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🏝️ Great Flights For Less Points, Amex Newest Offer, How To Double Dip Points, and More!

🏝️ Great Flights For Less Points, Amex Newest Offer, How To Double Dip Points, and More!

Discover the latest news in the world of points.

PointsParadise
July 20, 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.

The Points Paradise community is now 2,700 subscribers strong 💪.

A few years ago, I started playing tennis more seriously and have really enjoyed the sport.

This year as I watched Wimbledon, I thought “Wouldn’t it be exciting to actually watch this live?”

And maybe American Express borrowed Facebook’s tracking technology 😅 because I got this email a couple days ago from American Express about getting early access to Wimbledon through my Platinum card.

Just another one of those awesome perks you get when you have a good credit card!

Sometimes these perks aren’t advertised enough (I almost missed their email, it was in my Promotions box).

So it’s good to stay up to date through communities (like Points Paradise!)

🗞️ News From This Week

Flights to Europe and Asia for Less Than 60k Points: Here’s How.

If you want to go to Europe or Asia in August using points only: you’re in luck!

Singapore Air has launched a new promotion called Spontaneous Adventures that has great redemptions in August. Details below for traveling out of North America into Europe or Asia.

“That sounds great, but I don’t have Singapore Airlines points….”

Not to worry! Most major programs transfer into Singapore KrisFlyer miles, including: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriot Bonvoy Points, Capital One Rewards, Amex Rewards, and more.

Amex Adds Best Ever Offer For Green Card: 60k points + Up To $200 In Credits

The American Express Green Card is great for everyday spending on things like: restaurants, travel, transit, and more.

But what is even better is this upgraded bonus they currently have.

The 60k points are valued at $300 cash back or 1-2 cents when booking travel, meaning $600 to $1200 in value.

And that doesn’t even cover all the benefits the card gives, including up to $200 in credits for travel.

Flights Are Finally Getting Less Expensive. Here’s Why.

If you've been holding off on booking a trip to get cheaper flight costs, your patience is about to pay off.

Average airfare dropped 8.1% in June compared to May, and an impressive 18.9% from last year, according to the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index report.

So if you have a bunch of points lined up for hotel & vacation travel, you might finally get the chance to use them!

🏖️ Resource Roundup

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

New Marriot Bonvoy & MGM Partnership Means Higher Rewards: Marriott and MGM have announced a new partnership, forming the MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, which launches in October 2023 and offers reciprocal loyalty benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem points, across 17 MGM properties and more than 40,000 guest rooms in the United States.

American Airlines Launches AAdvantage Hotels Program For More Rewards: The new AAdvantage Hotels platform allows users to earn Loyalty Points and AAdvantage miles for hotel stays, offering enhanced rewards for elite members and co-branded cardholders,

Delta Moves SkyBonus Program to SkyMiles, a Change For Businesses: Delta Air Lines is replacing its SkyBonus program with SkyMiles for Business in October, extending its small-business loyalty program to more companies without minimum traveler or spending requirements.

Hilton Honors Offers Bonus For Purchased Points: Hilton Honors is offering a bonus on purchased points potentially up to a 100% bonus when buying at least 5,000 points in a transaction, with the purchase cap doubled to 160,000 points, providing great value for hotel redemptions and further benefits for cardholders with Hilton Honors elite status.

Earn More Points In Summer/Fall 2023 Through Aeroplan: Air Canada has introduced a bonus Aeroplan offer for summer and fall travel in 2023. Aeroplan members can gain double points on chosen domestic and US routes from July 18 to August 30 and quadruple points on the same routes from September 18 to October 31, 2023.

$300 Statement Credit For Amex Holders: Amex Offers is providing a $300 statement credit on spending $1,500 or more on Qantas Airways, for flights originating from the US, valid through 11/30/2022.

United and Southwest Airlines Shopping Bonus Is Here: United and Southwest Airlines offer up to 4,500 bonus miles through their shopping portals for credit card rewards and travelers.

🗺️ Pro Tip of the Week

How Smart Travelers Use Airline Award Hold Policies To Maximize Travel Value

As many of you may know, making the most out of your credit card points and travel rewards requires a healthy combination of strategy, flexibility, and an eye for a good deal.

But did you know that you could further maximize your award ticket bookings by utilizing an often overlooked feature - holding award tickets?

