TRAVEL: Points, Miles, Discounts, Tips, Advice & Questions

[VABuckeye 2472]

It takes two minutes to setup an account with the airline.  
 

Depending on the airline you can also get better than 1:1 at times. 

Edited March 21 by VABuckeye

[52-80 19142]

im lazy and they also send spam emails and the memberships expires after inactivity so i have to reactive aeroplan and aer lingus and so on.  but mostly im lazy

[midtown 3345]

4 hours ago, 52-80 said:

im lazy and they also send spam emails and the memberships expires after inactivity so i have to reactive aeroplan and aer lingus and so on.  but mostly im lazy

You don't deserve those points 😀

Buy a Delta gift card

[52-80 19142]

36 minutes ago, midtown said:

You don't deserve those points 😀

Buy a Delta gift card

😄 i agree but im trying to spend them on family (to visit us), not on myself

[midtown 3345]

5 hours ago, 52-80 said:

😄 i agree but im trying to spend them on family (to visit us), not on myself

Buy a shit load of Delta gift cards and send them to family

[52-80 19142]

of course british airways of all carriers would keep this long list of titles, honorifics, and peerages

by the way, Avios isnt bad! was able to redeem my amex for everyone and surcharges werent that bad, esp compared to current summertime airfare

[Baboontyme 2809]

Please tell me you put someone's title as "Baron"...

[Biff Tannen 45661]

2 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Please tell me you put someone's title as "Baron"...

[thunderlounge 7813]

3 hours ago, 52-80 said:

of course british airways of all carriers would keep this long list of titles, honorifics, and peerages

by the way, Avios isnt bad! was able to redeem my amex for everyone and surcharges werent that bad, esp compared to current summertime airfare

 

If you fly domestically with any frequency, even 3x-4x/yr, and would be interested in how to game AA's system domestically, holler and I would be happy to go through all of it again. It only works if you travel abroad annually though, as you need 4 flights (individual, so A->B with a layover is 2, so r/t w/ a layover each way makes 4) on either BA metal, or a codeshare, and BA can't sell domestic US tickets as a codeshare. But, the end game is free, full lounge access (yes, even Flagship Lounge, and even if only flying domestically) as well as some other stuff. But the above is the big thing. Why? Because when you get in a bind, the agents in the lounge are far better equipped to fix it, and fix it well. They have user permissions well above the agents available to the plebs. Plus, you know, self-pour at the Flagship Lounges kinda rocks.

[NoRagrets 1125]

PSA - My brother sent me a referral link and I just got 175,000 miles to sign up for Amex platinum.

[wild_turkey 3159]

 
If you fly domestically with any frequency, even 3x-4x/yr, and would be interested in how to game AA's system domestically, holler and I would be happy to go through all of it again. It only works if you travel abroad annually though, as you need 4 flights (individual, so A->B with a layover is 2, so r/t w/ a layover each way makes 4) on either BA metal, or a codeshare, and BA can't sell domestic US tickets as a codeshare. But, the end game is free, full lounge access (yes, even Flagship Lounge, and even if only flying domestically) as well as some other stuff. But the above is the big thing. Why? Because when you get in a bind, the agents in the lounge are far better equipped to fix it, and fix it well. They have user permissions well above the agents available to the plebs. Plus, you know, self-pour at the Flagship Lounges kinda rocks.

I would like to know this information. I fly primarily on AA 4-6x a year, some domestic, some Europe, some Caribbean, some Mexico. I would love Flagship Lounge access.

[Biff Tannen 45661]

4 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

PSA - My brother sent me a referral link and I just got 175,000 miles to sign up for Amex platinum.

Damn, that sounds like something I might should partake in.  

[Party_Taco 3722]

PSA - My brother sent me a referral link and I just got 175,000 miles to sign up for Amex platinum.

As someone who has a platinum card, is this available for business or is it possible to double dip?

[Mother mopar 3318]

Damn, that sounds like something I might should partake in.  

DFW flagship in terminal D is the title. Much better booze and food than Admirals club.

If you can use AAs shopping portal and time their bonus, you can make kill it.

[millhouse 2603]

19 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

I would like to know this information. I fly primarily on AA 4-6x a year, some domestic, some Europe, some Caribbean, some Mexico. I would love Flagship Lounge access.

It is fairly straight FWD. Set up a BA account, fly on that account until you meet the minimum tier points and legs required (on BA flights) to get Silver on BA, then you can switch back to flying on your AA account. At silver you get access to any oneworld airline lounge regardless of cabin, international and domestic, until your status expires.

If you think you can get enough for Gold status on BA that is what you should go for. Gets you access to the oneworld First class lounges and the way BA does their tiers you will get two years of lounge access. Since they don't bump you all the way back down to the bottom tier after the year, you will be silver for the second year and still have access. 

[NoRagrets 1125]

On 4/16/2024 at 10:39 PM, Party_Taco said:

As someone who has a platinum card, is this available for business or is it possible to double dip?

