I’m on vacation until April 7th and I hope you are following me on Instagram because I’m posting lots of great pictures… Emirates First Class, the Al Maha Resort in Dubai, the W Maldives (that starts Thursday) and more…. You can also still ask questions and get quick replies on the MilesTalk Facebook Group.
But I’ll only be posting a few times before April 7th because, well, it’s important to relax on vacation now and then! I am definitely working n not just a review of Emirates First Class, but a side-by-side comparison of Emirates First vs. Etihad First (The Battle of the First Class Suites with Showers).
Still, I don’t want anyone to miss anything big and I never stop following the world of miles and points, so here are a few things to know so far this week…
In this article
Venture 10% off Hotels.com Not Ending (Probably)
It’s been stated for a while now that the benefit of the Capital One Venture card wherein you can earn 10x Venture miles (now transferable to airlines) is valid through January 2020. That’s when the benefit is currently set to expire, though it may or not be renewed. Recently a number of sites took this to mean the benefit IS ENDING, which is completely unconfirmed. Gary Leff explains…
Avianca LifeMiles for 1.2 cents
By transferring points to a friend or partner during this Avianca special you can effectively get Avianca LifeMiles for 1.2 cents. It’s a good deal if you have a redemption in mind. I would not transfer speculatively to LifeMiles. The Frequent Miler explains the deal.
United Shifting to More Variable Pricing
Several outlets are noting that you can now book many shorthaul United routes for as little as 5,000 MileagePlus miles. They also correctly point out this is a move towards matching Delta’s customer unfriendly dynamic pricing that aims to make sure you can never get a “deal” with miles. More award seats, but less value. I have *definitely* been noticing more and more dynamic award pricing on pretty much all United routes. It’s not good for us…. and it’s likely getting worse. If you want more info, here’s a Doctor of Credit report on the subject.
IHG Variable Pricing
Points Adventure at Saverocity notices some hotels pricing at different rates. Could this be the start of their variable pricing? (I hope not, but they already said it’s coming…)
25% off Iberia Express awards
Book by April 30th for flights in Europe. Details.
Apple Credit Card
Last, but also least, Apple has made a big splash with their new cash back credit card.
- 2% back on everything when you use Apple Pay.
- 3% back on Apple.
- Physical card not at Apple earns 1%.
It’s getting quite a yawn in the points community (thread on Reddit), but at least now you know to warn your friends off of it.
That’s it for now…. and it you haven’t already checked out the credit card rewards optimization site I launched last week, please do…. It’s really cool. Promise.
Questions? Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available now.
