An easy way of meeting credit card spend requirement for getting the sign-up bonus – American Express Gift Cards at no cost!
A lot of readers have inquired as to how to meet the credit card spend requirement within the stipulated time in order to earn the hefty sign-up bonus. I will talk about several of the options over my upcoming posts. For starters, I will begin with one of the easiest and hassle free ways to meet the spend - Buying American Express Gift Cards, at virtually zero cost.
American Express allows customers buy AMEX branded Gift Cards with credit cards (any credit card, not just American Express but also MasterCard, Visa and Discover). You can buy these cards in several different pre-set denominations as well a denomination of your choice. These AMEX branded gift cards work just like any American Express credit or charge card. it has most of the protections that a credit card would offer baring a few features. Thus, when you buy these cards, you are effectively charging your credit card to meet the spend requirement and have them loaded on these AMEX gift cards.
Please note that there is typically a purchase fee as well as shipping and handling fee. However, you can use the promo code CMOUS (expires 12/22/11) to get the purchase fee waived. Plus, you can sign up for a free 3-month trial of their Premium Shipping program which provides users with free next-day shipping for an annual membership cost of $99. With the free 3-month trial offer, you can go through 1-2 rounds of app-o-rama to meet your spend on new credit cards.
One caveat to this method is that your funds get locked up in the gift cards as you will have to pay off your credit card balance to avoid the hefty interest on the charges. However, with some smart planning, you can minimize such locking of funds. And there are ways to unlock these gift card funds which I will describe in one of the upcoming posts.
HOT *Today Only* Southwest Airlines – 50% off Wanna Get Away Fares (most routes, few excluded)
For today only, Southwest is offering 50% off their Wanna Get Away Fare for few select dates on January and February 2012. Use the promo code HALFOFFDEC to avail this discount. This discount is applicable only on most routes.
Routes excluded from this promo:
- Las Vegas - Tampa Bay
- Ft. Lauderdale (Miami Area) - Las Vegas
- Las Vegas - Pittsburgh
- Nashville - San Diego
- Jacksonville - Las Vegas
- Denver - Raleigh/Durham
- Las Vegas - Orlando
- Las Vegas - Philadelphia
- Orlando - Phoenix
- Omaha - Phoenix
- Phoenix - Pittsburgh
- Phoenix - Tampa Bay
Terms and Conditions:
- Use promo code HALFOFFDEC when booking.
- 50% discount valid for use at southwest.com or SWABIZ.com off the total amount of any one-way or roundtrip Wanna Get Away fare purchase before taxes and fees.
- Purchase must be made on Dec. 16, 2011 for travel between Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, 2012 and between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2012 only.
- Discount is not valid on reservations made using Rapid Reward Points.
- The discount is only valid with the provided Promotion Code and is not combinable with other Promotion Codes or fares available exclusively through the web tool “DING!”.
- Changes made to the itinerary after purchase may eliminate qualifications for this promotion.
- 50% Off offer not available in the following markets:
between Las Vegas and Tampa Bay, Ft. Lauderdale (Miami Area) and Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh, Nashville and San Diego, Jacksonville and Las Vegas, Denver and Raleigh/Durham, Las Vegas and Orlando, Las Vegas and Philadelphia, Orlando and Phoenix, Omaha and Phoenix, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, and Phoenix and Tampa Bay.
US Airways Dividend Miles program devaluation – Award close-in fee now applicable for 21 days instead of 14 days, adds co-pay for mileage upgrades
So, US Airways announced their next set of devaluation in their Dividend Miles programs. Effective from February 15, 2012, US Airways will increase the duration for close-in award booking fee from 14 days to 21 days. Also, US Airways has now added a hefty co-pay for mileage upgrades for flights within North America including Hawaii, Canada and Caribbean. If you want to use miles to upgrade to First Class, you’ll be able to upgrade with miles plus cash, starting from 5,000 miles plus $25 per flight. The mileage and upgrade fees will vary by the length of your flight. Please note that you will pay for upgrades only when upgrades are confirmed.
And, US Airways will continue to waive the upgrade fee if you buy a full fare, refundable ticket (Y or B class). Yeah right! Buying a full fare is already an expensive proposition.
Mileage upgrades:
Here is the look at the old upgrade chart.
See the new mileage upgrade chart for comparison.
