Don’t know what Loyalty Points are? – click here for details

Pros of BookAAHotels

20-30% Loyalty Point Bonus

AAdvantage recently added “Loyalty Point Rewards” to the program – click here for details.

One of those rewards kicks in at 60,000 Loyalty Points – a 20% LP bonus on BookAAHotels earning. (and a few other partners) Another reward kicks in at 100,000 Loyalty Points – a 30% LP bonus on BookAAHotels earning.

For 6 months after crossing those thresholds, you receive 20/30% more Loyalty Points. The bonus should also apply to the transaction that pushes you over the threshold. (i.e. a hotel stay that takes you from 40,000 LPs to 65,000 LPs would earn the 20% bonus on the entire 25,000 LPs earned) It is worth highlighting that you do NOT receive any additional redeemable miles.

In any event, you receive the bonus Loyalty Points when you book with BookAAHotels but NOT when you book with Rocketmiles.

“Double Boost”

When booking hotels with Rocketmiles or BookAAHotels, you are allowed to pay more to earn more. This is often called “boosting”. The price of these boosted miles can change from time to time – at the moment they are costing $65 for 3,000 miles –> 2.16 cents per mile. Most importantly, these additional miles also count as Loyalty Points.

With Rocketmiles, you are typically allowed one boost of 3,000 miles per night. With BookAAHotels you are allowed two – one at the initial room selection stage and another at the confirmation stage. Because boosted miles are relatively cheap, the more you can “boost” per hotel stay, the better…

Pros of Rocketmiles

More Hotels Available

With BookAAHotels, only a relatively small number of hotels allow you to earn AA miles. Frustratingly, this can change from search to search, even in the same location for the same dates.

With Rocketmiles, EVERY hotel shown will earn you some miles. Some more. Some less. But you will definitely have more hotels to choose from. This is especially relevant internationally, where you might want to stay at a small boutique hotel instead of a major chain hotel.

Book for Someone Else

Sometimes a family member or friend asks for your help to find a hotel room. They don’t really care about miles or points – anything they earn might end up orphaned and expire unused.

With Rocketmiles, you can make hotel bookings on behalf of others, and receive the AA miles in your own account.

Better Booking Experience

Rocketmiles is generally considered to have a better website experience. You can sort your search based on miles earned, total cost, etc.

Of course, that doesn´’t stop you from searching on Rocketmiles and then cross-checking against BookAAHotels before confirming your booking.

Nuances

Rocketmiles stays post to your AAdvantage account based on the check-out date. BookAAHotels post to your AAdvantage account based on the check-in date.

This quirk will be most relevant in late February / early March, if you are attempting to squeeze in a few more Loyalty Points before a new qualification period begins. (or want to get a head start on the next year)

Bottom Line

With both BookAAHotels and Rocketmiles, you will NOT receive points or elite stay credit, as you are making a third party booking. You might occasionally convince the hotel to provide certain elite benefits. Ultimately, however, you are choosing to earn AA miles and elite status credit instead of hotel points / elite status credit.

There are pros and cons to using BookAAHotels and Rocketmiles. Make your choice based on the differences outlined above…

What do you think about BookAAHotels and Rocketmiles? Let us know in the comments section…

The post Rocketmiles vs. BookAAHotels for Loyalty Point Collectors appeared first on InsideFlyer.

What Has Changed?

Old Method

Previously, Marriott Bonvoy points could be converted at a ratio of 3 Marriott points to 1.1 United miles. You would also earn the standard 5,000 mile bonus when converting exactly 60,000 Marriott points.

Because it only ever made sense to convert in chunks of 60,000 Marriott points, conversions of that amount would have become 27,500 United miles.

New Method

The 3 : 1.1 ratio has gone away.  Marriott to United conversions now use the standard 3 : 1 ratio of every other airline partner. However, thanks to the 10,000 mile bonus, you will receive 30,000 United miles when converting exactly 60,000 Marriott points.

As a result, you receive an extra 2,500 miles when converting your Marriott points efficiently –> good news!

Bottom Line

Thanks to this change – and the removal of the 5,000 mile bonus on conversions to American Airlines (click here for details) – United should become the clear preference of any Marriott Bonvoy members looking to convert their points into miles from a major US airline.

