Let me start by saying “thank you” to all of you veterans. I have the utmost respect for veterans and the sacrifices they have made for our country. I hope you had a great weekend and that you were able to spend it with your families!
Miles, Points, and Deals
- Great Deal: Buy Alaska Miles with up to a 50% Bonus for Great Premium Awards – If there were any miles you were ever going to buy, Alaska miles are the ones! They open up some amazing business and first class award tickets on some of the world’s best carriers. Just look at it as buying an economy ticket and flying business instead!
- TopCashBack Holiday Payout Bonus – If you have some funds in TopCashBack, you can redeem that for up to a 10% bonus on your payout methods! This means that you can get gift cards with a nice bonus increase, but only for a little while longer.
- New “Amazon Day” and Free Shipping for All – This was a nice touch by Amazon as we head into the busiest shopping season – free shipping for all with no minimum spending! Plus, they are introducing a new feature for Prime members called “Prime Day” that will let you pick your delivery day.
- A New Aeroplan Transfer Bonus is Live for a 30% Bonus on Transferred Points – If you have some hotel points, specifically Marriott points, this is a nice transfer bonus to convert them to Aeroplan miles for premium awards.
- New App Update for American Airlines Lets You Book Awards – American Airlines has finally copied the other airlines with a good move – the ability to book AA and partner awards from within the AA app. This is a nice improvement so you can book those awards right away when they pop up.
- The First Andaz in the Middle East is Now Open – The Andaz brand is one that mixes local flavor with a more comfortable atmosphere (plus free snacks and non-alcoholic drinks from the minibar). The Capital Gate Andaz is now the first one of the brand in the Middle East.
- The DJI Mavic Air Is Available at a Great Price – The Best Travel Drone – I have owned a few different DJI drones, the DJI Spark, the DJI Mavic Pro, the Mavic Air and the Mavic 2 Pro. The most travel friendly drone of them all is the DJI Mavic Air and it is a great little drone! If you want one, this is a great deal for one.
- Great Amex Offer for Best Buy – I am honestly not sure if this one is still available since I saved it to my card and it does not appear after that. But, it is worth a quick look in your account, especially if it is for 3,000 Membership Reward points!
- Great Deal! Garmin Fenix 5 Plus Series with a Big Discount – The high-end Garmin Fenix 5 Plus series is now on sale for at least $150 off the regular price. These watches come with built-in map functions, Garmin Pay, music playback, great battery life, and more!
- The 2019 JetBlue Schedule Extended – Book for Labor Day – If you are the type of traveler that likes to lock in travel for months away, this is the time to do that with JetBlue!
There were some other deal posts as well but they have since expired so I left them out. But, if you like deals, make sure you follow the blog over the next few weeks as there are going to be some incredible deals!
On the points side of things, I ended up having some unpleasant interactions with a frequent flyer program I am a part of. Fortunately, I was able to keep my account but ended up losing some miles due to their claim that they were obtained under program abuse. Maybe I will do a post on this at some point but it is too recent right now to talk in details about it. I love it when they care about “program integrity”! 🙂
I hope you have a great week! I am finally getting to check out the Grand Hyatt Athens tomorrow and, I have to say, the new Hyatt award options really unlocked some great opportunities for it!
Boarding my First Class bus service from JFK to SFO. Airport lounge doesn’t honor Priority Club membership or First Class ticket so I’ll be using my 400k on Emirates and it will be a cold day in hell before this disabled veteran flys Alaska again.