Quick ticketing fee:
A quick ticketing fee of $75 applies to award reservations made within 21 days of travel. (Before February 15, the quick ticketing fee window was within 14 days of travel.) This fee is waived for Dividend Miles Gold, Platinum and Chairman's Preferred members.
Earn 1,000 British Airways Avios points with Avis Car Rental (26-hour rental minimum)
Rent a car from Avis (worldwide locations) for a minimum of 2-days (or 26 hours or more) and you will receive a minimum of 1,000 British Airways Avios points.
I consider 1,000 Avios points worth $15 minimum in redemption value. You can get a lot more in redemption value for short-haul, non-stop non-LCC routes on AA and AS flights costing $500-1,500 which can be booked for as low as 4,500 Avios points each way. As an example, ORD-MSN can be booked for 4,500 Avios points but a last minute paid ticket can easily cost ~$600. Or ORD-YYZ which costs ~$1,100 but can be booked using Cash + Points for a mere 2,250 Avios points plus $35 in cash portion. In this case, $2,250 Avios points are worth $1,000+ which comes to 40+ cents per point. Unbeatable use of Avios points!
These 1,000 Avios points earned through Avis Car Rental can really be as high as $400-500 in value!
Here is an article comparing British Airways Avios points and LANPass Kilometers. You can also find the unpublished BA Avios points award table in this post. There is also an ongoing promotion that gives 30% bonus points when transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to BA Avios.
Terms and conditions for Avis Car Rental promo:
- Qualifying reservations must be made between 16th November 2011 and 15th February 2012 for rentals commencing on or after 16th November 2011 and completed by 15th February 2012.
- To qualify, rental length must be minimum 2 days.
- To qualify, reservations must be made using a British Airways/Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number: Gold members N744400; Silver members N744300; Bronze members N284300; Blue members N744100. Reservations made on ba.com (post-pin) and avisba.com (with Executive Club passenger type selected) will automatically have the correct AWD embedded in the rental.
- To qualify, rentals must include the British Airways Executive Club membership number of the first named driver (the “renter”). This Executive Club card number must be given at time of reservation and the card shown at time of rental.
- Valid for all participating rental locations worldwide.
- Qualifying rentals will receive 6 Avios points per £1 spent on Avis car rental, instead of the usual 3 Avios per £1 spent.
- If the rental is not paid in £ sterling, then the currency will be changed to £ sterling at the Avis Exchange rate applicable on date of rental commencement (the date the car is collected). The final rental value used to calculate the Avios award will exclude any charges for damage (actual damage charges or insurance excesses charged due to damage) and will exclude all taxes.
- A minimum of 1000 Avios points and a maximum of 10,000 Avios points will be awarded per qualifying rental.
- Rentals made using Avis contracted (corporate/government) rates/AWDs, chauffeur drive, or van rentals do not qualify for Avios points. Travel industry staff rates including BA and Avis employee programmes, replacement/insurance rates, selected association programmes, and net rate programmes do not qualify for BA points.
- This Avios bonus is not valid on Prestige rentals worldwide.
- The awarding of Avios may take up to 8 weeks from date of rental.
- This promotion and all Avios issued are subject to Executive Club terms and conditions. (britishairways.com/conditions)
- Offer may not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or mileage offer.
- Renter must meet standard Avis age, driver and credit requirements.
Promoter: Avis Europe plc, Avis House, Park Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 2EW, United Kingdom. British Airways PLC is not a Promoter but is only a Supplier of the Avios.
*Today only* Save 20% on JetBlue flights for travel 1/4/12 – 2/15/12
For today only, save 20% when you book JetBlue Airways flights for travel 1/4/2012 - 2/15/2012. You need to use promo code WINTER12.
Offer details:
- Promo Code: WINTER12 (note that it is case sensitive)
- Bookings made today only, December 12, 2011 (until 11:59 PM ET)
- Travel period: January 4, 2012 - February 15, 2012
- Flights that originate in the US (including Puerto Rico)
- Offer valid for round-trip as well as one-way bookings
- Online offer only. Offer cannot be applied retroactively
How to Book:
Promo codes can only be redeemed online at jetblue.com/promo.
Search flights within travel dates listed above.
For roundtrip flights, both outbound and return dates must fall within offer period (1/4/12 – 2/15/12) in order for the discount to apply.
Enter code in promo code field exactly as it appears (case sensitive).
You must select flights in order for discount to appear. Once selected you will see the discount amount displayed in the itinerary sub-total on the right side of the flights page.
