Hilton Honors Increases Standard Award Points Max From 120,000 to 150,000 by Toni Southam May 23, 2021 23 Using Hilton points is a great way to redeem free nights at aspirational properties like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. But Hilton recently upped the maximum number of points needed for a free standard award night, making a stay at this high-end property much less achievable. Here are some other ways to get a free night there without shelling out 150,000 points per night.
Capital One Adds New Redemption Options – Restaurants, Streaming Services, and Phone Services by Patrick Stouffer March 10, 2025 49 As travel came to a standstill in April 2020, Capital One offered Venture and Spark cardholders another use for their travel-oriented miles: using them for restaurants and streaming services. This promotion has been extended multiple times since and is now valid through June 30, 2021. Here's what you need to know about using your miles for these alternatives.
You Can Now Book Etihad Awards Using Aeroplan Points — Including ‘The Apartment’ by Patrick Stouffer April 24, 2021 39 In June 2020, Air Canada Aeroplan partnered with Etihad Guest, allowing reciprocal earning and redeeming opportunities. Now that Aeroplan has relaunched as a new program, we are revisiting this partnership. While both programs can offer solid value, we're particularly excited about how this partnership makes booking Etihad's premium-class cabins a little more accessible for award travelers.
Alaska Flights Now Bookable Online With British Airways Avios by Patrick Stouffer April 17, 2021 17 With Alaska's Oneworld membership now official, British Airways introduced the new ability to search and book Alaska award flights on its website. Now you no longer need to call a British Airways phone agent to search award availability and book Alaska flights with Avios.
Southwest Devalues Rapid Rewards Program, More Points Now Needed for Award Flights by Max Prosperi April 15, 2021 23 Southwest Airlines just made some very unwelcomed changes to the airline's Rapid Rewards program. Without notice, Southwest reduced the value of Rapid Rewards points. You'll now need more Rapid Rewards points to make the same award travel redemptions.
You Can Now Fly ANA Business Class to Japan for Just 45,000 Virgin Points One-Way by Patrick Stouffer April 7, 2021 17 One of the sweetest sweet spots just got even sweeter! Flying Club members can now redeem Virgin points for one-way ANA awards in any class of service. Combined with this partnership's unbelievable award pricing, this opens incredible opportunities for flights to/from Japan. But don't delay — deals this good don't tend to last forever.
Etihad Guest Adds New Redemption Partner: Saudi Arabian Airlines by JT Genter March 30, 2021 15 Etihad Guest is one of our favorite under-the-radar mileage programs. So, we were excited to see Etihad Guest add a new mileage partner: Saudi Arabian Airlines. Here are the new redemption rates, sweet spots (and which redemptions to avoid), ways to accumulate Etihad Guest miles, and other options for booking Saudia award flights.
British Airways Increases Avios Needed for Short-Haul Award Flights by Max Prosperi March 19, 2021 13 British Airways just quietly devalued its Avios frequent flyer program. Now, redemptions on select short-haul flights will require you to burn through even more Avios. Here's what you need to know about this British Airways Avios devaluation.
American Airlines Travelers Can Now Redeem AAdvantage Miles for COVID-19 Testing by JT Genter February 25, 2021 37 Starting today, American Airlines travelers can redeem AAdvantage miles for an at-home COVID-19 PCR testing kit. You'll need to redeem 12,000 AAdvantage miles for the PCR test. Here's the process on how to do so — and why you might want to skip this redemption option.
Delta SkyMiles Further Devalues Partner Awards to Europe and Asia by Patrick Stouffer February 12, 2021 37 Delta Air Lines has done it again. For reasons unknown, it's just raised partner award prices to Europe and Asia for the second time in four months. To make matters worse, these aren't small, forgettable price hikes. These are significant, balance-busting increases that make certain partner awards laughably expensive. Let's go over this and see if there's anything salvageable.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Devalues Many Delta Awards by Ross Denkin February 9, 2021 9 Just as the calendar turned over in 2021, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club very quietly changed its redemption scheme for flights operated by Delta. Long-haul and premium cabin travelers will be disappointed to find out their points won’t take them nearly as far anymore. However, there's a silver lining in these changes for domestic and other short-haul flyers.
5 Ways You Know You’re Winning in Travel and Loyalty Programs by Joe Petrovic January 24, 2021 21 Are you worried that you aren't doing the miles and points game right? Let's flip the script and look at five of the ways to know when you're actually coming out ahead in travel and loyalty programs.
How Much Do AwardWallet Members Actually Save When Redeeming Points? by Erik Paquet January 12, 2024 37 How much is a mile really worth? It’s one of the key questions of the points and miles hobby, and we've always been skeptical of the conventional wisdom. So we decided to take a look at real trips booked with points by AwardWallet members. Our initial release is far from perfect, but we're excited to share what we've learned so far. Here's a look behind the scenes at how we're calculating mile values — and what we have planned for the future.
How to Redeem United Miles for Maximum Value by Patrick Stouffer December 6, 2020 41 United miles are incredibly useful. You can use them for award travel on 35+ partner airlines with some of the lowest out-of-pocket costs of any program. In this post, I cover some of the best ways to maximize United Miles for amazing award travel.
