Tag: Using Points

The Best Ways to Book Delta’s New Cape Town Route With Miles

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.

Ross Denkin

American Airlines Adds Online Award Booking for 20th Partner Airline

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.

JT Genter

You Can Now Use AAdvantage Miles to Pay for Seat Reservations on American Airlines

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.

Patrick Stouffer

Using ExpertFlyer to Search Saver Award Space

May 3, 2020 18

ExpertFlyer is an incredibly useful tool for finding award availability, seat maps, flight schedules, and more. In this article, we show you the basics of searching for award availability—along with tips for how you can use this information to save miles on your next award booking.

Joe Petrovic

Airline, Hotel Programs Begin Limiting Non-Travel Redemption Options

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.

Patrick Stouffer

Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic Launch New Award Partnership

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.

Patrick Stouffer

How We Booked Five Nights, Flights, and a Premium Car Rental for Under $300

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.

Joe Petrovic

American Airlines Drops Close-In Booking Fees!

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.

Sam Helmy

Hyatt vs. Marriott: A House Divided

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?

Michelle Molloy

American Airlines Award Map Tool Is Back!

February 5, 2020 55

The American Airlines award map tool is a powerful way to search for award inventory on American Airlines and participating partner airlines. In December 2019, American disabled a similar tool, but now the feature is back and ready for use. Read on to learn how to use this new resource to find and book high-value awards with your AAdvantage® miles.

Ross Denkin

Flying Blue Promo Rewards for February 2020

February 3, 2020 16

Flying Blue has released its latest Promo Rewards for the month of February. Book discounts of either 25% or 50% on flights between Europe and a variety of North American destinations. If interested, be sure to act quickly as promotional reward space can be limited.

Ross Denkin

Last Day for up to 45% Off Award Flights to Tahiti

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.

Joe Petrovic

Up to 50% off Fiji Airways Awards With Alaska Airlines

January 22, 2020 30

Alaska Airlines has announced a partner award flash sale, with a discount of up to 50% on awards from the US and Hawaii to Australia, New Zealand, and the south pacific with Fiji Airways. The promotion applies to awards in economy and business class and must be booked by February 29, 2020.

Sam Helmy

Alaska Adds Singapore Airlines Redemptions, Cuts Stopovers Within Asia

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.

Ross Denkin

Partner Awards in Premium Economy Now Bookable with American Miles

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.

Ross Denkin

Hertz Raises Award Prices on Standard Rentals

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.

Erik Paquet

Amex Membership Rewards Sweet Spots to Hawaii

October 27, 2022 41

Despite the natural inclination to transfer American Express Membership Rewards directly to Delta or Hawaiian Airlines, there are much better ways to save valuable points when flying to The Aloha State.

Kristina Caetano

World Of Hyatt Adds Premium Suites Awards and Changes Points + Cash Bookings

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.

Sam Helmy

Chase Partners With Expedia To Power Travel Portal

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.

Sam Helmy

World of Hyatt Introduces Experiential Rewards

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.

Sam Helmy

Delta Devalues Business Saver Awards to Europe

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.

Sam Helmy

Should I Book Marriott or SPG Hotels Using Points Now or Later?

June 27, 2018 56

You should book them all NOW, or at least by July 31, 2018! The new, integrated, Marriott loyalty program launches August 1st, and at that time hotels will be recategorized. After the 1:3 SPG Point to Marriott Rewards conversion, do the math and see if you saved yourself some points. 

Howie Rappaport

Marriott Moments Adds Custom Travel Experiences

May 21, 2018 25

Marriott has expanded its Marriott Moments platform with the introduction of new custom categories including recommendations from local experts, and specially selected lists of things to do. Reaching out to its global network, Marriott has put the list together with recommendations from general managers, and other partners including chefs Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, and Stephanie Izard.

Sam Helmy

Four Ways To Receive Excellent Value With Delta SkyMiles

March 5, 2018 54

Yes, SkyMiles have value! Here are a few reminders of some sweet spots within the Delta SkyMiles program, and things to avoid.

Howie Rappaport

10 Marriott & SPG Properties to Book Before Award Prices Rise in March 2018

February 14, 2018 41

As we covered earlier in the week, Marriott and SPG have announced significant changes to award chart categories for 2018 with a mammoth 1,576 hotels set to change award category on March 6, 2018. If you have any SPG or Marriott award bookings on the horizon, you’ll want to review these changes to ensure you’re getting the best deal. If the hotel you intend to book is moving up a category, you need to book before March 6. If the property is going down, hold off booking until after March 6, and you could save yourself a pile of points.

Jess Farley

SPG & Marriott: Big Changes To Award Categories in 2018

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.

Sam Helmy

Changes To Club Carlson Award Categories - March 1, 2018

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.

Sam Helmy

Redeem IHG Points and Certificates for Stays at Kimpton

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.

Sam Helmy

IHG Adds 70,000-Point Per Night Redemption Reward Level

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.

Sam Helmy

JetBlue Award Chart for Flight Redemptions on Hawaiian Airlines

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.

Howie Rappaport