What Are Award Ticket Holds?

Holding an award ticket allows you to reserve a seat temporarily, giving you a chance to finalize your plans, transfer points, or consider various options while securing a good deal.

How Does It Work?

Every airline has its own set of rules regarding ticket holds. Some, like American Airlines, allow free 5-day holds on award bookings. Others, like Turkish Airlines, offer up to 72 hours. Here are a few pointers to guide you:

American Airlines: AA allows a 5-day hold on award bookings, offering you the time you need to transfer points from partners, or think over your plans.

Virgin Atlantic: VA lets you hold tickets for up to 48 hours.

Air France/KLM: Allows you to hold tickets for 48-72 hours.

Lufthansa: Up to 6 days, though dependent on the agent you talk to.

Get the Most Out of Your Hold:

Have a Plan B: Utilize the hold feature as a means to secure a backup option while you finalize your plans or wait for a better opportunity.

Transfer Points: If you need to transfer points from a credit card program (like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards), putting a hold on your award ticket ensures that your seat doesn't disappear while you wait for the transfer to process.

Monitor Prices: If you're not yet certain about your booking, a hold can buy you some time to monitor prices and ensure you're getting the best possible deal.

Avoid Rushed Decisions: With the hold in place, you can avoid making rushed decisions, allowing you to make sure all elements of your trip align perfectly.

✈️ Reward Reminder of the Week

How Double Dipping On Points Programs Earns You More Rewards With No Extra Spend

Double Dipping on points programs is a strategy that most people forget, but shouldn’t!

It’s a great way to build up points that gives you more points for a small amount of planning.

What Is Double Dipping?

Double dipping in credit card rewards involves earning points, miles, or cash back from both your credit card company and the merchant's loyalty program on a single transaction.

This could mean earning airline miles from a credit card's travel category and additional points from the airline's own loyalty program when you book a flight.

Real Examples Of Double Dipping Points:

Staying at Hotels with Loyalty Programs: Suppose you have a co-branded hotel credit card, like the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, that gives you 6x points for every dollar spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You're also a member of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Whenever you stay at a Marriott Bonvoy hotel and pay with your Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card, you earn both the 6x points from your credit card and points from the Marriott Bonvoy program.
Using Shopping Portals for Online Purchases: Say you have an American Express card that gives you 1 point per dollar spent on all purchases. You want to buy a new laptop from Best Buy. If you go through the Amex shopping portal, you may get an extra 2 points per dollar spent at Best Buy, allowing you to earn a total of 3 points per dollar on your laptop purchase.
Booking Flights via an Airline's Website: Suppose you have a travel rewards credit card that offers 3x points on airline purchases. You book a flight directly on Delta's website and are a member of Delta's SkyMiles program. You will earn points from your credit card for the purchase and miles from Delta's program for the same booking.

Remember, the goal with double dipping is to strategically align your spending habits with credit cards and loyalty programs that complement each other.

This way, you maximize rewards for purchases you'd make anyway.

🌎 Community Corner

I have some Hilton Free Night Certificates from my Amex over the past year and want to use them for an upcoming trip.

Any idea on I can best use these for max value?

- Question from a subscriber

Our Answer:

Great question, free night certificates from the big brands (Hilton, Marriot, etc) are an awesome perk given from their credit cards and make any trip better.

For those of you that don’t know: a Hilton free night certificate is essentially a voucher that allows you to book a standard room at any Hilton property around the world without having to pay or use points for that specific night.

How To Best Use Your Certificates:

As they can’t be used for premium rooms, the easiest way to find if your favorite hotel accepts these is through going to Hilton.com, searching by “Standard Room Reward”, and seeing if the hotel has availability for those dates.

From there: Hilton requires you to call the hotel directly to actually use the certificates.

How To Maximize Your Certificates’ Value:

Redeem them at expensive / high tier hotels: Since they’re a free night no matter what, pick the highest tier within your location/date range.

This is an easy way to get hundreds of dollars more of value!

Combine with your existing trip: Some days (like during the weekend) are more expensive at hotels. By putting your certificate to use on the most expensive day (say Friday or Sunday), you can extend your current booking without paying that higher rate of points.

Whether you use your certificates for a stand alone trip, or have them extend an upcoming one, you can’t go wrong!