Only one code per reservation.
Terms and Conditions:
* Promo code is good 12/12/2011 only (until 11:59 PM ET) for 20% off the base fare for any JetBlue Airways flight originating from the United States (including Puerto Rico) between 1/4/2012 and 2/15/2012 purchased on jetblue.com/promo. Code (case-sensitive) is valid for new bookings only and will apply only once per reservation, regardless of the number of travelers. Customers purchasing roundtrip travel must select both outbound and return flights within the travel period in order to receive discount. Code cannot be combined with other offers, cannot be partially redeemed, has no cash value, is not redeemable for cash, but is transferable. If flight reservation is changed or canceled, a $100 fee per person will apply (plus any increase in fare), and the promo code will only apply to any modified or new reservation if it is booked on 12/12/11, is for travel within the eligible travel period, and otherwise satisfies all terms and conditions for this offer. Cancellations are for JetBlue travel credit only, valid for one year. If reservation is not changed/canceled prior to scheduled departure, all money associated with reservation is forfeited. All fares must be purchased at time of reservation, and are one-way and non-transferable. JetBlue reserves the right to deny boarding to passengers without proper documentation. Other restrictions apply. See http://www.jetblue.com/about/legal/legal.asp
*Last Day* Earn 25,000 bonus miles (for each partner) when you convert partner points to Air Canada’s Aeroplan miles
Until tomorrow, you can earn up to 25,000 bonus miles when you convert partner points to Air Canada's Aeroplan miles. You can earn up to 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for points converted from each of the eligible loyalty programs (listed below).
| Convert your points to... | Earn a bonus of... |
| 5,000 Aeroplan Miles | 1,000 Aeroplan Miles |
| 10,000 Aeroplan Miles | 2,000 Aeroplan Miles |
| 20,000 Aeroplan Miles | 4,000 Aeroplan Miles |
| 50,000 Aeroplan Miles | 10,000 Aeroplan Miles |
| 100,000 Aeroplan Miles | 25,000 Aeroplan Miles |
Since you earn this bonus with each eligible loyalty program you convert points from, you can earn up to 25,000 bonus miles with as many partners of the following partners as you want. Thus, you can add up to thousands of Bonus Aeroplan Miles in addition to base Aeroplan Miles you converted to. For easier reference, here is Air Canada Aeroplan's Award Chart and discussion of their devaluation earlier this year.
This is particularly an excellent use of WorldPoints earned through Bank of America Fidelity Rewards American Express credit card that earns 2 points per $ on any spend and carries no annual fee. For WorldPoints conversion to Aeroplan, please note that there is a transfer limit of 50,000 points on each transfer. Not to worry. Remember that the conversion number is cumulative and not based on a single transaction. Thus, you will have to do the transfer twice to reach that 100,000 transfer and earn 25,000 bonus.
- Financial Cards: Convert financial card points for bonus miles.
- Hotels and Car Rentals: Convert hotel loyalty points with Best Western Rewards™, Starwood Preferred Guest®, Marriott Rewards®, Hilton HHonors™, Hyatt Gold Passport™, Choice Privileges®, Goldpoints Plus, Coast Rewards, Shangri-La Golden Circle, AClub, and Wyndham Rewards®! For Car Rentals, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program members can exchange their points for Aeroplan Miles.
This promotion ends tomorrow, December 12.
Terms and Conditions:
1. Maximum 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles can be earned per eligible partner loyalty program per Aeroplan Member.
2. For clarity, Aeroplan Miles per loyalty program will be issued by Aeroplan based on the thresholds outlined as follows:
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles will be deposited into the member's account when the total Aeroplan Miles earned by converting points from that partners program is between 5,000 – 9,999 Aeroplan Miles; or
- 2,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles will be deposited into the member's account when the total Aeroplan Miles earned by converting points from that partner's program is between 10,000 – 19,999 Aeroplan Miles; or
- 4,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles will be deposited into the member's account when the total Aeroplan Miles earned by converting points from that partner's program is between 20,000 – 49,999 Aeroplan Miles; or
- 10,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles will be deposited into the member’s account when the total Aeroplan Miles earned by converting points from that partner’s program is between 50,000 – 99,999; or
- 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles will be deposited into the member’s account when the total Aeroplan Miles earned by converting points from that partner’s program is 100,000 or more.
