Starting June 1, 2017, this refund will be reduced to 35%, reducing the effective value of MR points to 1.538 cents per point. There will also be a new cap of 500,000 points rebated per year. In most cases, MR points will be best used for transfers to airline partners, which is how it was before this benefit was added.

Discussion

Any flights booked prior to June 1, 2017 will continue to receive the 50% rebate, even if you are flying at a later date.

The amount of time it takes for the rebate to post is also being increased, though we currently don’t know by how much.

New cardholders (including those who have upgraded from another type of card) who applied between October 6, 2016 and May 31, 2017, will still receive the old benefits (50% rebate, no cap) for one year from the date their cards were issued.

HT: The Points Guy & Doctor of Credit

The post American Express Business Platinum 50% Airline Bonus Being Reduced to 35% appeared first on Miles Briefs.

$100 Southwest Airlines Gift Card for $87
$100 American Airlines Gift Card for $87

Limit for each of these is 5 per person. To get the $5 discount multiple times, you must purchase each gift card individually.

Because the seller is PPDG, you can use the Chase Ink Plus card to receive 5x UR per dollar spent.

The post Miles Briefs: $5 Off $50 PayPal Digital Gifts via eBay, $100 Southwest or American Airlines e-Gift Card for $87 appeared first on Miles Briefs.

“I have and keep this card because of the free anniversary night every year you pay the annual fee.”

Update: Via Doctor of Credit, after you are approved, you may be able to match to this targeted higher offer if you send Chase a secure message via their website.

The post Increased 80,000 Point Offer for Chase IHG Rewards Club Select Card appeared first on Miles Briefs.

The point here is that none of the airlines agree with each other either. American Airlines, for example, considers them to be part of Europe, while United Airlines thinks they are in Northern Africa. One thing you may have just realized is that, in general, award from the U.S. to Europe are a lot cheaper than awards to Africa. So if you’re going to the Canary Islands, stick with American AAdvantage miles.

There are a handful of other destinations like this, where you can save a lot of miles just by choosing the right mileage program. Below I’ve listed all of the interesting discrepancies I’ve found so far. I’ll keep this list up-to-date as I add more mileage programs to this website.

Economy Class

Business Class

First Class

The post How To Save Miles By Knowing Your Geography appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Yesterday, Singapore Airlines announced a series of award redemption changes for Singapore Airlines and SilkAir operated flights, effective March 23, 2017:

• There will be a new award chart (link).
• The 15% award mileage discount is being eliminated.
• Fuel surcharges will no longer be assessed.

Note that no changes are being made to partner (i.e. Star Alliance) awards.

Quick Summary

Awards on Singapore Airlines and/or SilkAir will now cost more in miles, but less in cash due to the removal of fuel surcharges. For most cases in Business, First, or Suites Classes, the cash savings does not make up for the extra cost in miles, and this is a devaluation. On the other hand, in Economy or Premium Economy Classes, the new changes might work in your favor.

Some routes will cost fewer miles as a partner award rather than a Singapore Airlines / SilkAir award, so if you’ve found availability on Singapore Airlines / SilkAir, you may be able to save miles by adding a flight from a partner that does not assess fuel surcharges (e.g. a domestic positioning flight with United Airlines).

More Miles vs. Less Cash

With the increase in the number of miles to book an award and the removal of fuel surcharges, you may or may not come out ahead depending on your booking class, destination, and how you value the miles. The tables below show the old and new mileage costs and well as current fuel surcharges for one-way flights from the USA to Singapore.

People flying to Singapore in Economy or Premium Economy Classes will save $220 at the cost of between 8,125 and 10,500 miles (depending on whether you fly from the East or West coast as well as class of service). I think most people would happily make this trade. On the other hand, those flying in Business, First, or Suites Classes would probably rather pay the $230 or $240 fuel surcharge to save between 19,750 and 26,625 miles.

Los Angeles / San Francisco to Singapore

Houston / New York to Singapore

There are some destinations such as Hong Kong and Tokyo that currently have very low fuel surcharges and are basically seeing a mileage increase with little to no cash savings.

