Maximize mileage while you still can

This week, there are a number of opportunities to maximize your mileage with limited-time offers — whether transferring points to miles, making fee-free check payments via credit card, or crediting a cheap flight to the right program, we’ve got the lowdown on ways to get the most miles you can before time runs out. Welcome to Last Chance Deals — our weekly list of what’s ending this week as well as a collection of some of the best ongoing deals around. Deals in bold were posted this week.

Expiring Monday, April 17th

• Get more mileage from hotel points with Aeroplan 30% conversion bonus: Aeroplan can be a great program for redeeming with Star Alliance partners. Marriott Travel Packages would be a great option for converting hotel points to take full advantage of this promotion.

Expiring Wednesday, April 18th

• New Plastiq promotion open to all – double fee-free dollars:Last chance to sign up as a new account for $400 fee-free dollars or refer friends to get $800 fee-free dollars for your self. If you’ve signed up, be sure to make your first payment of at least $20 by 11:59pm Eastern time in order to unlock your fee-free dollars.

Expiring Friday, April 20th

• Southwest sale – check existing reservations: The latest sale from Southwest has some fares as low as $39 one-way. Be sure to check your existing reservations and change or rebook if fares have dropped to be credited the difference.

• The real deals: A quick guide to Daily Getaways 2017 weeks 1 and 2: New deals go live each day at 1pm Eastern time. Several of last week’s deals are still available. This week, the only deal likely to sell out relatively quickly might be the Universal Studios tickets on Wednesday. Keep your eye out for more deals to come each week until May 12th.
• PSA: Ask Delta for compensation if you were impacted by delays or cancellations: Delta’s massive meltdown turned into a near afterthought in the aviation world this past week, but if you were impacted by the days of delays and cancellations, reach out and ask Delta for compensation sooner rather than later. It may take some persistence, but if you don’t ask, you probably won’t receive.
• Get 50k AA miles with new DirecTV service & contract: 50K miles is more generous than what we normally see for DirecTV sign up incentives. The current “promotional” pricing is slated to end May 20th, but the 50K mileage payout could end sooner. If you’re interested, consider taking advantage sooner rather than later.
• Autumn fares to Europe fall: East and West Coast to Scandinavia from $360’s RT (or less): Many of these great fares continue — with prices from the $360’s on Oneworld/Skyteam/Star Alliance and round trip prices as low as $288 on budget carrier Norwegian. While late fall may not be the warmest time to visit Scandinavia, the price is right. Stack this with buying Choice Hotel points in Daily Getaways for nights in Nordic Choice Hotels, where breaksfast and dinner are complimentary in some hotels.
• Airfare to Beijing, China from $445 round trip – many cities: Prices have risen about 10% on each of the routes I checked, but are still a good value from many of these cities. Still worth a look if you’re interested in going to Beijing.
• $100/10k points per referral with Chase Freedom and Sapphire Preferred [Targeted?]: Chase referral bonuses come and go. I do not see an end date in the terms of any of my referral offers, but these increased offers surely won’t last forever.
• Final Call to Earn and Redeem Alaska Airlines Miles on Delta: This partnership actually ends on April 30th and this post is from Rocky at Travel Codex, but I wanted to include it here for anyone looking to redeem Alaska miles for flights on Delta. April 30th will be your last day to book, though Alaska allows award tickets to be booked 330 days in advance. Be aware that you will not be able to make changes after April 30th, so proceed with caution.

