Alaska State

Columbus, OH

Frequent Miler

Mark your calendars: if you have Bilt points, Monday will be a great day to consider transferring them. If you’d like to fly Air France or KLM in business class, we published a couple of helpful tricks this week, whether that’s how to find a calendar of availability or how to book via chat with Virgin Atlantic. Read about all that and a lot more in this Frequent Miler Week in Review.

Bigness from Bilt, tricks for booking Air France & KLM, updated hotel point values and more [Week in Review]

Virgin points are often the cheapest option for booking Air France or KLM flights. For example, for a trip to Paris I’m planning, I found a great Air France business class award that was available. If I booked through Air France Flying Blue, I’d have to pay 303,000 miles plus $225 per passenger. No thanks! Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic showed the same flight for 48,500 points plus $281 per passenger. Much better! Exciting right?

Solved: Problem booking Air France/KLM with Virgin points

In sadly unsurprising news, Virgin Atlantic has finally done the seeming inevitable and devalued one of its few remaining sweet spots. Thrifty Traveler has spotted that if you’d like to book Delta flights to Europe in business class, those will now require more miles in most cases. That’s not...

Virgin Atlantic devalues Delta, destroying deal

Save up to 50% when booking award flights using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles to the following destinations:. Global escapes pricing is offered on flights in Economy & Premium Economy class only. Travel has to originate in the US. Promo is valid on bookings July 10, 2024–July 31, 2024 for...

Alaska Airlines award sale: Save up to 50% on flights to Athens, Taipei, Rome, Delhi & more

Last month, we reported about booking Air France and KLM flights through Virgin Atlantic by using the airline’s chat feature. Within a couple of days, readers started reporting that they were being told that Virgin Atlantic had a known problem booking Air France and Virgin Atlantic flights and those bookings would be unavailable until July 9th. We received one reader success report around the 9th, but then more recently readers have been told that Air France and KLM bookings would be unavailable until “the start of August” — and Virgin Atlantic has added messaging to its website to reflect the same.

Virgin Flying Club can’t book awards on Air France or KLM; “Expected” to work again at “the start” of August 2024

Richmond, VA

Southwest isn’t the only one running a sale today. JetBlue is running one too, giving 25% off when using promo code FALL2024. You’ll need to be quick though as bookings have to be made by tonight (July 10). The Deal. Save 25% on JetBlue flights when using promo...

JetBlue sale: Save 25% with promo code FALL2024 (Book by 7/10/24)

Save 20% when booking Southwest award flights and using promo code MAX20. Must book by June 30th and travel between August 20th and November 20th. 20 percent promotion code savings valid for one-way or round trip Wanna Get Away® and Wanna Get Away Plus® fares booked on Southwest.com® from June 28-30, 2024 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (the “Booking Period”) and flown between August 20-November 20, 2024 (“Travel Period”). Travel to/from Orange County (SNA) excluded. Promotion code savings are applied before government taxes and fees.

Southwest Sale: Get 20% Off Both Cash and Points Bookings

Las Vegas, NV

Atlantic City, NJ

Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ has long offered a status match for those with competing casino status all the way up to Ocean Prime status. We’ve covered that match pretty extensively in our post about How to get free cruises by gaming casino status matches. One of the other benefits of Ocean Prime status was a complimentary 2-night stay at Resorts World Las Vegas (I reviewed my complimentary stay at Conrad Las Vegas here). As of today (7/1/24), the partnership with Resorts World has ended, but some will be excited to see that Ocean is back to partnering with Wynn Las Vegas — so Ocean Prime members now get a complimentary 2-night stay at Wynn Las Vegas, which can be an incredibly valuable benefit.

Ocean Prime now offering 2 free nights at Wynn Las Vegas + $50 dining credit

Update 6/26/24: This increased welcome offer on the Chase Ink Business Preferred card is now available in-branch. There is a new offer out for the Chase Ink Business Preferred that is good for 120,000 points after $8,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. The Deal. There is a new...

(Now In-Branch) 120K points with new Chase Ink Preferred bonus

60K points after $3K spend within first 3 months and an additional 60K after $15K total spend within first 9 months. This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Earning rate: 3X Southwest ✦ 2X Rapid Rewards(R) hotel and car partners ✦ 2X rideshare ✦ 1X...

