Tag Archives: Free Stuff

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2024 Airline & Hotel Buy Miles/Points Promos: Insights & Trends Uncovered with ChatGPT

Good evening everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Last year, I wrote 24 posts about buying miles and points, so I decided to take a look back at all the airline and hotel promotions to see what kind of insights I could find.  I entered all the data in the table and then asked ChatGPT to provide some analysis and deeper insights into the promotions.

These insights can be helpful if you are wondering if a specific airline or hotel promotion is toward the higher end of the promotion spectrum.  Here are the insights:

    • Air Canada: Discounts: 30% & Bonuses: 75%-100%
    • Air France / KLM: Discounts: 40%-50% & Bonuses: 70%
    • Alaska Airlines: Bonuses: 50%-70%
    • Avianca Airlines: Bonuses: 160%-165%
    • Choice Hotels: Discounts: 25%-30% & Bonuses: 30%-50%
    • Etihad: Bonuses: 25%-30%
    • Hawaiian Airlines: Bonuses: 50%-100%
    • Hilton Hotels: Bonuses: 100%
    • Hyatt Hotels: Bonuses: 20%-25%
    • IHG Hotels: Bonuses: 60%-100%
    • JetBlue: Bonuses: 90%-130%
    • Leading Hotels of the World: Bonuses: 60%-100%
    • Marriott Hotels: Bonuses: 35%-45%
    • Southwest Airlines: Discounts: 35%-50%
    • Spirit Airlines: Discounts: 40% & Bonuses: 60%
    • United Airlines: Discounts: 30%-50% & Bonuses: 90%-100%
    • Virgin Atlantic: Bonuses: 60%-70%
    • Wyndham Hotels: Discounts: 25%-45% & Bonuses: 35%-60%

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The 7 Miles & Points Tools / Services that I Pay For

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I love free stuff as much as the next person, but there are a few miles and points tools and services that are so incredibly useful, they’re definitely worth paying for. Keep in mind, this isn’t a complete list, so there may be other fantastic tools out there that I haven’t discovered or used yet.

AwardWallet Plus – $49.99 / year

I can’t imagine a world without AwardWallet.  They track all my credit card programs, airline programs, hotel programs, shopping portal balances, dining rewards, and much more.  I love that they constantly check my accounts, display the current balances, and display expiration dates for all my rewards.  The flight schedule change notifications (which sometimes come days / weeks / months before official airline notifications) and upcoming expiration alerts are well worth the cost to me.  If you are interested in trying it out, here is my AwardWallet referral link.

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New American Express App Feature: Get Your AMEX Pass to Access 25 Venues + 10% Cash Back on Qualifying Concessions

Good afternoon everyone.  I was clicking around the American Express app and stumbled on some new features that are being rolled out.  If you sign into the app and click the Account tab in the bottom right corner, then click Try New Features, you will see 3 new features: New Wallets & Merchants, Amex Inspire, and Amex Pass.  This post is dedicated to the AMEX Pass feature, but I cover the other 2 features at the bottom of the post.  The AMEX Pass creates a special QR code that you can use to access select AMEX venues (25 as of 1/8/25) and you can earn 10% cash back on qualifying concessions by using your enrolled card.  Here is the process to set up your AMEX Pass.

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3 Upcoming American Express Endings: Redeeming Membership Rewards Points at Newegg & Staples, ShopRunner Benefit & AMEX Auto Purchasing Program

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  Yesterday, I was reviewing my recent American Express statements and saw a few upcoming changes that I wanted you to be aware of.  Thankfully, none of these changes are huge.  Without further ado, here are the 3 changes.

Bye bye AMEX MR Redemptions at Newegg.com and Staples.com

Effective March 31, 2025, Card Members will no longer be able to redeem Membership Rewards points on www.newegg.com and www.staples.com.

I have made several purchases at Newegg.com and Staples.com over the years, but have never used my AMEX MR Points to pay for my orders since I assumed it was a bad deal.  My assumption was correct!  On both websites, you can redeem 14,286 AMEX MR Points to offset $100, which is a terrible redemption at 0.7 CPP.  Good riddance to this redemption option!

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Marriott Vacation Club Shadow Ridge Timeshare Vacation Package: $249 for 4 Nights + 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points (Targeted)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Today, I received a targeted timeshare vacation package offer via mail for the Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert, CA (near Palm Springs).  The cost is $249 for a 4 night / 5 day stay, plus you have your choice of 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points or a $75 Marriott gift card.  If you value 15,000 Marriott points at $150, that brings the cost down to $100 for 4 nights or $25 / night.  You need to attend a 90 minute timeshare sales presentation, but that seems like a pretty good deal.  I have experience with timeshare sales presentations and they are not too bad.  I will go through the booking process to show you what it is like, what is included, and how much it costs.

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Image source: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ctdsr-marriotts-shadow-ridge-i-the-villages/overview/

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