3. The calculation of the "total" Aeroplan Miles earned per partner that qualify for the bonus is based solely on conversions made by the member with the partner, in accordance with the partner's terms & conditions, between November 21 and December 12, 2011.
4. Aeroplan is not responsible for errors or omissions made by the partner while executing the conversion transaction on behalf of their member. Bonus miles will be credited into the member's account by Aeroplan as each threshold is reached, and may take up to eight weeks from the date the member makes his/her request with the partner.
*Exclusive* Earn up to 50,000 ThankYou Points with a new Citibank checking account
You can now get up to 50,000 ThankYou points worth $500 in gift cards (or possibly up to $666.67 in airfare) with a new Citibank checking account. This is one the best bonus offer of the year for a new checking account. When you open a new regular checking account in the Citigold® Account Package, you can get 50,000 ThankYou Points. Or, if you open a new regular checking account in The Citibank® Account Package, you can receive 25,000 ThankYou® Points.
You can use your ThankYou Points for your favorite restaurants, top retailers, electronics and much more. However, the best value of ThankYou points is for airfare if you have a Citi ThankYou Premier or Prestige card linked to that ThankYou account. You can even transfer these points for free to another ThankYou account that is eligible for 1.33 cents per point in airfare redemption value. Citi ThankYou Preferred card is not eligible for this higher redemption value. I have talked about Citi's ThankYou Rewards program in this post.
The Citibank checking account benefits include:
- Convenient linking between your checking account and credit card
- Award-winning 24-hour online banking
- Fee-free access to over 30,000 ATMs nationwide
- Citi Mobile Apps for iPhone®, iPod touch® and Android™ devices3
- No monthly fee for debit card usage - no matter how you swipe it
Here's all you need to do:
- Open a new Citibank checking account in The Citigold Account or Citibank Account Package by 12/31/2011.
- Enroll the new checking account in Citi ThankYou Rewards.
- Within 45 days of account opening, initiate one direct deposit AND complete one electronic bill payment for two consecutive months.
Please note that the points earned through Citibank's banking activity like checking and savings accounts are taxable and you will receive form 1099-INT for it. However, for most people, the bonus may be too big and attractive to worry about a small percentage in taxes.
This is a limited-time offer, so open a new checking account and start getting rewarded.
No annual fee! Get 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and 0% APR for 6 months with Chase Ink Cash card (can be redeemed for $400 cash back)
For a limited time, you can earn 40,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards Points when you apply for a new Chase Ink Cash Business Card and spend $5,000 within the first 3 months. There is no annual fee for this card. It is not necessary for applicants to be a registered business owner. Any consumer can apply for this card under “sole proprietorship” and use their own name as business name and put in the SSN for Tax ID.
Some of the key highlights of this card include:
- Earn 40,000 Bonus UR Points when you spend $5,000 in 3 months. Can be redeemed for $400 cash back.
- To maximize the value of these points, it would be best if you have a Chase Ink Bold card or Chase Sapphire Preferred card which would give you the ability to transfer points to UA, CO, BA, KE, Amtrak, Marriott, Priority Club and Hyatt at 1:1 ratio. It is an excellent option to earn UA and CO miles (which are no longer easy to accumulate as AMEX points can no longer be transferred to CO as of October 1). I recommend converting the points to Hyatt points which are generally a better value than other Airline miles. An unadvertised benefit is that the points can be transferred to anybody else's account and names don't have to match making it easy to top-off the accounts for that elusive award.
- Earn 5% cash back or 5 points per $ on office supplies, cable and telecom services for first $25,000 spent in this category.
- Earn 2% cash back or 2 points per $ on gas and dining for first $25,000 spent in this category.
- Earn 1% cash or 1 point per $ on everything else.
- There is no limit on the number of reward points or cash back you can earn. These points will never expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
- 0% APR for first 6 months.
- No annual fee and free employee cards.
- This is a Visa card and thus comes with the benefit of wider worldwide acceptance, wherever Visa and MasterCard credit cards are accepted.
Once again, please note that Chase INK Cash is a charge card and not a credit card, so you pay in full each month in order to accrue no monthly interest charges.
