Last August, Chase made a big splash by introducing the Chase Sapphire Reserve, a brand new card with top-of-the-line benefits as well as an attractive 100,000-point signup bonus. As you may have heard, that signup bonus was recently lowered from 100,000 Ultimate Reward points to 50,000 as of March 12.
Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve Still Worth It With a Lower Sign-Up Bonus?
Comparing Air France and Air Tahiti Nui’s Business Class Cabins
If you’re planning a trip to the South Pacific and want to fly into Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) in French Polynesia, your flight choices are pretty limited. It’s a long haul from the United States–Los Angeles to Papeete takes about 8.5 hours–so you’ll probably want to fly in business class. Let’s compare two airlines that can get you from Los Angeles to Papeete in style: AirFrance and Air Tahiti Nui.
Maximize Your SPG Points With Transfers to American and JAL
Starwood Preferred Guest is an excellent reward program because of its incredible flexibility. It has more airline transfer partners than any other program, including American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou. On top of that, some of those airlines partner only with SPG. In this post, we’ll look at why you should consider transferring your valuable Starpoints to two of those exclusive airline partners: American Airlines and Japan Airlines (JAL).
With Smart Yet Simple Design, Away Is The Luggage For Everyone Who Travels
You scored a great deal on your flight when you redeemed your miles. Your boss agreed to your time off request—even though it’s the busy season—and you found a reputable pet sitter to check in on Snowball while you’re gone. It may seem as though the most challenging prior-to-vacation tasks are behind you, but they aren’t. You still have to pack, and that means dealing with your luggage—something many people dread rather than enjoy.
American Takes Better Care of Biggest Spenders and Bonus Mile Promotions Aplenty
The new year is upon us and so are a variety of new frequent flyer and loyalty program changes. Here’s what you need to know to get the traveling year started off right especially if you’re one of American’s coveted Concierge Key members.
More Details Emerge From the Alaska and Virgin America Merger
Alaska Airlines recently received permission from the Department of Justice to purchase Virgin America, meaning the takeover is officially happening. Now that Alaska is sure the deal will go through, they have announced more details on how the two airlines will operate going forward, what changes will be made to elite benefits, and how the mileage accrual and award tickets will work.
Meet EVA Air’s New Robot And Earn Bonus Miles With Several New Promotions
Act fast to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles before the upcoming devaluation, and Citi ThankYou points transfers to Virgin Atlantic might get you to that award even faster thanks to a new bonus offer.
Why You Should Transfer SPG Points to Alaska Airlines
Starwood Preferred Guest is a
How to Book Amtrak Guest Rewards
Amtrak Guest Rewards is a solid frequent traveler program offering members decent redemption rates, particularly for last-minute bookings and peak travel. Program members can
Get the Most Out of Your SPG Points
You’re probably already familiar with the three big credit card award programs: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou. They’re great because you can transfer the points you earn directly to frequent flyer programs. But there’s another very flexible program you should know about that also offers transfers to airlines partners: Starwood Preferred Guest.
Transferring Miles Between Accounts to Increase Your Balance
One way to quickly build up a stash of frequent flyer miles is to take advantage of limited-time offers the airlines promote. Oftentimes, airlines like Avianca and banks like American Express will offer a bonus scheme when you transfer miles between accounts. That means you may earn a bonus when you transfer your miles to your husband’s account, or to a friend or child. Sometimes the deals aren’t worth it but when they are, you can leverage the promotion to earn plenty of free travel for yourself and potentially others. Let’s look at this method of earning loyalty currency.
Traxo: Travel Itineraries on an Integrated Dashboard
World travelers are burdened with organizing a lot of details. But logging into numerous websites, keeping track of reservation emails, and juggling a dizzying number of apps doesn’t have to be part of your itinerary.
Traxo is an online travel service that tracks and organizes personal travel information, such as itineraries, loyalty account balances and receipts, and then displays it all on a convenient dashboard, either in the app or on the web. More than 200 travel sites are supported.
From Paris to Doha in First Class: Surprise Engagement Party on the Plane
I shared my recent story about an exciting flight from Paris to Doha in first class on Qatar Airway’s A380. While the ground experience was nothing special, everything changed once we boarded and shortly after taking off. After spending some time in the gorgeous on-board bar, it was time for dinner.
Once we returned to our seats, our flight attendant greeted us warmly and asked if we were ready for our meal. I told him we were, and he went to work right away.
Without hesitation, I’d ordered caviar to start. Who could resist this?
A First Class Proposal: Celebrating in the Sky
Flying in international first class can be quite an amazing experience. Booking these seats can be tough to do since more and more airlines are removing first class cabins from their planes and devaluations are increasing the costs of these premium seats. But given the opportunity, the experience of flying international first class is well worth the effort. Especially when you are celebrating an engagement.
Inspire the Next Generation of Conservationists by Donating Southwest Points to SCA
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) strives to inspire youth to engage with nature and to become lifelong stewards of the environment through hands-on service opportunities. Student volunteers learn important life skills while doing crucial work to help preserve national parks and other public lands. You can donate Southwest Rapid Reward points to this valuable organization.
How to Pay Student Loans or Contribute to 529 Plans and Earn Miles and Points
There is a fantastic new way to give the gift of education to any friend or family member. And, it’s even a method to help you pay down your student loan while earning miles and points. Gift of College is a college savings registry of sorts.
You can purchase gift cards from the company that the recipient (or you) can use to pay off a student loan, or establish or contribute to his or her existing 529 plan. For miles and
Secrets to Earning Oneworld Alliance Tier Status
Here’s the scoop on how to earn status on an alliance and not just an airline. The oneworld alliance may be smaller the other two major ones, but its 14 members (plus 21 affiliated members) can literally take you anywhere in the populated world.
If you regularly fly on Air Berlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Iberia, Finnair, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, or SriLankan Airlines, it’s a safe bet that you might benefit from oneworld tier status.
New Year’s Resolutions for Travel Hackers
You may not be a New Year’s resolution type of person, but you’ll actually do yourself a disservice if you don’t make a few promises related to your travel hacking hobby. Earning miles and points that will help whisk you and your family around the globe in style isn’t easy, and it takes planning and organization.
Before you sing “Auld Lang Syne” at the dawn of the New Year, make a few resolutions that may help you get where you want to go in the next 12 months. Here are some resolutions shared by us at RewardExpert. You may want to commit to them as well.
How to Reach SkyTeam Elite Status Using Credit Cards
Did you know you can get elite status on an alliance? Well you can. Here’s how to achieve it on SkyTeam. There are 20 member