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Citi ThankYou Rewards is offering a one-third bonus on transfers to Hilton HHonors through February 8.
Hilton points are generally worth half a cent apiece. I value Citi points at 1.6 cents each. Getting two Hilton points per ThankYou point means transferring points at a value of a penny. Not. A. Good. Deal. In many cases you’re much better off just using Citi points to straight up buy travel. But even that’s not the best use of points.
There’s a huge curiosity factor that’s driving travel to Cuba, since it was forbidden for so long.
And in a reversal of how we usually think these things work, Cubans may be flocking to their own beaches before Americans ruin them.
Regular readers know that I love the Maldives. I’ve been 5 years in a row. It’s the only place I’ve found where I can really unplug. The distance is a feature not a bug, by the time I get there I’m really ready to relax and the time difference helps me to do it — I can answer work emails in the morning, and everyone is gone from the office the rest of the day so I can just enjoy myself.
I’ve gone to the same place each time, because I could use points, but there are some fantastic properties that I’d love to try some day. One that’s really worth checking out is Loama Resort.
Regular readers know that I love the Maldives. I’ve been 5 years in a row. It’s the only place I’ve found where I can really unplug. The distance is a feature not a bug, by the time I get there I’m really ready to relax and the time difference helps me to do it — I can answer work emails in the morning, and everyone is gone from the office the rest of the day so I can just enjoy myself.
I’ve gone to the same place each time, because I could use points, but there are some fantastic properties that I’d love to try some day. One that’s really worth checking out is Loama Resort.
You’re going to get to stay there before me, because I’m giving a stay to a reader.
Last fall I spoke with then-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 back in April they started to 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.
Now they’ve loosened this further.
Last month I wrote about buying Emirates first class at 89% off.
Airlines price discriminate selling premium cabin tickets based on market in which the tickets are sold. An airline may sell a ticket for a whole lot less originating in Asia or Africa than in Europe or the U.S.
Following on my last report, flying all 3 big gulf carriers in first class on their Airbus A380s in a single trip where I visited Bangkok and finally got to see the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, I redeemed miles for another fairly over-the-top adventure.
This trip involved using American Airlines miles for Etihad’s First Apartment roundtrip, Hyatt Gold Passport points for 5 nights at the Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives, and 117,000 Starwood points for 3 nights at Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa. I also had the chance to fly business class on China Eastern and flydubai.
At the end of the week the US Department of Transportation handed out route awards to US airlines to fly to Cuba — for every Cuban destination requested except for Havana. There are more traffic rights available than there are requests to fly for Cuba’s secondary destinations.
American AAdvantage program terms specifically disallow earning or redemption on Cuba flights. However:
Recently British Airways had first class on sale as low as $2100 roundtrip between Boston and London.
Obviously there are sales… and then there are sales. They can be used to stimulate business during soft periods.
On Friday American made a change to their oneworld and other partner award chart. They split up two regions that used to be a single region on the web page.
The “Middle East / Indian Subcontinent” region has now become two separate regions: “Middle East” and “Indian Subcontinent” There has been no change to award pricing, however.
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 »
