Capital One is eliminating non-lounge airport facilities from Venture X Priority Pass cards effective January 1, 2023. This follows a similar move by American Express in summer 2019.
As a result, Capital One Priority Pass cardholders will not longer be able to swipe their cards for $28 credits at participating restaurants. Chase, by contrast, will still cover restaurant swipes for their Sapphire Reserve cardmembers.
I cannot say how long Swiss will make first class redemptions available to all Miles & More members, or even that they will not have ‘sellers remorse’. There’s no discount here, of course, just a redemption opportunity they do not normally offer.
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.
Air Niugini stresses that they are “completely up to date with [their] payments to PUMA Energy.” However it appears that Puma – like many companies operating in Papua New Guinea – has been unable to exchange their local currency for foreign reserves.
In 2019 Lufthansa abruptly terminated the ability to transfer points from Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and others into Miles & More. That made it tough for Americans to get their points. For most, it meant you’d need to spend on a Barclays-issued co-brand Miles & More credit card, or credit flights to Lufthansa’s frequent flyer program.
The explanation at the time was that German law made it impossible for them to continue allowing. Germany’s Payment Services Supervision Act was being interpreted to count a mileage transfer as a payment service which requires registration, government supervision, and “strong customer authentication” among other requirements.
I just took my first trip with scheduled charter airline JSX, which lets you fly in and out of private terminals. You can show up just 20 minutes before your flight and skip TSA security. And you get more legroom than flying coach on another airline. In my case that was all for $83 more than flying Southwest.
Aloft isn’t one of my usual brands. In fact I hadn’t stayed at one in nearly six years. I needed a one night stay near Dallas Love Field for Southwest Airlines Media Day and the Aloft seemed like a reasonable choice at $144, while reacquainting myself with Marriott’s brand.
This one is a combined Aloft and Element in the same building, with separate entrances. Aloft is a limited service, lower-scale chain with modern aesthetic that was dubbed ‘a vision of W Hotels’. Element is an extended stay chain with Westin branding tie-in.
Effective today Bask Bank is now awarding 2 American AAdvantage miles per dollar annually on its Bask Mileage Savings Account, an increase of 1/3 over the previous 1.5 miles per dollar and double where the earn rate was in July.
There’s also a compelling offer for opening a new Bask Mileage Savings Account by December 15, 2022.
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.
My wife, daughter and I flew to Honolulu in November to meet up with family. It’s a convenient halfway point between our home in the U.S. and Australia. And Hawaiian Airlines operates a three-times weekly non-stop Austin – Honolulu.
I was able to book $200 one-ways and upgrade using miles, and American Express had a 25% transfer bonus to Hawaiian.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
