Book First Class to Japan for 85K Amex Points, Southwest Still “Hiding” From Many Countries, Great Hotel Card Offers, and More!

Happy Monday! Here are the posts from the past week here on Running with Miles. We have entered August – and a very hot month it is already! Hopefully, you are able to stay cool wherever you are now. It would seem to be a great time to head way south of the equator for a trip, if you have some vacation time.

Miles, Points, and Deals

• Airlines Should Waive Close-In Booking Fees on Anytime Awards – Airlines love their fees! But, close-in booking fees are really just an outright and greedy money grab when customers book these kinds of awards.
• The Popular Amex Blue Business is Back with a Sign-Up Bonus + Get 2X Points Everywhere! – This card earns 2 Membership Reward points everywhere and it now comes with a sign-up bonus as well. With no annual fee, this card should definitely be in your wallet!
• The Best Single Tip for Beginning Runners – It Will Make It Easier For You! – If you are a new runner, this single tip will make the new journey in running much easier!
• Security Confusion: These Knives Are Allowed on US Airplanes From This Airport But Not Some Powders? – This is the kind of thing that makes me shake my head about how things are handled with security for US airlines. You cannot take some powders on airplanes but you can take these knives on US-bound airplanes!
• How to Get a US Passport In As Little As 1 Hour! – If you ever need a passport in a hurry, it is actually possible to get one in as little as 1 hour!
• Southwest, the “Nothing to Hide” Airline, Is Still Hiding Their Website From Many Countries – Southwest has been a pretty customer friendly airline, yet they still have multiple, “normal” countries on their block list for accessing their website.
• JetBlue Promo: Fly Now, Get 20% Off Later (Is This a Bad Promo – Or Is It Just Me?) – This promo expires today, but it is definitely not one of JetBlue’s better promotions!
• Transfer Bonus: Unlock Some Awesome Premium Awards With Fewer Amex Points! – Use this new transfer bonus to get some awesome premium awards for fewer Amex points!
• New 25% Amex Transfer Bonus to JetBlue – There is another new transfer bonus that will make MR points transfer to JetBlue at 1:1. This could be nice if you want to redeem for some JetBlue flights.
• New Amex SPG Card Offer: Earn 75,000 Bonus Points (Marriott Points) – The new SPG offers are here – this one is for the personal card and offers 75,000 Marriott points. Find out the details!
• New Amex SPG Business Card Offer: Earn 100,000 Points (Marriott Points) – And here is the business version! This one almost matches the best SPG business card offer ever offered.
• Wells Fargo Compelling Combination of Cards – Wells Fargo may not be your first choice for credit cards but Dustin shows you how they do have some nice deals to offset travel costs when use in combination.
• An Amex Offers Devaluation Has Hit – Hard (No More Saving to Multiple Cards) – American Express has never shied away from devaluing certain aspects of their program and this devaluation hits the deal-seekers particularly hard.
• TSA Considering Eliminating Security Screening At Over 150 Airports – This will likely never happen but it is interesting to hear about what kind of things are being discussed. More than anything else, I think a move like this would create an even bigger nightmare of travel traffic at the major hubs.
• Use Your Smartphone or Smartwatch to Get Cash at Almost 16,000 Chase ATMs – Now you can leave one more card at home – your smartwatch or smartphone will now let you withdraw cash at 16,000 Chase ATMs.
• New Hyatt Alliance Opens Point Opportunities at Over 500 Small Luxury Hotels of the World – Great news for Hyatt loyalists! There are still some details we will need to find out but this could be very promising!
• Save 20% on Award Tickets to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean As a United Credit Cardholder – If you have the United credit card, you can take advantage of a nice discount on some awards.
• United Is Launching Washington, DC to Tel Aviv – Book Business with 45K Partner Miles (when you can find it)! – United is dominating the flights from US airlines to Israel – with this newest addition of DC to Tel Aviv, Star Alliance customers now have choices of flying from San Francisco, Newark, or Washington DC non-stop to Israel.
• Best Offer Ever: 105,000 IHG Points + $50 Credit with IHG Premier Card – This is the best IHG credit card offer ever and it will give you a lot of points to plan some vacations.
• Use Points to Play Basketball with NBA Star Dwayne Wade + 2 Night Hotel Stay – If you are a basketball fan, chances are this SPG Moments package will excite you! You can redeem your points for a 2 night hotel stay and a chance to play a little basketball with Dwayne Wade!

That’s it for this week! Have a wonderful week!