{"id":14433,"date":"2026-10-19T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/?p=14433"},"modified":"2026-10-18T23:39:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T05:39:31","slug":"monday-southwest-suckifies-synchrony-sleeper-j4u-zift-and-gcs-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/19\/monday-southwest-suckifies-synchrony-sleeper-j4u-zift-and-gcs-everywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday: Southwest Suckifies, Synchrony Sleeper, J4U Zift, and GCs Everywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
    \n
  1. Southwest did a thing<\/a> on Friday:

    – Elite tiers changed with Silver (formerly A-List), Gold (formerly A-List Preferred), and a new Platinum tier, requiring 35,000, 65,000, and 140,000 tier qualifying miles respectively
    – Companion Pass gets worse on January 1, when 95,000 elite points earn three trips, and unlimited trips have a heightened 140,000 elite points threshold (at least something was heightened in this announcement?)
    – Credit card spend will earn 1x elite qualifying point regardless of category bonuses multipliers
    – and, what could possibly go wrong with Southwest     lounges<\/a>?

    Don\u2019t worry though, you\u2019re still only getting shelf-stable snacks on your flight, and in uplifting news these snacks are now considered food quality in over three countries.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The Synchrony Version Mastercard<\/a> has an increased sign-up bonus of a $150 statement credit after a single purchase in 90 days. Yes, $150 doesn’t move the needle, but the card is still a quiet great because:

    – It earns 4x on dining, gas, and grocery
    – It’s Synchrony

    Why isn’t this card an     unsung hero<\/a>? Well, because you’re earning Verizon bucks which means you’re probably going to be cashing out via AirPods Pro resale.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Safeway, Albertsons, and other Just4U stores have a 10x coupon on Zift cards<\/a> excluding those redeemable for Amazon through Saturday.

    Related question, who’s your least favorite person that you still give gifts to around the holidays? No reason.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday<\/a>, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward \/ BlackHawk Network gift cards.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Giant Food has 2x points earning on Mastercard gift cards<\/a> through Thursday, limit $1,500 per account. Ditto for Stop & Shop<\/a> and Giant<\/a> stores.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Have a nice Monday, friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    MEAB Exclusive: Southwest Flagship lounge fine dining preview. (Thanks to Josh)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Have a nice Monday, friends! MEAB Exclusive: Southwest Flagship lounge fine dining preview. (Thanks to Josh)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[60,54,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airlines","category-credit-cards","category-gift-cards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14433"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14443,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14433\/revisions\/14443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}