Please note that this is a business charge card meaning that you will have to pay in full every month. Further, note that Business Cards do not fall under the new Card ACT and thus will not offer the same protection under ACT that personal cards do. It is because of this reason that we will see more banks offering Business cards with hefty sign-up bonuses in the coming months and will not be enforcing strict application reviews at the same time. They have to make money some way after all! As long as you are aware of this and understand the implications and are going to be paying off the balance in full every month, you may want to consider this offer. For most savvy people who like to milk the sign-up bonuses, and who use cards as a mode of payment and not a mode of credit, this offer is golden.
This is a good card option for those who are strictly looking for cards with no annual fee. Of course, there are plenty of good options for card with annual fee, some of which I have already discussed and many more that I will be talking about in future.
Continental OnePass miles transfer to Amtrak Guest Rewards to end Dec 31, 2011
The ability to transfer Continental OnePass miles to Amtrak Guest Rewards program is going away after Dec 31, 2011 once OnePass program ceases to exists. In 2012, the combined program will retain United's Mileage Plus name and is expected to continue with features of existing United Mileage Plus program while those of the current OnePass program will be gone.
Continental has rather a very attractive feature of transferring to Amtrak at 1:1 with no fee. I have used this feature in the past and recently redeemed 20,000 AGR points for a trip in Superliner Sleeper Bedroom from Colorado Grand Junction to Chicago as described in this post.
The developments are rather unnerving for most Continental OnePass program loyalists. Continental has had a strong partnership with Amtrak which serves CO's hub in Newark and provides better connectivity for CO's Northeast customers. CO and Amtrak even have a seamless codesharing agreement between the trains and flights. Amtrak tried to keep the relationship alive transitioning into the new MileagePlus, but has failed. This suggests that we will be seeing more of UA MP's rules and features and not CO's and should serve as a warning for the CO loyalists.
There is reciprocity between the Amtrak and Continental lounge access and memberships which will also end February 2012. Simply put, the re-branded United FFP and clubs will no longer be accessible to Amtrak users and vice-versa.
I am predicting the relationship between Continental and Virgin Atlantic to also go away, especially with access to London Heathrow to the new United. CO's relationship with Virgin Atlantic was motivated by Cotinental's lack of access to Heathrow. Now that they do have access to Heathrow under the new united, the importance of that relationship is diluted.
So, with this merger, Emirates partnership was put to rest, now Amtrak partnership is being killed. It is just a matter of time when partnerships with Virgin Atlantic and Eva Air are terminated. The best case scenario I am foreseeing is a separate award chart for both the partners just like how it currently exists for other non-Star Alliance Airline partners of United Mileage Plus as described in this post.
Thankfully, we will still be able to use our Chase Ultimate Rewards points to top off our Amtrak Guest Rewards (and Continental/United as well) for our train travel needs.
If you want to earn Chase UR points, apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred and earn 50,000 Chase UR points. Apply for Chase INK bold Business card for another 50,000 Chase UR points. You can also apply for a no annual fee Chase Freedom card for 30,000 Chase UR points (Freedom card does not have ability to transfer to partners unless you also have Chase Sapphire Preferred card).
You can also apply for no annual fee Chase Amtrak World MasterCard for 32,000 Amtrak Guess Rewards points with first purchase.
SPG Cash + Points awards are an excellent value, especially for Categories 3-6
So, I had wanted to do this for some time. Finally, I got a chance to analyze the much raved SPG Cash + points awards to figure out the sweet spot in the award table. These awards are indeed an excellent value with Category 4 hotel reservations to be the best value.
A lot of people value SPG points (AKA Starpoints) higher, I value them at around 3 cents per point. SPG sells them at 3.5 cents per point with occasional promotional offers of 20% discount for point purchase as the one offered right now. However, there is an annual purchase limit of 20,000 SPG points. In addition, Starpoint purchases can be made by members whose accounts have been active for a minimum of 30 days. Accounts that are less than the required 30 days in age will have the purchase attempt cancelled.
So, lets look at SPG award table which also lists Cash + Points awards. In the table below, I have also included the value of the virtual points that are being replaced by the cash portion of the award when compared with a Points Only redemption.
Cash + Points vs Points only: We see from the above table that the points savings from the Cash + Points awards are substantial. For example, for Category 4 award booking, $60 cash portion is used in lieu of 6,000 SPG points. Thus, these $60 cash portion is substituted for SPG points at the rate of 1 cent per point. This to most is an excellent value.
For other Categories, please the table above.
