RewardExpert - Blog - рage 33 of 126

When you collect points and miles you do it for the value, not for the mere pleasure of accumulating millions of them–although there is certainly some excitement when you see them piling up. I still remember how thrilled I was to accrue my first 30,000 miles. But I was even more excited to make my first redemption for a round-trip flight to South East Asia with the return flying Thai and Lufthansa first class. This was a ticket worth a few thousand dollars in value. The economy round trip-ticket would have easily run $1,200.

The CMO Council, a peer-powered network for senior marketing decision makers, surveyed more than 2,000 consumer travelers about their biggest travel stressors. Not surprisingly, flight delays and cancellations topped the list of the most stressful, followed by researching deals and handling sicknesses or injuries while traveling.

Preferred Hotels & Resorts is the world’s largest independent hotel brand, providing global sales, marketing, reputation management, distribution and guest loyalty services to more than 650 distinctive independent luxury hotels, resorts, residences and hotel groups in 85 countries.
Caroline Michaud, vice president of corporate communication and public relations, talked with RewardExpert about the company’s appeal five decades after its inception.

When Mariott and SPG merged last year we wrote about the new opportunities the merger created. First Marriott quickly installed a policy allowing members of either program to convert their points back and forth at a ratio of one SPG point to three Marriott points.
SPG points are one of the most valuable currencies in the travel rewards game, with the ability to transfer to over 30 airline partners providing a great deal of flexibility. And if you transfer increments of 20K SPG points to airline partners, you receive a 5K mile bonus, effectively making SPG points worth 1.25 airline miles of your choice. But you can do even better than that. We will show how you can get more than 1.25 miles per point and get a free hotel stay.

Car problems happen all the time, and usually when people least expect them. They can really ruin a road trip. Urgent.ly is a 21st century roadside assistance company that brings all that technology has to offer to the table and you only have to pay for the services you request.

From improving animal welfare to protecting women’s rights, prohibiting book banning in public schools to supporting life-saving medical research, there are many causes one can support in an effort to make the world a better place—if you know where to begin. Care2 has made finding that beginning easy, bringing millions of concerned citizens together to create an online community taking positive action for change one signature at a time.

Chase recently sent out a survey to selected cardholders to gauge opinions on several potential negative changes that could be made to the Ultimate Rewards program and its associated credit cards. While no changes are imminent, this survey could give us some insight into what may occur in the future. Since program devaluations are a constant source of risk in the travel rewards game, it helps to consider which opportunities currently provide outsized value that may be ripe for devaluation.

There are more than 250 million vehicles in the United States and most are sitting idle 22 hours a day. Through their peer-to-peer automobile sharing community, the folks at Getaround aim to solve this car overpopulation problem, reducing not just the number of vehicles on the planet but bothersome traffic and dangerous pollution as well.

The Citi Prestige credit card is one of my top cards. In fact, I always use it for booking flights, but it is also great for a few other reasons! Here’s why I love the Citi Prestige.

In a country known for its high prescription drug costs, Americans want some kind of reprieve. That’s where GoodRx comes into play.
The company aims to help Americans pay the lowest possible prices for prescription drugs. It’s done through proprietary market intelligence technology that evaluates current prices at more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies. Users can shop and access GoodRx-exclusive discounts online and through phone apps, saving up to 80 percent on necessary medications.

HomeExchange has facilitated more than one million home swaps since 1992. In 2016 alone, 65,000 members made 135,000 home swaps across 150 countries, and was awarded “Best Site for Booking Your Stay” in 2016 by USA Today readers. It was also the inspiration for the 2006 movie “The Holiday,” starring Cameron Diaz and Jude Law.

Last month, American Express Membership Rewards program restored its point transfer ratio to 1-to-1 for both partner Avios programs: British Airways and Iberia. With a 250-200 conversion for British Airways and a 5-4 conversion for Iberia, transfer ratios left a lot to be desired previously. Shortly after, a new promotion sweetened the deal even further. Amex began offering a 40-percent bonus on all Avios transfers through September 17.

If you’re a traveler, who better to ask where to eat or what to see than someone who actually lives and cohabitates in your destination?
That’s how Spotted by Locals has become a force in the travel game, using iPhone and Android apps and up-to-date blogs tips by hand-picked locals in 67 cities across Europe and North America. And according to the company, it’s getting bigger and bolder.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life,” according to Henry David Thoreau, an American essayist, poet and philosopher. It’s a sentiment many people can relate to, for all the money in the world is next to useless if you don’t have time to enjoy the opportunities that wealth can provide.

One of the greatest –if not the greatest –credit card benefits is the 4th Night Free perk exclusively with the Citi Prestige® Card. Today we’ll do a deep dive into what it is and how to use it.

Have some spare change that you throw in a jar after work each day?  Looking to use that change to help change lives across the globe? Compassion International is an organization that could use your help to transform the life of a suffering child.
Tim Glenn, Compassion International’s USA Communications Director, said he is proud to work for a company that makes such a difference in the world.  “How many careers allow you to change the course of a child’s life in a positive way?  For 1.8 million children every week?  That’s incredibly rewarding,” he said. With just pennies a day, you can make a difference for your sponsored child, and even take the trip of a lifetime to visit them through the company’s sponsor tours.

Have you ever traveled to an amazing place and taken the perfect picture and later thought to yourself, that shot should be on the homepage of a website or brochure? Or are you a travel company, hotel owner or tour operator looking to enhance your website and entice new customers with stunning images? That’s where Dreamstime comes in.

Are you a traveler who enjoys authentic culinary adventures and meeting locals? If so, EatWith has you covered. A peer-to-peer marketplace for chefs and food lovers, it brings local hosts and food-loving travelers together for an entirely new type of dining-out experience. Tara Wagner, EatWith’s PR representative, spoke with RewardExpert about the inspiration behind the ground-breaking San Francisco–based communal dining company and why you should book a seat at an EatWith event the next time you travel.

World leaders tend to argue about everything, but they have worked out a lot of issues to make sure that most of our flights go smoothly. The International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO) recognizes five Freedoms of the Air that make modern commercial aviation possible. Since all countries are protective of their borders and revenues, international treaties had to be put in place to ensure that airlines can fly freely anywhere in the world

Postmates is an urban logistics platform that operates a fleet of more than 65,000 members that complete more than 2 million deliveries per month across 44 major metropolitan markets. In 2017 the company is on track to make more than $1 billion in sales.