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.

I don’t have all of the details, since I can’t find anything published on the Iberia website, but you should receive a 50% discount when redeeming Avios this weekend on Iberia reward flights. (the cash amount will remain unchanged)

• Booking Period – May 6-7, 2023
• Travel Period – May 8 – June 30, 2023 and September 1 – December 15, 2023

I believe that you will only see the discount on Iberia flights (including Iberia Express, Air Nostrum and Iberia Regional). You will NOT receive a discount on any partner reward flights – no Oneworld partners, British Airways or even Vueling or LEVEL.

All cabins, including Business Class and Premium Economy, are included in this promotion, so you can potentially fly Business Class to Madrid for 17,000 Avios each way!

Bottom Line

Time to get booking!

Since Iberia Plus has a reasonable 25 euro (or $40 if you book in US dollars) award cancellation fee, there’s no excuse for not making a speculative booking or two this weekend.  There is no disadvantage to booking one-way flights (apart from the extra cancellation fees) if you want to maintain maximum flexibility.

Let us know in the comments section if you manage to book something fantastic…

The post Two Days Only! 50% Discount on Iberia Award Flights appeared first on InsideFlyer.

At the moment, many of these Mr & Mrs Smith properties participate in IHG One Rewards. (click here for details)  Presumably the IHG One Rewards link will be severed once the properties are ready to transition over to World of Hyatt.

According to the press release…

The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions. At a later date following the closing, Hyatt plans to unveil direct booking access to properties within the Mr & Mrs Smith platform through Hyatt’s distribution channels, including Hyatt.com and the World of Hyatt app. The anticipated move will have the potential to unlock access to more than twice the number of global boutique and luxury properties within Hyatt direct booking channels, and Hyatt is exploring ways to enable World of Hyatt members to earn and redeem points across eligible hotels in the Mr & Mrs Smith collection.

Bottom Line

Even though it is usually exciting when Hyatt adds to its global footprint, many of these hotels were already accessible to points collectors via IHG One Rewards. (often at quite reasonable award pricing)

Because these are small, boutique hotels, normal World of Hyatt benefits are unlikely to apply, much in the same way that World of Hyatt members receive few benefits at Small Luxury Hotels…

The post Hyatt is Buying Mr & Mrs Smith appeared first on InsideFlyer.

It has been nearly a year since Book with Confidence was ended. Nonetheless, there are undoubtedly many eVouchers that haven’t been redeemed yet.

(even though the BA website still refers to Future Travel Vouchers, I believe that most, if not all, of these have already been converted into eVouchers…)

Lost Track of Your Vouchers?

Luckily, British Airways has implemented a functionality that will help. You simply must visit this British Airways webpage.

You then enter your email address and, within seconds, you should receive an email from British Airways detailing your outstanding eVouchers.

Bottom Line

This extension was always likely; British Airways wouldn’t want to risk the wrath of the British press by making vouchers expire worthless. However, I’m a bit surprised that this announcement has come so soon, rather than hope that some voucher holders will feel pressured to spend them ASAP.

Do you have any outstanding British Airways vouchers? Or have you spent them already? Let us know in the comments section…

The post British Airways Extends the Life of “Book with Confidence” Pandemic Vouchers appeared first on InsideFlyer.

I have little doubt that the majority of InsideFlyer readers will HATE this promotion. Hilton Honors members can earn:

• 4,000 bonus points per STAY at selected resorts
• 2,000 bonus points per STAY at other hotels

Registration is required. Click here to be taken to the landing page for this promotion.

Why is this Promotion so Bad?

It doesn’t matter whether you stay one night or ten – you will only earn 2,000 bonus points for your “stay”. Don’t bother trying to book each night individually – unless you move to a different hotel, your separate reservations will be merged into one…

Since Hilton Honors members earn 10 points per US dollar spent, 2,000 bonus points is equivalent to earning “double points” on a mere $200 of spend.  (i.e. Hilton’s standard “double points” promotion would have resulted in more bonus points for almost everybody)

From a different perspective, 2,000 points are worth $10 at best. This is a terrible rebate on any long, expensive stay.  You do earn these bonus points on award stays, though, so there’s a tiny bit of upside for those who are planning to redeem their Hilton points this summer.

Which Hotels are “Resorts”?

You can find the list of “resort hotels” by clicking here. And no… you cannot sort, search or otherwise make this list user-friendly.

Bottom Line

Even though this promotion is barely worth the effort, you will want to register nonetheless. But if you have any flexibility in your summer travel plans, you will want to avoid Hilton hotels for everything other than cheap one-night stays.

The post Hilton Honors Announces a Summer Promotion that Almost Everybody Will Hate appeared first on InsideFlyer.

Thanks to the 50% bonus, you would pay 0.69 US cents per point.

You can usually buy up to 180,000 points every calendar year, although the annual limit is often raised later in the year.  Click here to be taken to the Choice website.