Cash + Points vs 5th night Free: As can be seen from table,the points savings in this case are also substantial, despite of having the 5th night free. The value may not be as good as for the Cash + Points vs Points only awards discussed but still is an extremely good value.
Not surprisingly, SPG does not offer Cash + Points awards for their highest category of hotels, i.e., category 7. But overall, their Category 3-6 prove to be fantastic value.
It is because of this reason, in addition to the ability to transfer to most major Airlines at 1:1 (or better) that SPG points is most favored loyalty based program. And the reason why people prefer to keep SPG AMEX card in their wallets at all times.
You can get up to 60,000 SPG points right now by applying for SPG AMEX credit cards as described in this post.
Earn 32,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards® points with new Amtrak Guest Rewards® World MasterCard® from Chase® (after first purchase)
Apply for Amtrak Guest Rewards® World MasterCard® from Chase® and after your first use, you'll earn 32,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards bonus points. There is no annual fee for this card.
Features of the card:
- No Annual Fee
- 2 Points per $ for Amtrak purchases
- 1 Point per $ for all other purchases
- 5% point rebate on Amtrak Travel Redemption.
- Ability to transfer Amtrak points to other travel partners (transfer ratios are attractive).
Here is a review of Amtrak Guest Rewards program which I happened to use in October for a trip from Colorado Grand Junction to Chicago in Superliner Sleeper Bedroom. I should say every bit worth the 20,000 points for 3 people and no taxes or no fees and all meals included. Your Amtrak points can easily be worth 6+ cents per point when redeemed for travel on Amtrak.
As an added benefit, Cardholders of the Amtrak Guest Rewards MasterCard® issued by Chase with an Amtrak travel spend on the card of $200 or more per calendar year can transfer Amtrak points to other AGR's partners. There is no transfer fee, however there is an annual point transfer limit of 25,000. The list of partners include:
- Continental Airlines at 1:1 in multiples of 5,000 points.
- Choice Privileges points at 1:3 in multiples of 5,000 points. Thus, 5,000 Amtrak points get you 15,000 Choice points (a great value).
- Hilton HHonors points at 1:2 in multiples of 5,000 points. Thus, 5,000 Amtrak points get you 10,000 Hilton HHonors points (a good value too).
- Broadway Showpoints at 1:1 in multiples of 1,000 points.
Amtrak points can also be used for:
- Gift Cards,
- Hertz Car Rentals,
- Hyatt and SPG Hotel Certificates,
- Celebrity and Carnival Certificates.
This is a good card option for those who are strictly looking for cards with no annual fee. Of course, there are plenty of good options for card with annual fee, some of which I have already discussed and many more that I will be talking about in future.
*Hot* *Limited time* Delta announces double miles for recipients under their double miles transfer promotion, ends December 16
From now through December 16, you can transfer Delta miles to your friend or family member’s SkyMiles account and the recipient will receive an additional 100% Mileage Bonus.
Transferring the miles to another account costs $10 for every 1,000 miles transferred plus a $30 fee for every transfer. transaction Miles can be transferred in multiples of 1,000 with a maximum of 30,000 miles in a single transfer transaction. Thus, you can transfer 30,000 miles to another SkyMiles account for $330 and the recipient will receive 60,000 miles deposited as part of the transfer. This effectively means that you are generating (or purchasing) Delta miles at 1.1 cent per mile.
Important points to note:
- There is an annual limit of 150,000 miles that be transferred out of any DL SkyMiles account.
- There is an annual limit of 300,000 miles that be transferred in to any DL SkyMiles account,
includingexcluding the bonus miles. Corrected after one of the readers reported that the bonus is excluded from this limit. I tested it and can confirm that the limit excludes the bonus miles under this promo. - The recipient account has to be at least 10 days old. Thus, you cannot open a new DL account for another family member and transfer miles into that account to generate DL miles at 1.1 cent per mile. Plus, the receiving account has to have earned at the minimum one DL miles in its lifetime.
Based on the limitations described in the last point, you have to open a new DL account right away to meet the 10 day requirement before December 16 promotion expiration date. And before you are ready to transfer the miles in to that new account, show some mileage earning activity in that account. The easiest way to earn DL miles on a quick notice is by transferring 1,000 AMEX MR points in it. Other potential ways include Delta SkyMiles shopping, dining, credit card sign-up, transferring other hotel points to DL, hotel stay credits to Delta SkyMiles account, and of course by flying.
