

Sample dead-eyes Office Depot worker.

  1. The Chase Southwest Business cards have increased sign-up bonuses of 120,000 points, split into 80,000 points after $5,000 spend in three months and another 40,000 points after $15,000 spend in nine months. The offers expire September 16.

    – Business Performance, $99 annual fee
    – Business Premier, $199 annual fee

    If you apply on September 15, call and move your statement date as far out as possible, and hit spend between January 1 and January 14, you’ll earn a companion pass for 2025 and 2026 with a single card. Ok, ok, technically you’ve got another six months past January 16 for the second part of the spend, but just check that box and get it over with. (Thanks to DDG)
  2. The Chase IHG One Premier Credit Card has a new bonus of five free nights, each for up to 60,000 points a night, after $4,000 spend in three months. The $99 annual fee is not waived. The offer code indicates that it’s from an in-branch offer, so 5/24 will be more ymmv than normal.

    This is a great offer for hotels in most cities, though 60,000 points doesn’t go very far in the most expensive places like New York, London, or Tokyo. It is, however plenty sufficient for no-one’s favorite Lubbock, TX and similar cities.
  3. Last week, we talked about a no-lifetime language (NLL) link for the American Express Business Gold card with 150,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months. I know of two cases where the targeted link didn’t work last week but does this week, so it might be worth another shot.
  4. The generic American Express Business Platinum upgrade link has a targeted increased bonus of 120,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months. If you’re really quick, you can still get the first half of 2024 $200 Dell credit or at least a Dell cancelation email before the credit evaporates. (Thanks to FM)
  5. Wyndham has points on sale for 0.96 cents per point, with a maximum of 100,000 points. Why should you care? Vacasa, that’s why.

Have a nice weekend friends!

Obligatory IHG Holiday Inn Express & Suites Lubbock Southwest review.

  1. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards other than Amazon and fixed value Visas and Mastercards running through July 9, which given the frequency of these promotions over summer can only be the result of bad spreadsheet analysis.

    Fuel points resale rates have dropped by about 1/3rd in June, thanks largely in part to having the promotions run with more days than Tuscon had daily high temperatures below 100 degrees. Bulk gift card resale prices are still low thanks to Pepper’s conveyer belt that directly connects venture funds to chuners’ wallets. (Thanks to GCG)
  2. You’ve got until Sunday to cash out any quarterly, monthly, or semi-annual credits. A few notable reminders:

    – American Express: $200 Dell, $50 Saks Fifth Avenue, $50 Hilton, $20 office supply, $10 wireless credits
    – Chase: Freedom and Freedom Flex 5x
    – Discover: DiscoverIT 5x

    With online orders the shipping date is typically the charge posting date, which is used for determining when the statement credit should apply. So order quickly I guess.
  3. The Chase Ink Preferred card has a 120,000 Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus after $8,000 spend in six months, but the offer is available only in-branch through July 3. I’d initially expected this would also be available online and via referrals, but given that July 3 is less than a week away I no longer think that’s the case.

    The best play for churners with two players is still 100,000 Ultimate Rewards for the referred and 40,000 Ultimate Rewards for the referrer, but the referrer will get a 1099 for the value of the referral bonus.

Kroger’s promotional analytics spreadsheet shows its college student demographics.

  1. Do this now: Register for 1,000 bonus points per night and double elite nights at most non Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties in Florida through September 15.
  2. Bilt Rewards will have a transfer bonus to Alaska of between 25% and 100% depending on your status level on Monday, but the bonus is limited to the first 50,000 transferred points.

    Bilt Platinum and Gold status members are also eligible for Alaska MVP Gold or MVP status respectively through the end of the year by enrolling by Monday, and enrolling will also transfer 10,000 Bilt points to Alaska because convoluted is best. If you already have AA Platinum Pro or AA Executive Platinum, then you’re higher on an Alaska upgrade list than MVP and MVP Golds because convoluted, again, is best. Finally, Alaska occasionally enforces one status match per account in two years, because, you guessed it, convoluted is best. UPDATE: Gary at VFTW let me know that account status match time limits don’t apply with the Bilt promotion.

    Why mention this now and not on Monday? If you want to find your way to more Bilt points to take advantage of the transfer bonus, go now.

Bilt Rewards’ user-friendly solar system visualization, because convoluted is best.

  1. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third-party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercards on Friday. Amazon gift cards are still excluded. We’ve had a 4x promotion in all but four days of June, which leads me to believe that Kroger is specifically targeting people with short term memory loss; it’s the only logical explanation.

    The fuel points resale market is currently saturated, and the gift card resale market remains depressed because Pepper Rewards is still dumping inventory on the market — in case you were wondering.
  2. Chase Offers has 10%-15% back at Hyatt House properties on at least $100 spend up to $40 cash back through July 31, and a similar offer for Hyatt Place properties for up to $38 cash back. Gamers gonna game.
  3. Do this now: Search your email for a targeted Q3 bonus from IHG and click the registration button. A good search string is something like:

    subject:”Invite Only” in:anywhere after:2024/06/15 from:ihg

    Outlook users should modify as necessary, but they’re used to that, right? (Thanks to FM)

Happy Thursday friends!

The IT guy’s mug tries to be funny.

  1. Do this now: Register for Q3 credit card bonus categories, for spend between July 1 and September 30:

    – Discover IT: 5% back at Walmart and grocery stores, up to $1,500 spend
    – Citi Dividend: 5x on gas, up to $6,000 spend annually
    – US Bank Cash+: Select 5% and 2% categories, up to $2,000 spend on 5%
    – Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex: 5x on gas, EV charging, live entertainment, and movie theaters, up to $1,500

    Q3 is full of soft-balls for hitting spend, both for online floosie spenders and for in-person spenders. Take the Speedway to Walmart Neighborhood Market for the quickest route on the latter.
  2. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada’s Aeroplan program through July 31. This is a good bonus if you’re booking Star Alliance awards, but like a seasoned manufactured spender views deals worth less than $100, it feels a bit 🤏 compared to the recent Bilt 150% transfer bonus.
  3. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card, alternatively named the “5% of a lawyer’s annual salary in bonuses” card, sent mid-month spending bonuses on Saturday. We’ve seen:

    – 200,000 points after $750 in online spend
    – $50 statement credit after $750 in online spend
    – $70 statement credit after $1,000 in online spend

    For the first time since last June, I didn’t receive a mid-month spend bonus, so I’m officially declaring a nationwide state of June-gloom. (Thanks to MS Ninja, birt, and Adam)
  4. Most American Express Delta cards have increased sign-up bonuses that are at a relatively local maxima, but the bonus is still not amazing compared to historical versions so they haven’t shown up here. However, one card bucks the trend:

    The American Express Delta Gold has a $500 statement credit and 40,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in three months, and the annual fee is waived for the first year offer that shows up during on the checkout page of a (dummy) flight booking. In this case, it’s probably an all-time best bonus, but unfortunately it’s not available via referrals and I doubt it’ll show up there too. (Thanks to AbjectRaise)
  5. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator card has a 70,000 AA mile bonus after making a single purchase and paying the $99 annual fee payment in the first 90 days.

    There’s also a targeted 60,000 miles + 10,000 miles for the referred and an additional 10,000 miles for the referrer offer floating around for those operating in Mario+Luigi (two player) mode. (Thanks to DDG)

MEAB pouts.