It’s also worth remembering that United usually offers a conversion bonus in September of every year.  (click here for details of 2022’s promotion)  Unless you are desperate for 30,000 United miles, you should try to wait for that promotion to come around.  That said, the bonus miles from 2022’s promotion took several months to arrive to members’ United Mileage Plus account…

The post Earn Even MORE United Miles When Converting Marriott Points appeared first on InsideFlyer.

The bonus is tiered – the more you buy, the higher your bonus…

• Buy 5,000-20,000 points, get a 20% bonus
• Buy 25,000-60,000 points, get a 30% bonus
• Buy 70,000-100,000 points, get a 50% bonus
• Buy 125,000-200,000 points, get a 70% bonus

How much do Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points cost?

The cost to purchase Flying Club points varies based on where your account is registered:

• If your account is registered in the United States, you’ll pay $25 per 1,000 points (before any discounts or bonuses)
• If your account is registered in the United Kingdom, you’ll pay £15 per 1,000 points (before any discounts or bonuses)
• There’s also a flat transaction fee of £15 or $22

Those with accounts in the US can therefore buy points for 1.48 cents per Flying Club point. Those with accounts in the UK can purchase points for 0.89 pence per Flying Club point (1.05 cents).

Bottom line

Because Flying Club partners with all of the major transferable point currencies, you might not really need to buy Virgin points that often. Nonetheless, UK-based members in particular might want to look at buying Virgin points when this relatively rare promotion comes around…

The post Buy Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points with a 70% Bonus appeared first on InsideFlyer.

Does it Make Sense?

The regular price of a Marriott point is 1.25 cents. A 40% bonus means that you would be paying 0.89 cents per point.

If you are redeeming points at expensive hotels using Marriott’s fifth night free award pricing, you can occasionally find a bargain by buying points (instead of paying cash). You are less likely to find value when redeeming points for shorter stays…

Marriott Bonvoy points also have a useful floor value – converting them to airline miles. 60,000 Marriott points will convert into 25,000 miles in a large number of frequent flyer programs. (except for 3!)

A Little Bit Extra…

If you are already a member of Topcashback, you will know that they regularly offer members an additional $2.50 of cashback when spending at least $10.

What does this have to do with Marriott Bonvoy? Well… the purchase of Marriott points is processed by Points.com, which is available on the Topcashback website…

So… if you find yourself needing to spend $10 online and you can’t think of anything… you could spend $25 to buy 2,800 points from Marriott Bonvoy…

$15 for New Members of Topcashback

If you are not yet a member of Topcashback, you can earn an additional $15. Simply sign up using this referral link – http://www.topcashback.com/join-us/inside-flyer/ref/craigsowerby – and earn $10 of cashback.

It’s really quite simple to earn $10 of cashback. The number of hotel chains available via Topcashback is impressive – Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Accor, Choice, Best Western, etc. – as well as the major Online Travel Agencies. Or you could buy $400 of Marriott points and earn the $10 of cashback straight away…

Bottom Line

If you are absolutely desperate for some Marriott points, a 40% bonus is better than nothing. But this is one of the lower bonuses that Marriott has offered recently, so most people should just wait for a better offer to come along…

The post Should You Buy Marriott Points with a 40% Bonus? appeared first on InsideFlyer.

Iberia Plus offers prices in euros, pounds sterling or US dollars. Paying in dollars is a terrible deal, so you would certainly prefer to pay in euros or British pounds… (with a zero commission credit card of course).

How to Pay in Euros or British Pounds

Iberia’s Terms & Conditions state that you will be charged in the currency where your account is located. (this now matches the British Airways Executive Club policy)

As a result, you must update your Iberia Plus profile to have a postal address in Spain or the United Kingdom. (you can use the address of a friend or a hotel without any issues)

That said, the Iberia Plus website is totally broken – at least for me…

It is worth highlighting that some Iberia Plus promotions – especially 50% off reward flights – are sometimes restricted to Spanish residents. Even more reason to register your Iberia Plus account to a Spanish postal address…  (unless you hold an Iberia Plus co-branded credit card, in which case you must maintain your account’s address in the US)

Bottom Line

The price of Avios gets gradually cheaper the more you buy. The cheapest price tends to settle around the 1.2 euro cent level, which is slightly more than 1.25 cents per Avios. You do need to buy 150,000+ Avios to get that price though. For smaller top ups, you shouldn’t pay much more than 1.5 cents per Avios.