For 120,000 DL miles, you can get a Business Class ticket from North America to virtually anywhere in the world (except Pacific Region which cost 150,000 DL miles) including Asia, Africa and South America. This means, you can get a Business Class ticket for $1320 plus taxes (or $1650 plus taxes to Australia/New Zealand/Pacific). As an example of one of my recent DL redemption, please check this post. It is an excellent value for a Business Class ticket to India during the peak season in December/January for $1320 plus ~$125 in taxes. Regular paid tickets in economy class would cost you more.
Bonus Examples:
| Transfer Miles | 100% Bonus | Total Miles | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | $80.00 |
| 10,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | $130.00 |
| 15,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | $180.00 |
| 20,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | $230.00 |
| 30,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | $330.00 |
Hurry! Offer ends December 16, 2011.
Terms & Conditions from Delta’s website:
Eligibility: Offer is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other offers. Transaction must be completed between now and December 16, 2011 to receive the 100% mileage bonus. The 100% mileage bonus offer expires at 11:59 CST on December 16, 2011. The 100% mileage bonus will be awarded to the transfer recipient’s SkyMiles account. The 100 % mileage bonus will post within 24 hours after the completed transaction. Offer does not apply to miles purchased under the SkyMiles Buy Miles or Gift Miles programs.
Transfer Miles may only be donated and received by SkyMiles accounts that have been established for at least 10 days and have earned at least one automatically posted mile since enrolling in the Delta SkyMiles program. Each member is limited to transferring no more than 150,000 miles from his or her account and no recipient may receive more than 300,000 transferred miles from any other SkyMiles program account or combination of accounts in any calendar year. Any miles beyond this limit will not be transferred from member’s account or posted to any recipient’s account.
Taxes and Fees: You will be charged $0.01 USD per mile, plus a $30 USD processing fee per transaction or as otherwise set forth on the order form. All amounts paid by the member for the transfer of miles pursuant to this Agreement are exclusive of any applicable taxes. A 5 % GST and/or other applicable taxes apply to residents of Canada on the $30 USD processing fee. Miles can be transferred in increments of 1,000 miles, with a minimum transfer of 1,000 miles. Transferred miles are applicable for all SkyMiles program awards. Transferred miles do not count toward Medallion or Million Miler status.
Award Travel: Taxes and fees for Award Travel are the responsibility of the passenger and must be paid at the time the ticket is booked. Award Travel seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or in all markets.
Miscellaneous: All Delta SkyMiles program rules apply. To review the rules, please visit delta.com/memberguide. Offers, prices and rules are subject to change without notice. Offers void where prohibited by law. Additional restrictions may apply.
Promotional Reference Code: Please refer Delta customer service representative to offer code 970641.
*Hot* Earn 60,000 (30,000 x2) SPG points with new American Express SPG Personal as well as Business credit card
This as a hot offer, as hot as it has ever been for SPG points (Starpoints) bonus when applying for the SPG AMEX card. Summary of what you get:
- You will earn 10,000 bonus SPG points after your first purchase.
- You will earn another 20,000 bonus SPG points points when you spend $5,000 within the first 6 months.
- First year annual fee is waived.
- You can apply for both, a personal card as well as a business card and each of them has a similar bonus structure.
SPG points are considered among the most valuable points because of the versatility they offer.
- You can convert SPG points to 29 different Airlines across the world at mostly at 1:1 ratio with few like Continental and United at 2:1 (not so great!) and LAN Airlines at 1:2 (great!).
- When transferring in multiples of 20,000 SPG points, SPG will add a 5,000 point bonus to your transfer, which means, your receiving account receives 25K miles (or 12.5K in case of United and Continental and 50K in case of LAN Airlines). Transferring to LAN can be a great value for short-haul, non-stop, round-trip award flights as discussed in this post.
- SPG points are a great value when using for hotel nights, especially with their rather generous points plus cash redemption.
- Award nights booked with SPG points also count towards elite status which is an added bonus.
- You also have the ability to transfer SPG points for no cost within the same household.
As an example, you can book a Category 2 hotel for 1,600 SPG points plus $30, where a typical paid night could be as high as ~$200. A regular points award would cost 4,000 points on a weekday night or 3,000 points on a weekend night.
Here is a look at SPG's award chart. SPG has a plenty of great properties across the world in the lower categories offering a great value for your points. In many cases, one can get more 10 cents per point in value from their SPG points.