Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic Launch New Award Partnership by Patrick Stouffer February 26, 2020 26 Air France and KLM recently launched a new partnership with Virgin Atlantic, making both Flying Club and Flying Blue miles even more valuable. You'll now have the ability to book partner awards on either airline using the other's currency. In this article, we're digging into the new partner award options to highlight the best values.
How We Booked Five Nights, Flights, and a Premium Car Rental for Under $300 by Joe Petrovic February 23, 2020 31 Traveling doesn't have to break the bank! Learn exactly how we used points, airline travel vouchers, and credit card perks to save thousands of dollars on a family vacation.
American Airlines Drops Close-In Booking Fees! by Sam Helmy February 15, 2020 39 American Airlines has dropped its $75 close-in booking fee for awards ticketed less than 21 days from the date of travel. At this point, this seems to be a genuinely positive change, without any obvious downside. Still, the lack of fanfare from American's PR team leaves us wondering if the other shoe is still waiting to drop.
Hyatt vs. Marriott: A House Divided by Michelle Molloy February 9, 2020 101 Our family has long been loyal to Marriott, too long as far as I'm concerned. I've decided that it is time for us to move our loyalty over to Hyatt – but this requires my reluctant husband to switch over his business travel. I'm outlining my case for making the move here, are you convinced?
Last Day for up to 45% Off Award Flights to Tahiti by Joe Petrovic January 23, 2020 16 French Polynesia anyone? United is offering economy award tickets to Tahiti (up to 45% off) for as low as 39-49K miles per person round trip.
Alaska Adds Singapore Airlines Redemptions, Cuts Stopovers Within Asia by Ross Denkin November 10, 2019 37 Alaska has added the ability to redeem miles on Singapore Airlines, which is great news for Mileage Plan members. But there is also some bad news that largely overshadows the positive announcement: Stopovers on one-way award travel within Asia are no longer allowed.
Partner Awards in Premium Economy Now Bookable with American Miles by Ross Denkin November 1, 2019 60 American frequent flyers can now use AAdvantage miles to book premium-economy awards with partner airlines. This is excellent news which gives travelers the option to fly in more comfort without the huge cost increase of business or first-class travel. At the moment, the rollout is limited to British Airways flights, but we're optimistic we'll see other partners come online soon.
Hertz Raises Award Prices on Standard Rentals by Erik Paquet May 28, 2019 42 Hertz has made a significant devaluation to their award chart for standard rental awards with no advance notice. The points required have increased for most types of redemptions. Since there was no announcement or press release, we've created a before-and-after chart to illustrate the changes.
Get Alerts When Your Points Post with AwardWallet Balance Watch by Erik Paquet March 12, 2019 85 Have you ever found the perfect award itinerary but couldn’t book right away because you needed to buy or transfer points? Today, we’re proud to announce a new feature called “Balance Watch” which will monitor a specific loyalty account to notify you as soon as your balance changes.
World Of Hyatt Adds Premium Suites Awards and Changes Points + Cash Bookings by Sam Helmy October 31, 2018 31 World of Hyatt has introduced the ability to book Premium Suite Awards and has modified the way Points + Cash bookings are made; all changes take effect as of November 1, 2018. Like most program changes, some are negative, and some are positive, and how you are affected depends on your stay patterns.
Chase Partners With Expedia To Power Travel Portal by Sam Helmy August 20, 2018 34 Booking travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards just got better after it was announced that Chase has partnered with Expedia to run their Chase travel portal. The move is excellent news for Chase cardholders since Expedia group also owns Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotwire.com travel search engines, which should result in many more options.
World of Hyatt Introduces Experiential Rewards by Sam Helmy July 19, 2018 28 World of Hyatt has introduced experiential rewards to its program. The new rewards are called FIND, and focus on a whole host of subjects, from tours and adventures to food, drink, and wellbeing. The site has over 100 individual experiences although Hyatt will make additions and revisions, as the list evolves.
Delta Devalues Business Saver Awards to Europe by Sam Helmy July 14, 2018 58 One-way trips to Europe will now set you back 82,000 SkyMiles plus taxes and fees for an award in Business. This is a 17% increase on the previous price of 70,000 SkyMiles.
SPG & Marriott: Big Changes To Award Categories in 2018 by Sam Helmy February 12, 2018 62 Both SPG and Marriott have announced a slew of changes to the categories of their properties. This year’s changes impact 276 SPG properties, and a stifling number of Marriott properties: over 1,300 are changing category. Although Marriott now owns Starwood, the changes to SPG hotels are relatively benign with roughly the same number of properties going up as going down in category.
Changes To Club Carlson Award Categories – March 1, 2018 by Sam Helmy February 11, 2018 16 Club Carlson has announced changes to its award categories that come into effect March 1, 2018. Unlike recent similar changes in other hotel chains, this change is relatively balanced and does not present a significant devaluation, with about the same numbers of properties going up and down in category.
Redeem IHG Points and Certificates for Stays at Kimpton by Sam Helmy January 11, 2018 36 Realizing IHG’s announcement in late 2017, you can now book Kimpton properties using IHG Rewards. In light of the recent price hike of IHG redemptions, this is good news, since it adds a portfolio of over 60 boutique hotels to the IHG property list, increasing your choice and options. You can also use your IHG Free Night certificates awarded from the IHG Rewards credit card at Kimpton properties.
IHG Adds 70,000-Point Per Night Redemption Reward Level by Sam Helmy January 3, 2018 45 IHG has brought in 2018 just like it did 2017, with adjustments to its award chart. 2018 adjustments impact hundreds of properties across the world, with most increasing in cost by 5,000 to 10,000 points. In addition to adjusting the rates at properties, the more significant impact is that IHG has added an additional level, increasing the maximum cost per night at some of its properties from 60,000 points per night to 70,000 points per night.
JetBlue Award Chart for Flight Redemptions on Hawaiian Airlines by Howie Rappaport December 25, 2017 29 JetBlue has published economy, and business class award charts for redeeming TrueBlue points on Hawaiian Airlines operated flights. While you've been able to redeem TrueBlue points for Hawaiian flights, the price was correlated to the cash cost of the ticket, much like how a JetBlue award is priced, and you'd need to call up get the exact price.
Redeem Defunct Air Berlin Miles for Travel on Etihad by Sam Helmy October 25, 2017 34 If you have a pile of miles in the Air Berlin Topbonus program, Etihad has thrown you a lifeline as you can redeem Topbonus miles for flights on Etihad. The offer covers travel through March 28, 2018. We've got a screen grab for the promotion as well in case it disappears online.
United Re-Introduces Singapore Award Redemptions Online by Sam Helmy October 14, 2017 29 United has reintroduced booking Singapore awards online, which is long overdue after it suspended the option back in 2013.
Redeem Singapore Miles on Alaska Airlines – Award Chart Is Available! by Sam Helmy September 29, 2017 48 Ever since Alaska and Singapore announced their partnership recently, we have been waiting for the redemption charts to be released. Singapore has now released its award chart for Kris Flyer redemptions on Alaska. Hopefully, we'll see Alaska's chart for Singapore Air flights soon.