Does it Make Sense?

If you are currently planning a trip to Scandinavia, you can find some amazing value from buying Choice points today to spend on award stays.

However, if you can wait around until the next Daily Getaways, you will probably be able to buy Choice points for 0.5-0.6 cents each.

I have also found that it can make sense to buy Choice points in order to convert them to United miles – but only when a bonus is applied to hotel point conversions.  However, those promotions typically arrive during the summer – click here for details of last year’s Choice –> United promo – so you have time to wait before buying Choice points…

The post Should You Buy Choice Points with a 50% Bonus? appeared first on InsideFlyer.

• It is the only Hyatt-branded hotel near Heathrow airport – somewhere I often stay due to overnight layovers
• It is a Category 1 hotel usually costing 5,000 points per night

However I noticed recently that it is now nearly impossible to book an award stay using points.

Digging into the possible reasons for this, I noticed that the hotel has reclassified its rooms, so that very few, if any, can be considered as “standard” rooms. (needed for spending points)

The cheapest room you are likely to find is now called “High Floor”.

By paying a bit more, you can stay in a room with an “Airport View”.

For a bit more, you can stay in a “Runway View” room.

And as a final splurge, you can stay in a “Deluxe room” on the top floor with views of the airport.

Why This is Basically a Scam

By process of elimination, there are few, if any, “standard” rooms left in this five-storey hotel.

• High Floor rooms cover the 3rd – 5th floor, facing away from the airport
• Airport view covers the 2nd and 3rd floors, facing towards the airport
• Runway view covers the 3rd and 4th floors, facing towards the airport
• Deluxe room covers the 5th floor rooms facing towards the airport

By process of elimination, 2nd floor rooms facing away from the airport could conceivably be considered as a “standard” room, not that I could find any dates with availability.

And for the avoidance of any doubt, there is absolutely no difference in the room layout for all but the “deluxe” rooms. And it’s a bit of a joke to call the 3rd floor of a 5-storey hotel a “high floor”, or to even consider it as a benefit.

Why Hotels do This

I understand why some hotels play these games in order to avoid guests redeeming points. The franchisee is reimbursed a relatively small amount by World of Hyatt for award stays, unless the hotel is very full. The hotel would rather that all guests paid cash.

However, this annoys loyal Hyatt members! Moreover, the hotel should recognize that “being a Hyatt Place” brings in revenue that it wouldn’t otherwise receive. This might be loyal World of Hyatt members and/or infrequent guests who “have heard that Hyatts are good”. These award inventory games, therefore, are short-sighted at best. And part of the requirement of being a Hyatt-branded hotel is to offer reasonable opportunities for members to redeem their points.

Bottom Line

All we can do is call out scams such as this one, and hope that Hyatt acts to bring its franchisees into line.  But for now, you cannot really redeem your Hyatt points at this Category 1 Hyatt Place…

The post This Hyatt Hotel is Blocking Nearly All Award Inventory appeared first on InsideFlyer.

You can easily find the gift card page by clicking on the “Travel” tab on the main Iberia webpage.

How can I spend my gift card?

It is very easy to apply a gift card when purchasing a flight. If you spend less than the value of your voucher, you will immediately receive a new voucher for the balance.

HOWEVER, you can only use the gift card on flights OPERATED by Iberia, Iberia Express and Air Nostrum. Codeshare flights – including those on British Airways, American Airlines, Vueling, etc. with an IB flight code – are specifically excluded.

In addition, you CANNOT use your gift card to pay the taxes and surcharges on an award flight, EVEN if you are booking an Iberia reward flight via the Iberia Plus website.

And finally, the gift card will EXPIRE exactly ONE YEAR after purchase.

Worth it?

Unless you are definitely booking an Iberia flight soon, there is certainly some risk involved in handing over $450 for a gift card that is only valid for a year.

But it is also close to free money for those readers who regularly fly on Iberia Airlines, as long as you are aware of the tough restrictions…

The post Iberia Is Selling Discounted Gift Cards (But Make Sure You Understand The Terms) appeared first on InsideFlyer.

You can earn a maximum of 10,000 bonus points from this promotion.

Registration is required. You can register by clicking here and entering your World of Hyatt account number.

According to the Terms & Conditions, you must have been a member of Lindner Nights prior to March 1st. But it appears that Hyatt isn’t really checking, so anybody can register…

For the avoidance of doubt, Hyatt allows members redeeming points or free night certificates to also participate in these “points per night” promotions. So you can pick up 1,000 points per night in Europe even when spending your points on award stays…

Bottom Line

If you are travelling to Europe this spring, you will want to register for this promotion. Even if you’ve never heard of Germany’s Lindner hotels – soon to join World of Hyatt – you might pick up some bonus points…

The post Earn 1,000 Hyatt Points per Night in Europe 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.