I would think yes. I have an old Amex blue cash and it let me. 

[NoRagrets 1125]

12 hours ago, BeardIP said:

Share?

Deal is gone. Back to 80k miles. 

[Party_Taco 3722]

Deal is gone. Back to 80k miles. 

[midtown 3345]

I'm sure this has been covered and maybe Im just slow to the game but if you stay at a Hilton and qualify for the daily hotel credit.  Always book it for two people even if you are solo.  You will get a double credit

[52-80 19142]

just discovered Flying Blue has a status match option but when i tried matching it to my *A (TK) account, it wants a few hundo to do it?  Boo this man. Boo.

[Sam Lin 3550]

Star Alliance, Asiana is the sweet spot. Easy thresholds to maintain and 2yr periods.

[52-80 19142]

14 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Star Alliance, Asiana is the sweet spot. Easy thresholds to maintain and 2yr periods.

Great carrier. I still have their PJs. But very rare do I fly on their routes to take advantage of native benefits. 

[Grimas 669]

Wonder how this will work when you want to buy on a certain card for miles... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13424355/Visa-major-changes-Americans-carry-fewer-cards.html

[Dewey 3286]

Have a shit ton of points with Choice hotels, planning a trip to Vegas (M Resort and looks like they fill up quick), can't book with points untill 100 days out, what's the work around, if any? I already booked my room for October, plan to try and book again in early July (100 days out), but I'm pretty sure the hotel will be booked. 

My only plan is to call CS and ask them to use my points. 

It's not the best hotel chain by a mile and any place they have worth staying at is going to be booked before the 100 day mark. Apparently I can also transfer my points to airline miles and other things. Spent 5 months of my life in this hotel (work) and I'll be damned if I don't get something out of it. 

Those of you with experience in this type of thing, any advice would be appreciated. 

[thunderlounge 7813]

Choice ain’t got nothin more strip adjacent? Freemont?

M is a bit down there, and could be a little more hassle going places.

M may book up by 100 out as well. Caesers loves to give those away at a higher clip than something like the Cromwell, etc. 

[52-80 19142]

yall know if you make foreign-currency spend with chase cards, does that count towards the threshold for spending bonuses?

[thunderlounge 7813]

 Yep. 

[deft 6831]

We’ve always just done chase UR but I’m thinking about Hilton Amex. Either card that does the silver or gold level is easily attainable on our spend within month one or two and the bonuses look ok. But I just figured we’d use it as soon as it came it to buy down on points in their terminal. It looks like I’m maxed at buying 160k points for $1600 but they’d bonus me 128k. That would of course then get me whatever signup bonus is with whichever card I pick (I think it’s 70k on the silver level card).

That gets to 360k Hilton points for a nice end of summer vacay stay for $1600 or bank them for later. But I’ve also never used them before and the utilization rate is clearly different than chase UR so I may just be points drunk looking at the numbers.

[midtown 3345]

On 7/12/2024 at 9:41 PM, deft said:

We’ve always just done chase UR but I’m thinking about Hilton Amex. Either card that does the silver or gold level is easily attainable on our spend within month one or two and the bonuses look ok. But I just figured we’d use it as soon as it came it to buy down on points in their terminal. It looks like I’m maxed at buying 160k points for $1600 but they’d bonus me 128k. That would of course then get me whatever signup bonus is with whichever card I pick (I think it’s 70k on the silver level card).

That gets to 360k Hilton points for a nice end of summer vacay stay for $1600 or bank them for later. But I’ve also never used them before and the utilization rate is clearly different than chase UR so I may just be points drunk looking at the numbers.

Get the Aspire.  Huge bonuse now.  175k.  Silver and gold do nothing for you.  I get upgraded all the time with diamond and you'll get double the pts per Hilton spend on the card 14x vs 7x.  and as a diamond you get 100% bonus pts on top of the pts you earn on the acutal stay.  Keep the card for 10 years and that qualifies you for lifetime diamond status.   Throw in a $400 resort credit and a free night every year it will more than pay for its fee.  And it also give you $50 qtr credit on your chosen airline.

[Party_Taco 3722]

Aspire points deal is good to the end of the year and I’m looking to churn my Amex Platinum. That seems like a natural fit but wondering if anyone here has seen a better offer out there lately.

[bluto 4912]

I need 8k points for companion by yr end. If I buy a flight on my card for February travel then cancel in Jan/take that money as southwest credit toward future flight, will that work? 

Edited November 11 by bluto

[Party_Taco 3722]

I need 8k points for companion by yr end. If I buy a flight on my card for February travel then cancel in Jan/take that money as southwest credit toward future flight, will that work? 

I didn’t think points for purchase, outside of what you might get from your CC, applied until after the trip was taken, but I could be wrong…

[BearSchlong 8082]

How many trip segments do you lack? Might be cheaper to do a mileage run.

[Party_Taco 3722]

We’re a bit short of companion pass as well. With bonuses, there may be a path if I get a business card or perhaps a regular one for the wife, yes?