Tag Archives: IHG Hotels

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Too Many JetBlue Points from Amazon Shopping? Convert them into Other Miles & Points

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday. I don’t know about you, but I’m racking up a ton of JetBlue TrueBlue points from shopping on Amazon. Ever since JetBlue added Amazon to their points partner list, I’ve been earning 3x JetBlue points on all my Amazon purchases. Since the Amazon partnership launched, I’ve earned 7,000+ JetBlue TrueBlue points. That is great and all, but I’m not much of a JetBlue flyer. I’m currently sitting on 70,000+ JetBlue TrueBlue points, but I have no idea what I’m going to do with them. That’s when I remembered that JetBlue allows you to convert points into other miles and points through Points.com. Let’s see if there are any decent conversion options out there…

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75% Bonus on Purchased IHG Rewards Points (Expires February 28)

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In certain languages, people wish each other Happy New Month! I like that. It’s a new month, so of course there are new opportunities for buying more points with bonuses. This one from IHG is interesting because IHG taketh away in that they made category changes for award nights. Then IHG giveth some point purchasing bonuses! Their last two bonuses were for 100%, and this one is for 75% (bonus expires February 28). It’s important to note that in the new year, the number of points we can purchase gets reset, so we’re back to being able to purchase up to 60,000 IHG Rewards points this year. Did IHG changing their Pointbreaks scheme make a difference in whether or not you’ll buy IHG points going forward?

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Kimpton Joined IHG Rewards Club (Now You Can Redeem IHG Points for Kimpton Stays)

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This email popped into my inbox yesterday and it was a good reminder that Kimpton has finally joined the IHG Rewards loyalty program. A few months ago, I got my Chase IHG Rewards Credit Card and with all the IHG points I accrued, I decided this year I’d have fun experiencing some IHG properties. You all gave me some great recommendations. But now that Kimpton properties are in the mix, I’m asking you Kimpton loyalists to share some of that special KARMA and let me know which Kimpton hotels you’ve enjoyed the most. I’ve never stayed at a Kimpton hotel, so why not, right? Thanks, everyone.

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My Unlikely, But Entertaining 2018 Travel Predictions

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Greetings from Uyuni airport in Bolivia.  I have a few minutes before my flight, so I wanted to get this post published.  Sorry for the delay in posting this list, my crystal ball was in the shop for a tuneup. As you can tell from my 2017 travel predictions, I am wrong 99% of the time, so take these predictions with a grain of salt (that I took from the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia).  Here are some of my highly unlikely, but entertaining travel predictions for 2018.  Enjoy!

Airlines

  • After the Virgin America merger, Alaska Airlines will add new routes to Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean
  • Delta Airlines will introduce cash and miles award tickets, then American Airlines and United Airlines will follow suit
  • Southwest Airlines will increase their Transfarency by automatically keeping track of travel funds in each account
  • JetBlue will add new routes along the West Coast and maybe to Hawaii
  • Singapore Airlines will allow you to book United Airlines awards online
  • British Airways will bring back the 4,500 Avios award price in the United States

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Most of my 2017 Travel Predictions Were Wrong (Who Could Have Predicted That?)

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Good morning everyone, happy almost New Years Eve.  Earlier this month, Doctor of Credit wrote how bad travel bloggers are at making predictions (I came in last at 33% correct), but he only reviewed our credit card predictions.  I made a lot of other predictions in January 2017, so let’s see how good or bad my predictions were.  I covered airlines, hotels, credit cards, and MS.  I will put my thoughts in bold at the end of each prediction.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.  Southwest Airlines did eliminate hotel transfers counting toward the Companion Pass, but credit card spend and sign up bonuses still count toward the Companion Pass.  I am also the proud companion on my girlfriend’s Companion Pass.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).  No, I don’t think any other airline added a companion fare as a credit card benefit.
  • American will introduce a basic economy fare class to compete/copy Delta and United.  Yes, I got this one right!
  • Alaska Airlines will introduce a new level of elite status (maybe MVP Gold 100K?)  No, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K is still the highest elite level.
  • More airlines will get away from the 12,500 one way domestic ticket and start to introduce 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 mile awards.  Yes, I think Alaska Airlines announced cheaper awards on shorter flights.
  • British Airways will kill the 4,500 Avios award band globally and possibly remove one of their lower award tiers.  No, 4,500 British Airways Avios tier is still available outside the US.
  • Singapore Airlines will allow us to book Star Alliance awards online, rather than calling in.  Partially true, but not rolled out completely.
  • Hawaiian Airlines will get bought by a low cost airline, Southwest Airlines or JetBlue.  No, no one bought Hawaiian Airlines.
  • We will see 1 or 2 more mileage matching promos, this time from a big legacy airline.  No, no mileage matching promo like the JetBlue / Virgin America match last year.
  • My ~20,000 Spirit Airlines miles will expire and I won’t care.  Sort of, my Spirit Airlines miles did expire, but I still shed 1 tear.

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