Partner Awards Might Be Cheaper

One quirk of the new award chart is that select routes will now cost fewer miles when booked as a partner award rather than an award exclusively on Singapore Airlines / SilkAir. So if you are planning to book a Singapore Airlines / SilkAir flight to one of the destinations below, you could check to see if you can convert this to a partner award by tacking on a partner flight that does not incur any fuel surcharges, such as a domestic positioning flight on United Airlines.

Below I’ve listed all routes that originate from the USA that cost fewer miles when booked as a partner award, in round-trip pricing. Some of these differences are extreme. If you’re flying from the USA West Coast to the Middle East in Singapore Airlines First Class, you can save 136,000 miles (!) by adding a short partner flight. Of course, a long itinerary like this would really only make sense if you were planning to visit Singapore in addition to the Middle East; otherwise, it would make more sense to fly another airline (i.e. a route that doesn’t connect in Singapore).

The post Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Award Redemption Changes appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Credit Cards

The best way to earn Avios is with the Chase British Airways Visa Signature card. There will occasionally be an offer to earn an additional 50,000 Avios (so 100,000 Avios total) for spending a total of $20,000 in the first year. If you can meet the spending requirement, this offer is worth waiting for. If more Avios are needed, opt for one of the other cards that earn transferable points below. You can view the current best offers for all of these cards at Credit Cards.

Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards points can be converted to Avios at a 1:1 ratio. However, American Express will occasionally have bonuses that increase their beyond this. I typically wait for one of their promotions if I don’t need Avios urgently. Starpoints transfer to Avios at a 1:1 ratio, but there is a 25% bonus if you transfer in increments of 20,000 points (i.e. you will receive 25,000 Avios for 20,000 Starpoints).

Credit CArd Churning

The Chase British Airways card can be churned. The other two Chase cards (Sapphire and Ink) can be churned as well, but this may be difficult to do in practice. For more information, see How To Earn A Signup Bonus Multiple Times.

Bonus Category Spending

Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2x points on Travel and Dining
Chase Ink Plus: 5x points on Office Supplies, Phone, and Cable; 2x points on Gas and Hotels
American Express Premier Rewards Gold: 3x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines; 2x points U.S. gas stations, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. restaurants
American Express Business Gold Rewards: 2-3x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines, U.S. advertising, U.S. gas stations, U.S. shipping, U.S. computer hardware/software/cloud

Manufactured Spend

The Chase Ink Plus can be very useful for manufactured spending. For more information, see How To Manufacture Spend.

Shopping Portal

Gate 365 by British Airways.
Shop Through Chase (Ultimate Rewards).

Miles Expiration

Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any mileage activity at all (e.g. earning and/or redeeming) will extend your expiration for another 36 months.

If your miles do expire, it may be possible to have them reinstated for 3 months by calling the UK customer service line at +44 191 4907901 (choose option 1 then option 3 followed by option 1). If your miles are reinstated, you can then incur some mileage activity to reset your 36-month clock.

The post Earning British Airways Avios appeared first on Miles Briefs.

I’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks, so this post is a little late; however, the optimal time to do all of this will be in early 2017, so no harm done.

A few weeks back, Marriott and Starwood began allowing rewards members to link their accounts together and to transfer points between the two programs at a ratio of 3 Marriott Rewards points per 1 SPG Starpoint. This opened up the opportunity to purchase a Marriott Hotel + Air Package 3 (Category 1-5) with 90,000 SPG Starpoints instead of the normal cost of 270,000 Marriott Rewards points.

The Hotel + Air packages, in exchange for 270,000 Marriott Rewards points, provide you with a 7-night stay at any Category 1-5 Marriott hotel and 120,000 airline miles of your choice. Package 3 specifically designates the selection of 120,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points. While you could choose another of Marriott’s partner airlines, the main point of this post is to highlight that transfers from Marriott do count toward the 110,000 miles you need to earn to be awarded a Southwest Airlines Companion Pass, so simply purchasing this package is enough. Do keep in mind that because the companion pass is valid through December 31st of the year after you earn it, the ideal time for this redemption is on or after January 1, 2017, which gives you an expiration date of December 31, 2018.