However, you shouldn’t bother buying Avios if you must pay in dollars…

The post Receive a 50% Bonus When Buying Avios from Iberia Plus appeared first on InsideFlyer.

In general, members are being offered the opportunity to buy one additional level of status from the one you are currently on track to earn / retain.

For example, if you are currently on track to becoming a Gold member in 2023-2024, then you would be offered the chance to buy Platinum status…

It is worth highlighting that I am currently a Platinum Pro member. I have received an offer for Platinum status, which is actually a downgrade.  As a result, these offers are based on your expected status for next year, not to maintain or upgrade your current status.

Why These Offers are Terrible

Everybody’s offer is individualized.  Moreover, it changes over time – the cost typically decreases as you get closer to the number of Loyalty Points needed for the next level of elite status.

It is obvious, however, that your typical InsideFlyer reader is NOT the target market for these offers.  It doesn’t really matter whether your target is $1,449 for Platinum status or $4,100 for Executive Platinum status. The only people who should be considering these offers are people who spend roughly 5 minutes a month thinking about their level of elite status.

Everybody else can read this article about acquiring Loyalty Points cheaply – click here.

Taking my personal offer, I need 42,000 Loyalty Points to reach Platinum status for next year.  This would cost me just over $1,000 by booking no-show hotel stays via Rocketmiles.

AND, and this is a big AND…  I would also add 42,000 miles to my balance of redeemable miles by booking those no-show hotel stays.  So, not only would I earn Platinum status more cheaply, but I would pick up enough miles for a free flight or two…

Bottom Line

If you receive an email from American Airlines offering you the chance to “lock in your 2023 status”, ignore it…  (or read it and enjoy a quick laugh)  It isn’t for you… you can buy your preferred level of 2023 status far more cost-efficiently.  (click here to read how)

The post Why American’s Buy-Up Status Offers are Terrible appeared first on InsideFlyer.

Most members seem to have received the 100% bonus offer. The bonus applies to purchases of 5,000 points or more. However, for the best deal you will want to buy at least 26,000 points (pre-bonus).

The regular price of IHG points is 1 cent each, whenever you buy at least 26,000 points in a single transaction. The annual limit is 150,000 points (so 300,000 doubled), although the annual limit is usually increased late in the year.

As a result, you can buy 52,000-300,000 points today and pay 0.5 cents per point.

Is it Worth It?

I certainly would NOT recommend that you buy points speculatively. However, I do like to keep a reasonable balance of IHG points handy, if only because their award pricing algorithm sometimes comes up with excellent bargains… 

It’s not as easy as it was years ago – but you can definitely find many hotels where you will save money by buying points at the 0.5 cent price, instead of simply paying the cash price. This is especially true if you hold the IHG Rewards Club Premier card from Chase, where you get the 4th night free when booking award stays using points. And with IHG One Rewards seemingly planning to offer regular discounts on award stays, you definitely want to have enough points in your account to take advantage.

Of course, you also need to take into account the fact that you can earn substantial number of points on paid stays, especially when a good promotion is running.

Don’t Forget Cashback

If you are a member of Topcashback, you are hopefully aware that you can earn cashback on points purchases processed by Points.com. (including IHG of course)

An extra 2.1% discount is certainly worth the extra click.

Not a Member of Topcashback Yet?

If you are not yet a member of Topcashback, you can earn an additional $15. Simply sign up using this referral link – http://www.topcashback.com/join-us/inside-flyer/ref/craigsowerby – and earn $10 of cashback.

It’s really quite simple to earn $10 of cashback. You would have to buy $480 worth of IHG points to pick up $10 of cashback. Alternatively there are many hotel chains available where a single hotel stay will generate that much cashback. But between the $15 new member bonus and the $10 standard cashback, you’d be looking at $25 back in your pocket in no time!

The post You Can Buy IHG Points With a 100% Bonus Again appeared first on InsideFlyer.

With IHG – the hotel chain that includes Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc. – you have the choice of earning airline miles or hotel points for your stay. In general – although there are exceptions – you can earn:

• 10 IHG points per US dollar spent (before tax)
• 2 airline miles per US dollar spent (before tax)

You have many airline programs to choose from…

And at first glance, it appears that you don’t lose anything by choosing miles, since the 10:2 ratio is the same ratio that will be applied if you choose to convert 10,000 points into 2,000 airline miles.

