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| Don't miss these great offers |
| by Brian Kelly |
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There are so many great points and miles offers right now — from a best-ever credit card welcome bonus to a 100% transfer bonus, I’m sharing a few of the best offers below so you can take advantage of them before they expire.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®: 75,000 AAdvantage miles
If you fly American Airlines, the current offer on the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard lets you earn 75,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $3,500 within the first four months of account opening.
This offer is ending very soon, so if you’ve been eyeing it, I wouldn’t wait. This is the highest offer we’ve seen in a long time on the card, and the annual fee of $99 is waived for the first 12 months — it is really a no-brainer in my mind, even if you don’t frequently fly with American. That’s because American has world-class partners like Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines.
I would personally use the sign-up bonus toward a one-way first-class ticket on Japan Airlines from the U.S. to Tokyo, which can be redeemed for only 80,000 miles. In fact, I was supposed to be in Tokyo this weekend on an AA award I had booked, but had to cancel due to scheduling. A one-way first-class ticket on JAL to Tokyo is $10,000, so using just 80,000 AA miles for it gets you a huge return on a single sign-up bonus, plus a little spending. You can read more on ways to maximize your AA miles here.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 80,000-point welcome offer
The new Chase Sapphire Preferred Card offer launched last week: Earn 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This is 20,000 points above the standard offer.
Chase points are most valuable when transferred to partners — here are a few redemptions I’m personally considering:- World of Hyatt: It is very easy to get 2-3 cents per World of Hyatt point in value. I’m eyeing a trip to Argentina with a stay at Palacio Duhau — Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, which is over $1,200 or just 25,000 points per night in December. That’s a solid value of 2 cents per point. The Park Hyatt Mendoza, which is over $400 or 12,000 points per night, would provide over 3 cents per point in value. There are many sweet spots with Hyatt and many ways to maximize Hyatt points.
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue: This is a wild card, but I have been seeing an incredible amount of award space at saver levels lately (New York-Paris for just 55,000 miles and $200 one-way, and economy to Europe for as low as 17,500 miles and $80). Considering business-class airfare to Paris is usually $7,500 round-trip, being able to use miles at the 55,000 or 17,500 level for economy is a screaming deal. I may go to Mykonos, Greece, in August, and there are plenty of dates with connecting availability. Overall, Air France and KLM have solid business, premium economy and coach products, and if you’re flexible (especially last-minute) you can get huge value — especially if you take advantage of its Promo Rewards.
- Air Canada’s Aeroplan: I’ve covered in a previous newsletter how valuable Aeroplan redemptions can be with numerous partners like Emirates, Etihad Airways and Star Alliance carriers Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Its online award search is great and it allows stopovers on award tickets. For example, you can fly Swiss business class from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Zurich Airport (ZRH), stop over for a week and then fly business class to Tokyo for just 87,500 miles and $100. Check out more ways to maximize Aeroplan points and stopovers.
IHG Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: Best-ever welcome bonus with 165,000 points
While IHG One Rewards points are not the most valuable hotel points, it just released a 165,000-point sign-up bonus on its IHG Rewards Premier Business Credit Card when you spend $3,000 in the first three months of account opening. Look at the perks — the free night benefit alone can justify the $99 annual fee, and you earn elite status. IHG partners with Six Senses (but be aware not all properties allow points redemptions — I learned that the hard way when trying to book the Six Senses Douro Valley). And a bit of news just released yesterday morning: Mr and Mrs Smith used to be a great partner of IHG, but Hyatt just announced it’s acquiring the booking platform.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Last chance for 125,000-point offer
This offer is ending Wednesday, so if you are thinking about it, don’t wait. I use my Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card when going to Miami. It costs 125,000 points per night to stay at the W hotel, where the cash rates are consistently $2,000-plus per night and all the rooms are really nice. Remember, Marriott gives the fifth night free, which helps keep the points cost down, but there are plenty of other affordable properties in the Miami Beach area, like the AC Hotel for just 48,000 points per night (cash rates are consistently over $600 per night on weekends there). So that 125,000-point bonus (to earn the bonus, spend $5,000 within the first three months of account opening) can easily get you over $1,250 in value when redeeming at expensive properties, like in Miami Beach. You can read more about the perks in the full card review.
Bilt Mastercard®: Earn points for paying rent
And last, but not least … for the May Rent Day promotion, the Bilt Mastercard is offering an incredible 100% transfer bonus to Flying Blue, which I will be taking advantage of, plus incredible Promo Rewards for business-class seats starting at 41,250 points from U.S. cities like Newark, Houston, Washington, Atlanta and Dallas. Full disclosure: I am an adviser and investor in Bilt.
Photo by Wyatt Smith/The Points Guy.
Have a great weekend,
BK
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| Photo Credit: WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY. |
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