In any case, I merely wanted to point out that this option exists and is worth considering for folks who travel a lot domestically. If you’d like to book a Marriott Hotel + Air package, the number to call is (800) 321-7396.

The post Redeeming 90,000 SPG Starpoints for a Companion Pass, 120,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards Points, and a 7-Night Stay in a Marriott Hotel appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Now, let’s go over the best ways to push out your mileage expiration date without spending a ton of money. Most of these methods are not instant, so you’re going to need some lead time for the miles to post to your account. Also, there is currently no way to extend the expiration of Singapore Krisflyer miles (other than paying a fee to get 6 more months).

Use a Shopping Portal

Lead Time: Up to 8 weeks (usually faster than this though)

Making a purchase through an airline’s shopping portal earns miles and keeps your existing balance from expiring. All you need to do is visit the shopping portal, search for the store you’re planning to purchase from, and go through the link they provide to complete your purchase.

If there’s nothing you’re planning to buy right now, then go through the portal to iTunes and buy a song for $1. iTunes participates with every portal listed above.

Eat at a Restaurant in the Dining Rewards Network

Lead Time: 1-2 weeks

All of the U.S.-based airlines above participate in a dining rewards network. You can use the dining rewards website to link a credit card and to search for a nearby restaurant where you can earn miles. Use your linked card to pay your bill.

Transfer Miles from a Flexible Point Currency

Lead Time: Up to 24 hours

If you have points with American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, or Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints, these can all be transferred to various airlines from the list above. Most of these transfers have a minimum redemption of 1,000 points, however.

Spend Money on Your Co-Branded Credit Card

Lead Time: Up to 1 month

If you have the co-branded credit card for any of the airlines above, any purchase you make will earn you some miles. They should post on your next statement’s closing date.

Make a Cheap Redemption

Lead Time: Varies, but on the order of 48 hours

For mileage programs that will extend your expiration for redeeming miles, a cheap redemption can be used. With most programs, the cheapest redemption will be either a magazine subscription or a donation to charity and will likely range from a few hundred to a thousand miles.

The post How To Keep Airline Miles From Expiring appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Apparently, devaluing stopovers wasn’t enough, and United has now decided that if you wish to actually pay the prices they publish on their award chart, you can only select from the flight options they display for you — no longer are you able to piece together your own itinerary using multi-city search without paying extra. This occurs because each segment in a multi-city search will now price as an individual award, which can increase the price of your ticket dramatically.

Why does this matter? Well, United’s search engine isn’t all that fantastic, and it will often leave out many valid routings, even if they still have seats available. I am also unsure how this will work for awards with their partners Shenzen and Singapore Airlines, since their flights don’t show up in United’s search results at all. All in all, this is terrible news, and unannounced changes always leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Typically, this next part would be deserving of its own post, but given the devaluation above, I don’t really care now… United is now offering a 25% bonus when you transfer hotel points to United MileagePlus, with a limit of 20,000 bonus miles. The promotion ends on November 30, 2016, and here is the link you need to go to if you wish to register and to take advantage. The most interesting way to do this (if you have either 270,000 Marriott Rewards points or 90,000 SPG Starpoints) is to redeem for a Hotel + Air package with Marriott. Via the Hotel + Air package, your 270,000 Marriott Rewards points would become 120,000 miles * 10% (bonus for Marriott -> United transfers) + 20,000 miles (limit of this promotion) = 152,000 MileagePlus miles. On the other hand, you could also redeem your Marriott Rewards points for 120,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points and the Companion Pass, as detailed here. Personally, I’d go with Southwest.

The post Major United Devaluation + 25% Transfer Bonus appeared first on Miles Briefs.

The post Increased Signup Bonus: 35,000 Starpoints for Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card appeared first on Miles Briefs.