What You Don’t Get When Choosing to Earn Miles

Tier Bonuses

If you are an infrequent hotel user, you might assume that you will never earn elite status with a hotel chain. However, it is easier than ever to pick up some level of elite status from a credit card.  With IHG in particular, you can “buy” Platinum status by spending $200 to become an Ambassador member.

In any event, if you choose to earn miles, you do NOT earn a tier bonus. This can be quite relevant:

• Silver elite – 20% bonus points
• Gold elite – 40% bonus points
• Platinum elite – 60% bonus points
• Diamond elite – 100% bonus points

Promotional Bonuses

Hotel chains such as IHG regularly run bonus point promotions. At the moment, you can earn 2,000 bonus points after every second paid night at an IHG hotel.  (click here for details)

When you choose to earn miles for your IHG stays, you become ineligible for any promotional bonus points.

It’s Easy to Keep IHG Points from Expiring

Because of the value of tier bonuses and promotions, it definitely makes more sense to accumulate points – even if your ultimate goal is to convert them to airline miles.

One common fear is that an infrequent hotel user will see their points expire before getting around to using them. (or before accumulating the 10,000 points needed to convert them into airline miles) With IHG, you must have activity in your account once every twelve months. Luckily you can remain active without staying at a hotel – some members even resort to spending a few points on a digital download they may or may not use.

What About American Airlines Loyalty Points?

I was inspired to write this article by somebody on Flyertalk who was accumulating vast amounts of AAdvantage Loyalty Points from IHG stays. At first glance, it might possibly make sense to earn AA miles instead of IHG points, if only because conversions of IHG points to AAdvantage miles do NOT count as Loyalty Points.

But when you choose to earn AA miles directly from each stay, those miles do indeed count as Loyalty Points.

And, for what it’s worth, you can also earn Loyalty Points by visiting the American Airlines online shopping portal en route to the IHG website. The standard earning rate is another 2 miles / Loyalty Points per US dollar spent.  You do still receive those shopping portal miles, regardless of whether you choose to earn points or miles from IHG.

Bottom Line

If all that you care about is American Airlines AAdvantage elite status – and you don’t have the time or inclination to earn Loyalty Points in more cost-effective manners – then an infrequent IHG hotel guest might just want to set their IHG One Rewards account to earn AAdvantage miles.

But everybody else should simply accumulate IHG points. Even if your only interest in the loyalty program hobby is airline miles, you will end up with more miles if you accumulate IHG points and convert them later…

The post Should You Choose to Earn Miles on IHG Hotel Stays? appeared first on InsideFlyer.

As always, it is your cumulative spend that counts. If you choose to chase these targets with hotel bookings, the date of booking is what matters, not the actual travel date.

American Airlines AAdvantage

American AAdvantage eShopping is offering a 500 mile bonus for purchases made by February 13, 2023. You must spend $200.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping is offering a 500 mile bonus for purchases made by February 13, 2023. You must spend $150.

United Airlines Mileage Plus

United MileagePlus Shopping is offering a 500 mile bonus for purchases made by February 13, 2023. You must spend $150.

How to Reach Spending Targets Easily

You might not be an avid online shopper. But if you regularly read InsideFlyer, you surely love to travel. And one of the benefits of these shopping portals is that you can earn miles from booking hotel stays at hotel chains. The exact hotel chains and / or Online Travel Agencies might vary from portal to portal, but you can usually find one that works for you.

Of course, you might be able to get a higher rebate by using a cashback website – such as Topcashback – instead of earning miles from an airline. But these bonus miles might just make it worthwhile to use an airline’s online shopping portal this February…

The post 500 Bonus Miles from American, Alaska and United appeared first on InsideFlyer.

But a smaller group of people have discovered an even faster method of collecting Loyalty Points, allowing you to boost your desired level of AAdvantage status quickly…

How to Earn Elite Status with AAdvantage

Qualification Period

The status qualification year starts on March 1st and runs through the last day of February.

• For example, in 2023, your counter will restart on March 1, 2023, and run through February 29, 2024.
• The membership year (when your status is valid) takes effect the date you qualify, or April 1 (whichever comes first) and will be valid through March 31.

