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🏝️ Fly On Points Alone Through This Southwest Card

PLUS: New IHG Maldives

Author

PointsParadise
November 09, 2023

👋 Welcome Back!

If you’re new to Points Paradise, welcome to the community! Otherwise: welcome back to your go-to source for points updates. Our community is up to 15,200 subscribers now!

🏖️ Now is the time to start building up your points!

With the holidays approaching, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas etc are fantastic opportunities to bank a lot of points.

This is a time of year that I really take a step back and plan my spending strategies so that I get the most points from all of my holiday spend.

💳 I’m keeping my eye out for the best bonuses over the next 2 months and will update you all as I see them!

Even though I’ve developed Points Pal, I may be the biggest user 😁. I’m constantly checking for the daily deals it posts and I know some of you are massive fans too! As always, keep the feedback coming!

And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reply to this email!

🗞️ News From This Week

I’m always on the lookout for flash sales from hotel or airline companies.

Outside of welcome bonuses and points redemption strategies, flash sales are my favorite way to travel for less.

IHG just launched this awesome one for anyone who wants to travel to Asia from now until early 2024.

If you’ve been thinking about a trip, you should check this out!

The Full Details You Should Know:

  • Flash sale is active Nov 7th → Nov 13th only (that means you need to book between these but your trip can be later)

  • Contries include: Inonesia, Laos, Thailand, Maldives, Philipines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam

  • The base discount is 35% off (!!)

  • If you signup for IHG One Rewards and then apply, you get another 10% off for a total 45% off!

For example, this beach house stay in the Maldives goes from $371 → $298, a pretty awesome discount.

👉 Pro Tip: IHG is one of the major hotel chains globally and has a great rewards program. If you’re not a part of it (it’s free), you should signup as they send pretty frequent deals/higher points redemptions. Link here.

Every day, I get awesome alerts through Points Pal on deals that I use, but this one caught my eye.

I love offers tied to my cards that help me save money. Those savings I put directly towards future trips.

Important to note: not everyone got this offer that I’ve talked to, so check your Amex Offers page to see if you have it!

👉 Pro Tip: Want more alerts like these? Checkout Points Pal and get daily alerts. I send out between 10-20 of the best points/travel/credit card offers through it!

Is there anything better than traveling for free and using just points?

I don’t think so! Which is why I was excited to find this Southwest card bonus that ends December 11th.

Southwest Rapid Rewards points are worth between 1.3 and 1.45 cents when redeemed (from NerdWallet).

🤯 That means this bonus gets you a value of $975 to $1,087 when used for Southwest flights.

That’s enough for multiple flights. And since this card’s annual fee is only $69 dollars, that’s some crazy value.

👉 Pro Tip: The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card is great for infrequent travelers. But if you’re a serious flyer (or Southwest flyer specifically), be sure to checkout the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card. It has much better perks for only a slightly higher annual fee ($149).

Points Pro Picks
🧠 My Takes For This Week On Three Deals:
Uber Icon
Amazon: Get a Statement Credit Just By Linking This Card
Uber Icon
1,000 Marriot Bonvoy Points By Linking to Uber
Uber Icon
Marriot 20% Off Escapes Promotions

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🏖️ Resource Roundup

A quick roundup of the top offers, deals, and more that you should know:

This is just a short list, there’s 100+ offers/promotions/deals to take advantage of each week!

To get a list of daily, customized to the card programs you hold, sign up to PointsPal.io.

🗺️ Pro Tip of the Week

How To Master The Art Of Retention Offers For More Points

What Are Retention Offers?

Retention offers are compelling incentives provided by credit card issuers to maintain customer loyalty, particularly those customers who might be thinking of switching to a different card.

They're one of the best-kept secrets in the credit card world for boosting points, and the beauty lies in the fact that these offers can often be personalized to fit your spending habits and reward preferences.

How Do They Work?

Typically, retention offers are not openly advertised, and to access these special perks, you'll need to take the initiative. The process often involves reaching out to your card issuer and candidly discussing your considerations about canceling the card.

Card issuers are eager to retain their customer base, and as such, they may offer you additional reward points, waive annual fees, or provide other lucrative incentives to persuade you to stay.

A Real Example:

This Reddit Post documents one, but the original poster added this screenshot showing asking for the retention offer + the response from the Amex agent.

Note: while this is over a text chat (looks like Twitter to me) other ways include calling directly.

🌎 Community Corner

I just got an Amex Platinum and I’m so excited! This is my first premium card, I’ve heard that it comes with great travel perks?

Which one do you think is the best? Like most useful?

- Question from a subscriber

My Answer:

Congrats on the card! Amex Platinum is one of my favorites (along with the CSR).

My favorite perk of the Amex Platinum is Centurion Lounges. They’re much nicer, less crowded, and much cleaner than Priority Pass lounges.

But: the perk I think is most useful for traveling is their security pass credits through Clear and either TSA Precheck or Global Entry.

If you’re like me: going through norma airport security is the WORST part of flying.

With Clear, you breeze through security and can go right to your favorite lounge.

Normal security takes me at least 20 minutes at popular airports like ORD, ATL, and DFW.

When going on international flights, Global Entry lets you speed through when you return from abroad.

Bottom Line: If you have an Amex, make sure you leverage their security perk credits! It’ll save you time and headaches at the airport

🐶 Meet Points Pup

For every share you do below, Points Pup gets another plate of pasta in Rome.

💳 Community Codes

Looking for a new credit card and want to help out a Points Paradise community member? The links below contain referral codes from the community.

Chase Marriot Bonvoy Cards: Best for Marriot rewards

Visa United Explorer Miles Plus: Best for United Flyers

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Flexible Rewards + Lower Annual Fee (Code 2)

Amex Platinum: Best Luxury Travel Rewards Card (Code 2)

American Express Gold: Best for Dining at Restaurants (Code 2, Code 3)

American Express Hilton Honors Aspire: Best Overall Hotels Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards: Best Southwest Rewards

Chase Freedom Unlimited: Great overall bonuses on categories (Code 2)

Capital One Quicksilver: Best flexible Capital One Card

Capital One Venture X: Best Capital One Luxury Card

Discover It Cash back: Best Cash back Card

👋 How I Can Help

Here’s 3 ways I help subscribers with their points plans:

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