Apr 13 2016

Back in the fall I spoke with AAdvantage President Suzanne Rubin and suggested that with their higher award pricing (since March 22), they could loosen their routing rules somewhat. She indicated they were looking at that.

And it appears they’ve started to because they now allow flying Cathay Pacific or American Airlines to Hong Kong, and travel beyond to India and the surrounding region on Cathay Pacific, as a single award — instead of requiring you to fly via the Atlantic.

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Apr 13 2016

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Apr 13 2016

Starwood’s Starpoints are already the most valuable loyalty program currency by which I mean that one Starpoint is worth more than one of any other loyalty currency.

They have the most airline transfer partners where points transfer 1:1 and of course when you move Starwood points into 20,000 miles you get 5000 bonus miles. That gets you effectively a 1:1.25 transfer ratio with most airline partners.

Now, Starwood has added a new transfer partner: Virgin America Elevate.

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Apr 13 2016

Starbucks has rolled out changes to its Starbucks Rewards program. Some reader reports are that Stars-earning isn’t showing up correctly on receipts (for instance just 2 stars on a $2.95 order rather than 2 stars per dollar). Starbucks said to expect things like this, don’t panic.

Perhaps as a make-good, or to generate some positive buzz, Starbucks is handing out status left and right!

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Apr 12 2016

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Apr 12 2016

Chase has always had a hard time explaining the value of the Sapphire Preferred Card in simple terms to consumers that aren’t as sophisticated about points and travel as blog readers.

They’re now sharing a video with new cardmembers that tries to humanize the product — it tells the story of a couple who want to travel to Paris; they earn double points on their dining and travel and they can use their points for air and hotel.

Even so, the fundamental value of the Ultimate Rewards program doesn’t get communicated here: it’s that Chase Sapphire Preferred’s points transfer 1:1 into a variety of airline and hotel programs.

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Apr 12 2016

Citi appears to be changing its rules for welcoming back past cardmembers with a signup bonus.

They’re basically following Chase’s approach here (although not to the best of my knowledge also clamping down on approvals for the products themselves), and not going in the direction of American Express limiting customers to one bonus per card product in a lifetime.

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Apr 12 2016

Qantas is selling Los Angeles and San Francisco – Auckland, New Zealand roundtrip for as low as $225. That’s the cheapest I have ever seen a ticket to New Zealand!

This is available for trips that begin July 1 through September 1, and October 28 through November 30. You can fly either a Qantas codeshare on American’s new Los Angeles – Auckland flight, or you can fly Qantas to Australia and connect across to New Zealand.

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Apr 11 2016

Yesterday I wrote about a twist on the sub-$600 Australia roundtrips that could bring the price down to $385. These were from several US cities, predominantly Delta hub cities.

If you didn’t jump on these and wish you had, it’s not too late, because Los Angeles roundtrips have joined the party! United is now selling Los Angeles – Australia roundtrip itineraries for $566.

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Apr 11 2016

Starting tomorrow, IHG and Coca-Cola are back with their ‘Share Forever’ promotion. We don’t know the details of the promotion yet, though it will presumably be similar to last year’s.

Last year’s promotion offered between 68,500 and 115,500 bonus points plus a maximum 58,500 bonus points to share or keep.

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