Sign-up Bonuses

• Best ever offer on Amex Hilton cards: Up to 100k + free weekend night!: Hilton points are worth a mostly fixed value, but that makes it easy to peg the value of these signup bonuses. I think either could be a good choice depending on your spend patterns. (Expires 5/31/15)
• Free $100 annual travel credit with new FNBO TravElite card: This newly refreshed card has added some great ongoing benefits and eliminated its annual fee, making it well worth a look.
• 107.5k Chase Marriott offer is now public: A great offer on a card that’s worth keeping if you can get more than $85 in value out of the annual free night certificate, which shouldn’t be too hard.
• Targeted United Explorer Card Offers: Up to 75K Miles
• Southwest Business 60K Offer is Back!
• Better than Best Offers available for some cards

Travel

• Vancouver winter hotel deal: Great 1st night rebates on prepaid rates (Expires 4/30/17)
• Citi Thank You Rewards 50% transfer bonus to JetBlue (Expires 4/30/17)
• Earn 1k per new partner with Delta SkyMiles (Expires 4/30/17)
• 5,000 Alaska Airlines miles for joining MileagePlan and taking a flight: Terrific chance to get started with Alaska and earn a much of miles. (Expires 4/30/17)
• Etihad 20% bonus on miles converted from hotel programs (Expires 4/30/17)
• Earn bonus IHG points with A Spring Offer Just For You (Expires 5/15/17)
• HUGE stackable point earnings through Club Carlson (Expires 5/31/17)
• $100 back on $600 at Amex Travel (works on refundable hotels) (Expires 5/31/17)
• Hertz one-way for $8 per day from FL or AZ, economy to full size car rentals (Expires 6/15/17)
• Amazing Deal (Maybe): 5k SAS miles per cheap Hertz rental: Well, this turned out to be a flop. While I received 5K miles for my first rental, I have yet to receive miles for my second rental (the next day) and Hertz changed the terms of the promotion to require a 3-day rental. One reader is reporting that he was told he would not receive the miles on a one-day rental he reserved before the program terms were changed. If you have one-day rentals booked and intended to take advantage of this promotion, you may want to contact Hertz about cancelling. On the other hand, if you have any 3-day or longer rentals planned, this promotion can still be good, but nowhere near amazing. Rentals must be reserved by 6/30/17 for pick up by 9/30/17).
• Amex Offer: $40 back on $200 at JetBlue: Highly targeted, but a nice savings if you plan to fly with JetBlue (Expires 6/30/17)
• One-way car rentals from Florida for $4.95 per day (Expires 6/30/17)
• First World of Hyatt Promotion – Double Points (Expires 6/30/17)
• Get $30 Off First Ride from Uber & American Express (Expires 7/31/17)
• Amex Offer: $50 back on $200 at HotelStorm: The terms of this offer imply that it is repeatable, so this could be a good way to save $50 on your hotel stays. Just keep in mind that you will probably not receive any elite credits / benefits / points on 3rd party bookings like this. (Expires 10/12/17)

Shopping/Spending Deals

• 1-800 Flowers Amex Offer & Mileage Stacking
• Earn 3X JetBlue Points Per Dollar Shopping on Amazon
• Get Great Moving Offers Including 15% Off Amazon & More
• Handy? Stack coupon + Amex Offer for up to half off at Advance Auto: Coupon expiration is unknown, but the Amex Offer component of this deal expires 4/24/17.
• [Targeted?] Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Delta Skymiles through partners (Expires 4/30/17)
• Free BJ’s membership for 90 days + $5 off $50: The promotion now says you will have membership through the end of July, so it appears to have been extended.
• Earn 1.5k-5k AA miles for joining Sam’s Club
• 2x Membership Rewards (2.5x with Everyday Preferred) at many online merchants (Expires 12/31/17)

Bank Account Bonuses

• List of great bank account signup bonuses available this month.
• Capital One 360 – $200 Money Market Bonus – Publicly Available (1% APY & Requires $10,000 Deposited): This one comes courtesy of Doctor of Credit, but is getting a nod here because it’s an easy $200 if you have the cash to deposit. According to Doctor of Credit, there is no minimum time the money must remain in the bank — it seems that you can deposit to earn the bonus and withdraw immediately. (Expires 6/30/17)
• Charles Schwab Checking $100 Bonus (Comes with Free International ATMs)

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