Hyatt Diamond status: the first benefit of the Marriott SPG merger
Early last week, Marriott announced its acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. And, even though Marriott says that they will preserve the best of both loyalty programs, I’m not too optimistic. Mergers like these...
Convert SPG points to miles? How to play the Marriott merger.
On Monday we learned that Marriott will be buying Starwood in 2016. Under the assumption that Marriott’s rewards program will be the surviving program after the merger, I made a plea to Marriott: Hey...
SPG: Two free nights (cat 1-5) after two stays!
Every now and then I learn something cool about the miles & points hobby from my son. For example, I previously reported a way to get targeted for Amex business card offers based on...
Hey Marriott: Here’s how to keep SPG loyalists loyal
Yesterday, Marriott announced its acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The transaction is expected to close “mid 2016”, but we have no information yet about how or when the loyalty programs will merge. My...
More than 40,000 IHG points for more than $46 and a cramped hand
Last week I wrote “Between 23,000 and 40,000 points for $46 and a cramped hand.” The idea discussed in that post was that you could enter the IHG and MasterCard® Priceless Surprises® Promotion by...
Bet You Didn’t Know: 24 Hour Cancellation Policies For Award Tickets
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate...
I have the worst luck. It's practically guaranteed that the moment I book an airline ticket, the price will go down immediately afterwards. It's as if I have permanent bad...
1,200,000 miles for Necker Island: Not easy. Not free.
Yesterday I reported my success in earning 1.2 million Virgin Atlantic miles which I plan to use for a week on Sir Richard Branson’s private Necker Island. In response, a number of readers wanted...
Necker Island, here we come!
7 months ago I decided that it would be cool to use miles to book a week on Sir Richard Branson’s private Island. Virgin Atlantic lists this award on their website under Partner Offers…...
My crazy route to Vegas. Am I done with mileage running?
The majority of this post was written while flying the final leg of my latest mileage run. Last year, I decided to seek top tier American Airlines status by signing up for the US...
Between 23,000 and 40,000 points for $46 and a cramped hand
Finally, a fun(ish) promo that doesn’t require flights or nights…
On Monday, Deals We Like published a cool idea in the post “Spend $46 and Earn at Least 47,000 IHG Points!” IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group)...
Bet You Didn’t Know: Airfare Price Predictions and More with Hopper
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate...
There have been a number of attempts at predicting airfares over the last several years. The earliest commercial manifestation of this was Farecast, whose airfare predictions were good enough that Microsoft bought it in 2008 and...
British Airways kills off 4,500 point awards for US travel
British Airways has announced that beginning February 2, 2016, short haul one-way awards originating or terminating in the US will begin at 7,500 Avios points rather than the current cost of 4,500 points. Bookings...
First look at Revolut: Send and spend money globally with zero fees
Thanks to my interest in manufacturing spend to increase credit card rewards, I’m always excited to see new options for moving money around. New no-fee prepaid cards can be exciting too (Remember Redird?). How...
National is now enforcing 1 Discover cert per rental
My favorite use of Discover Cashback is now severely limited. Discover Cashback can be redeemed for cash or for discounted gift cards. With gift cards, in most cases the savings are small, or the...
