What are Hilton points worth?
Hilton has a weird hybrid approach to free night awards. Like IHG, they no longer publicly assign hotels to categories and can therefore dynamically price award nights. But, really, they don't. They do dynamically...
Virgin Flying Club can’t book awards on Air France or KLM; “Expected” to work...
Last month, we reported about booking Air France and KLM flights through Virgin Atlantic by using the airline's chat feature. Within a couple of days, readers started reporting that they were being told that...
60+ best places to use IHG 40K free night certificates in the US
The IHG Premier, IHG Business Premier and the IHG Select (no longer available to new applicants) cards all offer a 40K free night certificate each year upon renewal. IHG also often offers these certificates...
AA award ticketing error? Try an award hold.
Last month, during our Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge, I ran into a problem booking my award home. I flew Japan Airlines first class from Tokyo to Chicago (with an onward...
SLH is a big win for Hilton hoarders
Years ago, Greg wrote an excellent post about the "Earn and burn" fallacy. In it, he suggests a better strategy is to "hoard and cherry pick". If you've been a Hilton hoarder for years,...
[Update: Search via app] Hilton / SLH partnership live with nearly 400 properties –...
Update 3:13pm Eastern time: If you're having trouble finding availability, try using the Hilton Honors app. I'm finding many properties available in the app that aren't available on desktop. Also, it appears that availability continues...
How to use Hyatt free night certificates on a multi-night stay
There are a many ways to get Hyatt free night certificates. The World of Hyatt card offers a category 1-4 cert each year upon renewal and again when you spend $15K within a calendar...
Best ways to get to South America using points and miles (2024)
Looking for the cheapest ways to get to South America? This post outlines the best options available to get there in using frequent flyer rewards programs available to the major US transferable currencies, including...
Necker Island awards now cost 630,000 points…and $5,700 in cash
Update 7/4/24: It appears that Necker Island can no longer booked for points alone and now require a substantial cash co-pay. The minimum stay is now down to three nights, but costs 630,000 Virgin...
Best uses for Virgin Points (Sweet Spot Spotlight)
Virgin points are super easy to accumulate. Points transfer 1 to 1 from most major transferable points programs. Even better, transfer bonuses are common such that transfers to Virgin Atlantic are often better than...
[Update] My frustrating, awesome experience with Greg’s trick to book Air France with Virgin...
Update: A day after publication, many readers reported being told by chat representatives that there is a known issue booking Air France / KLM and that it will be resolved on 7/9/24. Here's hoping...
A trick for viewing the Air France / KLM Flying Blue award calendar (updated)
Air France / KLM Flying Blue miles are super easy to get. You can transfer 1 to 1 from any major transferable points currency: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Bilt, or even Brex. Even...
Conrad Bora Bora: Great availability July-September 2024
Upgraded Points has discovered a ton of standard award availability at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui during the Summer/early-Fall of 2024. Rooms are available between June and October, including multiple 5-night blocks(meaning it will...
What are Sonesta points worth?
Sonesta is a hotel program that's tended to fly under the radar for most points and miles folks (including me). It's been around since the 1930's, but remained fairly small for several decades. That's...