Required Loyalty Points

Most readers will be interested in AA’s Platinum, Platinum Pro or Executive Platinum status. If you travel internationally on Oneworld partner airlines, Platinum is equivalent to Oneworld Sapphire and both Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum are equivalent to Oneworld Emerald.

• AAdvantage Platinum –> 75,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro –> 125,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum –> 200,000 Loyalty Points

How to Earn Loyalty Points… FAST

Let me get this out of the way first… buying miles from AAdvantage does NOT earn Loyalty Points…

Rocketmiles

…but booking hotel stays via Rocketmiles does!

Your impression of Rocketmiles might be that you overpay for hotel stays, but receive miles in exchange. You also miss out on loyalty program benefits such as room upgrades or points. This impression is generally correct, but now that you can earn American Airlines elite status from using Rocketmiles, the calculus has changed substantially!

Although it would be ideal to book hotel stays that you actually need, this travel hack is based on another nuance of Rocketmiles – it doesn’t care if you show up to the hotel! I have tested this extensively myself; I received AAdvantage miles for several no-show stays. All that I needed to do was prepay Rocketmiles for my hotel stay.  (don’t use the Reserve Now, Pay Later function available at some hotels)

How to Find the Best Stays to Book as an Intended “No-Show”

A useful rule-of-thumb / target is 2.5 cents per mile / Loyalty Point.

The vast majority of hotels you will see on Rocketmiles will come nowhere near that 2.5 cent level, but a few do.  The best places to look for “bargains” are:

• • Las Vegas (midweek only)
  • Southeast Asia – try Bali, Kuala Lumpur, cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.

Once you have found a candidate that offers you a large number of miles at a reasonable cost, you will be invited on the next page to pay extra to add even more miles to your trip.  Since these extra miles cost 2.1-2.2 cents each, a travel hacker chasing AAdvantage status definitely wants to add more miles!  (they all count as Loyalty Points)  In general, you can add an extra 3,000 miles / Loyalty Points per night.

It Really is OK to not Show Up

With hotel chain loyalty programs, you must always check-in to the hotel to receive your points, elite status credit, etc.  With Rocketmiles, however, you do NOT need to show up to the hotel.  As long as you have prepaid Rocketmiles for your hotel room, they don’t care whether you show up or not.  The miles will arrive to your AAdvantage account a few days after your supposed “check-out”.

I’m not sure if I would book overlapping stays that are clearly impossible – such as concurrent stays in Bali and Las Vegas – but otherwise you do not need to limit yourself to your own travel plans.

Which Dates Should I Book?

Rocketmiles transactions credit to your American Airlines AAdvantage account based on the check-out date of your hotel stay (real or no-show)

What About Resort Fees?

If you are somewhat familiar with Las Vegas hotel pricing, you will know that room rates can appear to be very cheap midweek. Unless there is a big conference or sporting event, Las Vegas casino hotels are nowhere near full. As a result, you will see room rates that appear ridiculously cheap. Casino hotels offer such low rates because:

• You will also pay a resort fee to the hotel
• You will probably do some gambling at the casino
• You will probably eat in or around the hotel

But for the purposes of this travel hack, all you care about is the fact that Rocketmiles pays almost nothing for that midweek hotel room, allowing it to apply a mark-up that coincidentally allows it to offer you far more miles.  But if you don’t ever show up to the hotel, you don’t ever pay the resort fee!

So, in this one rather obscure situation, resort fees are great!  Because the hotel has shifted most of the room rate into a concept that will only be payable if you actually show up, it actually allows you to pick up AAdvantage Loyalty Points on the cheap, without leaving home…

Bottom Line

If you are looking for a relatively low cost method of accumulating American Airlines Loyalty Points (and redeemable miles) quickly, you might want to research Rocketmiles and those Las Vegas hotels that offer you a large number of miles per dollar spent on the room rate.

If you want a headstart on next year’s qualification, you can start booking hotel stays for March 2023 and beyond…

Or if you need a last minute boost to your Loyalty Point balance, you will want to look for no-show hotel stays with a check-out date before February 28, 2023…

The post One Obscure Reason Why Resort Fees are Great! appeared first on InsideFlyer.