Why I’m So Excited About Flexible Point Currencies Right Now by Joe Petrovic November 9, 2020 23 Low cash prices and increased earning opportunities are making flexible points more valuable than ever before. With these points, you have a choice between transferring to airline and hotel partners or redeeming for a fixed, cash value. The conventional wisdom is to transfer points for higher value. Today, I’ll explain why that advice might not be true right now—and how to make the right choice on your next redemption.
Emirates Will Block First Class Awards From Partners Starting in April 2021 by Patrick Stouffer November 6, 2020 16 It appears that Emirates will block partner airlines from accessing first-class awards. A notice on Alaska Air's website states that starting April 1, 2021, Emirates will no longer give partners the ability to book Emirates first class awards. In this post, we cover all the details of this change and how you can book an incredible award before this restriction goes into place.
Mr and Mrs Smith Hotels Now Bookable With IHG Rewards Points by Patrick Stouffer October 31, 2020 18 IHG has (finally) begun to roll out its long-awaited partnership with Mr and Mrs Smith Hotels. Now, IHG Rewards Club members can earn and redeem IHG points at 100 Mr and Mrs Smith hotels, with 300 more expected by the end of November. In this post, we show you some of the incredible new opportunities available with IHG points.
Citi Introduces Shop With Points at Select Shell, BP, and Amoco Gas Stations by Patrick Stouffer July 21, 2025 11 This week, Citi released a new way to redeem your ThankYou® points. Now, ThankYou® point collectors can redeem points right at the pump at Shell, BP, and Amoco gas stations using Citi's 'Shop with Points' feature. But before you take advantage of this, you'll want to make sure you don't have a better use for your points.
Why Now is a Great Time to Book a Dream Trip to French Polynesia by Patrick Stouffer October 15, 2020 18 While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to make traveling difficult, one dream destination has already re-opened its borders to all travelers. If you've ever heard of Tahiti, Bora Bora, of French Polynesia, chances are you've dreamed of vacationing there. Thanks to significant safety precautions and generous award availability, now could be the perfect time to make that dream a reality. We will show you how to do so in this post.
The Best Ways to Book United’s New Routes to Africa, India, And Hawaii by Ross Denkin October 27, 2022 14 United has announced 7 exciting new routes for 2021 to Hawaii, Africa and India. Although details are slim on some routes, others are already on sale. So, we at AwardWallet dug into the best ways to book these new routes with miles and points. Here's how to book United business class to Hawaii from 15,000 miles each way, Africa starting at 52,000 miles each way, and India for as little as 52,500 miles each way.
Chase Extends Pay Yourself Back, Expands to Ink and Freedom Cards by Patrick Stouffer September 29, 2020 12 Chase has announced the extension of its popular 'Pay Yourself Back' feature, which was initially set to expire on September 30. Even better, Chase is expanding the feature to certain Ink and Freedom credit cards and offering several new eligible purchase categories. In this post, we cover all the details, including why we think 'Pay Yourself Back' is here to stay.
JetBlue Adds New Cash + Points Redemption Option by Michelle Molloy July 6, 2020 9 Are you a few points shy of being able to book an award ticket? Want to save some money on a cash fare now? JetBlue recently rolled out a flexible new program for TrueBlue loyalty members to use Cash + Points to book flights. We take a look to see if it makes sense to use this option.
9 Ways That I Saved Money on My Road Trip, and You Can Too by Toni Southam July 5, 2020 16 When we think of maximizing points and miles, we generally imagine luxurious vacations in exotic locations around the world. With international travel on hold, using points and miles for these traditional redemptions isn't an option. So, I took my family of 6 on a road trip around Utah to visit national and state parks. Here's how we did it for minimal out-of-pocket costs, and you can too.
The Best Ways to Book Delta’s New Cape Town Route With Miles by Ross Denkin June 21, 2020 16 Staring in October 2020, Delta will begin flying to Cape Town, South Africa! This route was announced in mid-May, but it was just put on sale today. So, we took a look at the cheapest mileage options to fly between the U.S. and South Africa on this newly-modified route — without having to pay 465,000 SkyMiles for business class.
American Airlines Adds Online Award Booking for 20th Partner Airline by JT Genter June 3, 2020 22 Over the past few years, American Airlines has added new partners, strengthened partnerships with existing partners, and made it easier to search and book awards online. On Wednesday afternoon, American Airlines added the ability to book award flights online for yet another partner. You can now search and book awards for 20 different partner airlines on AA's website.
You Can Now Use AAdvantage Miles to Pay for Seat Reservations on American Airlines by Patrick Stouffer May 19, 2020 58 American Airlines just launched a new way for AAdvantage members to redeem miles. As AwardWallet confirmed with American Airlines this afternoon, AAdvantage members can now use their miles to purchase seat reservations. For now, it's limited to select airports, but this is likely to be the start of a larger rollout.
Airline, Hotel Programs Begin Limiting Non-Travel Redemption Options by Patrick Stouffer March 27, 2020 38 Three loyalty programs have now suspended the ability to redeem points for most non-travel-related rewards, blaming circumstances resulting from COVID-19. More airline and hotel loyalty programs may follow suit with similar restrictions in the coming days/weeks as travel companies try to preserve cash.
