November 1, 2022 | View Online | Sign Up
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I wanna help you get free travel. But if you’re at the start of your points journey, you might have to wait a little while before you’re blissfully walking through customs at your dream destination.
Until then, satiate your cheap travel urges by saving up to $2k+ on your next flight. And the one after that. And the one after that, too.
How? For the first time ever, get 93% off a lifetime membership to Dollar Flight Club. That’s a one-off payment of $129. That’s it. Nothing else. From there, you’ll receive alerts when we find heavily discounted flights leaving your chosen airport, potentially saving you thousands. We’ve even thrown in text alerts for your dream destinations. Think; Paris from $331 or Hawaii from $197 roundtrip.
Sound good? This offer is live
for the next 12 hours or so. Get 93% off here. Not a member yet? Sign up here.
Now let’s get to the points.
In this week's cheatsheet:
Amex's giant intro bonus offer
Book a trip, get half of your points back
Are Delta points worth less now?
How to get around annoying surcharges and fees
Cheers,
Steven
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| TRAVEL CARDS
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Amex’s massive intro bonus offers on Gold and Platinum
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American Express’ two flagship credit cards are already well-known for their huge intro bonuses. The offers are particularly lucrative as Amex points are some of the most adaptable reward currencies available.
Currently, however, those applying for both the Gold and Platinum cards are seeing monumental bonus increases. Those applying for the Platinum are seeing intro bonuses as high as 150,000 points, with others being offered 125,000. Gold applicants, on the other hand, are seeing 90,000 point bonuses. Personally, the two highest offers on both cards appeared on my browser.
That 150,000 point offer is worth as much as $3000. Back when I first received my Platinum, the usual 100,000 point offer flew my partner and me from Tblisi, Georgia to LAX, paid for a night in a hotel, then a free night at another using a statement credit, saving us over $2000. I was happy then, but realize now that I severely under utilized the points.
Here’s what the maximum 150k offer could grab you:
A first class suite with a bed one way from JFK to Singapore
A round-trip first class flight from the US to Japan with 40k points to spare
Three round-trip economy seats from the US to Europe
With patience and flexibility, those points can pay for an astonishing amount of travel, especially if you’re cool flying economy. To earn the bonus, of course, you’ll need to spend $6000 and $4000 in six months for the Platinum and Gold, respectively. And there's no need to fret about the big yearly fees if you know you can use those points effectively.
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| WEEKLY SWEET SPOT
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Virgin’s unbelievable 50% back points sale
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Believe it or not, I'm once again featuring Virgin Atlantic here, after they've just unveiled what is potentially the best travel deal of the year for points users — if you can book fast.
The British Airline will be offering 50% back on any points used for rewards flights to and from the US and the Caribbean between now and March 25th. While travelers will have to have the full amount of points available to book the flights, half of them will be deposited back into their Virgin accounts after the trip is completed.
While you won’t be able to utilize other airlines on this deal, it still offers some big opportunities for savings. Fees can be high with Virgin, which can make some of the deals a bit less impressive. But a one-way flight from NYC to London for 5000 points plus $150 is still pretty good, especially considering the cash price can be almost $700.
The only blackout period for booking is from December 9th till January 5th, so you won’t be able to save on any Christmas trips. But all the other dates are fair-game if there’s availability.
Do some digging, and you might find some gems.
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| POINTS NEWS
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Delta devalues its SkyMiles...again
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Bad news for Delta SkyMiles holders, including myself. Your points have just been devalued again…possibly.
Some are hoping it’s a temporary measure or mistake in the system, but multiple outlets have reported that partner flights booked through Delta using SkyMiles are now being matched with Delta operated costs.
If you’re unsure what this means, here’s an example:
Previously, if you wanted to book a flight with one of Delta’s SkyTeam partners, you could check Delta’s booking portal and find excellent deals using your SkyMiles. A hypothetical flight to Paris might cost 60,000 SkyMiles using a Delta operated route. The same route using Air France might only have costed 35,000 points. Now, it appears Delta have increased any partner flights to match their own, so that Air France route is now 60,000 miles, too.
There are still some sweet spots, however. If Delta doesn’t operate any flights itself to the airport you want to use, the points are still similar to before this apparent change. But for now, it’s going to pay dividends to do extra research and maybe avoid the Delta credit cards.
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| BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO
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Invest in the Robinhood of vacation rentals
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One startup is changing the vacation rental investing landscape forever by making Airbnb ownership as easy as using an app.
Just like Coinbase did with cryptocurrency (a $15 billion company) and Robinhood with stocks (a $9 billion company), reAlpha is making vacation rental investing more accessible than ever before.
They allow users to purchase fractional shares and collect rent from high-potential properties without ever having to maintain or manage them.
The best part? You can invest in reAlpha’s entire business for as little as $1000 before they launch the app to the world.
Become a reAlpha shareholder now.
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| CREDIT CARD OF THE WEEK
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Card of the Week: Ink Business Preferred Card
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The Ink Business Preferred Card stands out as an excellent card for small businesses and freelancers, thanks in large part to its current massive 100,000 point intro bonus. That bonus alone is worth $1250 when used through the Chase travel portal and up to $2000 when transferred to a partner.
Of course, to make that bonus, holders need to spend $15,000 in the first three months of opening the card. Luckily, business spending on high-use categories like shipping and advertising all get 3 points per dollar, so you could be earning 145,000 points if all that spending is in the right place.
Pros:
Huge 100,000 point intro bonus
Strong earning on key categories
Flexible reward options
Employee cards are free
Excellent protections including cell phone coverage
Low yearly fee of $95
Cons:
Earning categories are specific, so not suitable for everyone
Chase 5/24 rule could prevent many from opening
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| STEVEN'S TIPS
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Know your partners to avoid deal-killing fees
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Points mean free travel right? Then why are you being charged an extra few hundred bucks on top of your hard earned rewards?
Sadly, depending on a multitude of factors, fees and surcharges are often included in point transactions, which can quickly add up and in some cases even nullify the use of points. These fees range from a few bucks to hundreds of dollars, but even the heaviest fees can still be solid value compared to the usual cash price.
One way to help get around some of the fees is to check out partner airlines. British Airways, for example, are infamous for their fees and surcharges, especially for flights routed through the UK. Iberia, however, partners with BA, use Avios, and often have significantly less fees.
How I used this tactic to save over $100 for our Qatar flights for the World Cup:
The BA flights were listed at 44,500 points + $377. The exact same flights on Iberia was 44,500 + $267. Considering the flights would have costed an average of $600 each, my partner and I saved over $1000 on our trip, and a little more thanks to Iberia.
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| WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING
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