Southwest Business Card 120K Offers: Get a Companion Pass with One Card (for two years?)

New York City, NY

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Cheryl E Preston

Yesterday was the third time this year that an ad stating Chelsea Clinton lives in a beautiful Virginia home popped up on my laptop. My computer did not warn me this was a dangerous site, so this time, I clicked on the link.

Chelsea Clinton is rumored to be living in Virginia but probably still in NYC

Hertz has repeatedly earned itself negative publicity over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, they are at it again. After previously reducing the expiration timeline for points from needing activity once every 18 months to once every 12 months, Miles Talk reports on a new restriction that came from Hertz via email today: now points expire 5 years after they are earned, regardless of activity. That’s a huge bummer that is no doubt tough to track and designed to create even more breakage in a system that’s already of marginal value at best.

Hertz expiration policy now hurts even more

Sonesta is a hotel program that’s tended to fly under the radar for most points and miles folks (including me). It’s been around since the 1930’s, but remained fairly small for several decades. That’s changed in the last ten years or so and it’s now become one of the fastest-growing hospitality companies in the US. In 2020, Sonesta had a total of 80 properties. Today, it’s grown to over 1100, in part due to its acquisition of Red Lion Hotels.

What are Sonesta points worth?

Newark, NJ

The all-business class airline La Compagnie is celebrating its 10th birthday on July 21 and as part of that they’re running a new promotion offering roundtrip business class flights from Newark to Paris for only $2,000. The Deal. Fly roundtrip from Newark to Paris-Orly for $2,000 with La Compagnie.

Fly business class to Paris for $2,000 round trip on La Compagnie

J. Souza

Bed bugs aren't supposed to be part of the all-inclusive package on a cruise vacation. A woman is alleging an unsettling experience aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, claiming she and her family were subjected to a bed bug infestation.

"I Paid $2K for a Bed Bug Cruise": Passenger Shares Royal Caribbean Story & Letter from Cruise Line

In April and May, there was a limited-time status match available to match from Caesars Diamond status to Wynn Rewards Platinum status. That was really notable for a few reasons: First, Caesars Diamond is easy-to-get; you only need to get the Wyndham Earner Business credit card (which has just a $95 annual fee) and then you can match the Wyndham Diamond status given to Wyndham Business cardholders to Caesars Diamond status and that made it possible to match to Wynn Platinum. Second, Wynn doesn’t often offer status matches (before this one, we last saw a match in 2021). Third, and the crux of today’s post, is that Wynn offers an opportunity for Platinum members to get a complimentary Holland America cruise. My wife and I both did the match in Las Vegas last month; this week, we booked two 2025 cruises (one each) using the Wynn Rewards offer. I’m happy to report that it was easy as pie to book this offer — and in the process, I learned a few interesting things that are worth knowing if you did this match (or ever get an opportunity to do one in the future).

Lessons from another “free” cruise booked: Holland America via Wynn Platinum status

Upgraded Points has discovered a ton of standard award availability at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui during the Summer/early-Fall of 2024. Rooms are available between June and October, including multiple 5-night blocks(meaning it will work for 5th-night free stays). When there was wide open standard award availability a few months...

Conrad Bora Bora: Great availability July-September 2024

Complete Guide to Sonesta Travel Pass

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Devra Lee

Disclaimer: This content was written by Devra Lee for general informational and entertainment purposes only. This service is to provide astrological information that has been researched, recorded, and observed by the author.

Horoscope of the Day, Monday, July 22nd

Illinois State

Chicago, IL

Foodie in Chicago

MOD Pizza has over 500 locations across the country with 22 restaurants in Illinois. The Washington-based chain offers fast-casual fare known for its customized, artisan-style pizzas. Customers can choose from over 40 toppings and 8 sauces to create their own masterpiece.

Bankruptcy Looms for Major Pizza Chain With Chicago Suburban Locations

NewsBreak

British Airways kills redemptions on AA and Alaska (again for the very first time)

Evidently, they’re still a little sore about the whole Independence Day thing on the other side of the pond. Overnight, British Airways seems to have completely...

British Airways kills redemptions on AA and Alaska (again for the very first time)

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