Category: loyalty programs

Comprehensive guide on how to get to Asia from the US using URs, MRs, and TYPs

May 17, 2016 / / 2 Comments

I stumbled upon a very nice and comprehensive guide on how to effectively use your Chase UR, Amex MR, and Citi TYP to redeem for flight awards to Asia the other day. Given that I love travelling to Asia, this was perfect.

What Adam at the Jet Set Blog has compiled is a guide on the cost of awards from North America to Asia as well as details on how to book for every single airline transfer partner for each program. I haven’t found a guide this comprehensive before, and certainly not for the 3 major programs (excluding SPG). I personally got a lot of value out of the Membership Rewards part, as I hadn’t yet figured out what to do with the 50k I received for my PRG as well as the upcoming 100k from the Platinum card I just applied for. Continue reading →

FoundersCard Membership Signup Bonus of $100 Amex Gift Card –> How I’m Paying $235 for 2 Years

May 16, 2016 / / 5 Comments

UPDATE: if you used our referral links, could you please let us know? Apparently the referrals are not getting automatically tracked.

Hello everyone!

I’ve been getting bombarded for over a year by FoundersCard (referral link, see end of post for details) to join their program at a lifetime rate of $295/year. That wasn’t very appealing to me at the time, since I couldn’t justify how to get more than $295/year of value from the program. My friends Kenneth and Tonei were telling me about some of the great benefits. I’m going to rank them here as well as a few thoughts: Continue reading →

How I Hacked My Trip to Europe

May 6, 2016 / / 1 Comment

It occurred to me as I was writing some blog posts that as much as I talk about various individual hacks, I’ve never actually detailed a real set of redemptions I made, how I constructed a trip, and the final costs. I think it’s because they aren’t the most fun to write (because usually they’re not all that novel), but they can actually be pretty fun to read because they demonstrate what’s really possible with travel hacking. Continue reading →

Match to Hilton Diamond from Hyatt or IHG Platinum

April 8, 2016 / / 3 Comments

EDIT (4/20/2016): Hilton has updated the link to the status match page, the old one no longer works! You can access the new page here

EDIT: There seems to be more datapoints for successful matches from IHG Platinum vs. Hyatt Platinum. Please leave us your datapoints, either here or in the reddit thread!

Also, make sure you send in .JPG files for the match, otherwise Hilton will reject your request and you will have to followup to send it again, as the form won’t let you send another request. Continue reading →

New highest ever increased offers for the Amex Hilton Cards!

March 31, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Via reddit / various blogs, there are new increased signup bonus offers for both Hilton cards from American Express.

For the no fee card, the new offer is 75,000 points after $1000 in spending, compared to the normal 40,000 points after $750 in spending. The card offers 7x points on Hilton purchases, 5x at restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations, and 3x everywhere else. It also offers Silver status in Hilton HHonors and Gold status if you spend more than $20,000 in a calendar year. I wouldn’t actually do this, or use the card for restaurants, supermarkets, or gas stations, by the way. Continue reading →

How to successfully register for Atitalia MilleMiglia

January 30, 2016 / / 1 Comment

EDIT: This method still isn’t working perfectly for people. I suggest trying the normal registration page, and then calling in to get your code if things are still failing. The US call center claimed that they can’t register new accounts over the phone.

As posted earlier, Atitalia is offering a status match to elite members of various other frequent flier programs.

Unfortunately, when I tried to register, I just repeatedly received a mysterious error “Error in Service.” There have been reports of the registration successfully completing even with this error, so check your email. I unfortunately did not get this email. Continue reading →

Quick news you can use: TopCashback bonus, Alitalia status match, Shyp + eBay and American award availability

January 28, 2016 / / 0 Comments

TopCashback is offering bonus cashback on your next purchase by 2/5/2016, with minimum purchase of the bonus cashback amount. eBay is included. I’m personally going to buy some AirBnB gift cards through PayPal Digital Gifts as that’s a great way to get a discount on AirBnB stays. This offer is targeted and may vary by person. I personally was offered $10 cashback.

Via The Points Guy, Alitalia is currently offering a status match from Oneworld, Star Alliance, and other carriers like Alaska through January 31, 2016. Just send an email to StatusMatchMilleMiglia@alitalia.com with your full name, MilleMiglia number and a copy of your frequent flyer card that you are matching from. Your new status will be active until March 31, 2016, unless your status was valid through then, then your status will be valid until March 31, 2017.Unfortunately, I seem to be unable to register a MilleMiglia account right now as their site is erroring out. Continue reading →

The Most You Should Pay for a Hotel: Choice Hotels

January 23, 2016 / / 1 Comment

This is the sixth in a series of posts on how to save money on hotel bookings by purchasing rewards points. For a more detailed explanation and walk-through of the theory, see the first post on Hyatt hotels.

Choice Hotels wasn’t in my initial list of chains to review because of how weird and restrictive their loyalty program is, but given their large footprint and a few requests for a writeup, I realized it would probably be useful to look at. So, without further ado… Continue reading →

The Most You Should Pay for a Hotel: Starwood

January 21, 2016 / / 1 Comment

This is the last in a series of posts on how to save money on hotel bookings by purchasing rewards points. For a more detailed explanation and walk-through of the theory, see the first post on Hyatt hotels.

Today we will be looking at the last major hotel rewards program, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), which will hopefully remain in tact through the end of 2016 but may not be long for this world due to the merger finalized earlier this year. Continue reading →

The Most You Should Pay for a Hotel: Marriott

January 20, 2016 / / 3 Comments

This is the fourth in a series of posts on how to save money on hotel bookings by purchasing rewards points. For a more detailed explanation and walk-through of the theory, see the first post on Hyatt hotels.

The Details

Marriott Rewards is actually two programs in disguise, offering rewards for both the standard set of Marriott branded properties as well as the hyper-luxurious Ritz Carlton portfolio. Because of this, it has fourteen separate categories for its hotels — nine for Marriott and five for Ritz Carlton. It’s award charts are as follows: Continue reading →

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