Reminder: Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for the Kindle! Click here to go and enter! It ends in a few hours!
As I mentioned yesterday about blogging niches, I am not able to cover all facets of miles and points. Part of that is because there are some areas of the miles and points world that would be of little interest or value to a majority of my readers. Another part is that there are often many other bloggers that have done a lot better job of laying out the miles and points deal than I could. Because of that, I will do occasional round-ups of this information so that I make sure that all my readers do get as much of the information as possible. We will call it Miles and Points Sprint.
Miles and Points Sprint
RocketMiles – 5,000 Mile Bonus Today Only
RocketMiles is basically like a shopping portal for hotels. They deal with many different hotels and give you miles if you book the hotels through them. Some of the costs may be quite inflated over what you may be able to pay otherwise, but you will need to judge if the miles you receive from such a booking will outweigh the additional cost. Today is the 1 year anniversary of Rocketmiles so they are giving away 5,000 miles into one of several programs (in addition to the miles for the actual booking). Many of the hotels are priced higher than other sources but I also found others that are within a couple of dollars. If you have a stay upcoming, consider using Rocketmiles. Note, this 5,000 mile bonus expires today.
- RocketMiles Hotel Rate Analysis (Loyalty Traveler)
- Today Only: 5000 Bonus Miles for a Rocketmiles Hotel Booking (View from the Wing)
Barclays Credit Cards Give Free FICO Score
FICO scores are what the credit card issuers look for when they try to determine whether to give you that new credit card you applied for. To learn a bit about these scores, check this previous post. To get this all-important score, you normally need to pay a monthly service or a one-time fee for the access. Not anymore! Several Barclay Bank cards now show you what your FICO score, your real credit score is. This is a great perk offered to Barclay Bank customers and works with cards such as the US Airways Mastercard and the Barclay Arrival World Mastercard. Here is the link (sign-in first if you have the US Airways card and then click the link).
- Select Barclays Cards Provide Your Real FICO Score (HackMyTrip)
- Barclaycard Cardmembers Get Free FICO Scores Starting Today (The Points Guy)
Delta Brings Back Bonus MQMs
A number of years ago, Delta was in a very generous mood. They were giving double MQMs (elite qualifying miles) to people who departed and returned to certain airports. I took advantage of some of these, one of them being a quick round-trip (2 hours on the ground) to Sydney Australia. That one trip (because I left from Pittsburgh) netted me 42,000 MQMs because of the bonus. This new offer by Delta is not quite so lucrative. It centers this time on the city of Seattle – Seattle to the following cities: Anchorage, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Portland, San Diego, and San Francisco. It applies to flights that are booked by December 31st (if you register for the promotion first) and flown before October 31, 2014.
Starwood Is Selling Starpoints at a Discount
It is normally not a good idea to purchase miles and points because the cost is generally higher than whatever value you would place on them. One of the wildcards is Starpoints. They are so flexible plus they are hard to come by – there are no bonus categories (outside of SPG hotels) so earning is done at 1 point per dollar. To read a great analysis of it, check below.
American Express Platinum Now Gives Hilton Gold Status
Hilton Gold status can be picked up through several credit cards though only one credit card gives you Gold status as long as you hold it (Hilton Reserve card). American Express now is giving Platinum cardholders instant Hilton Gold status. Hilton Gold is the best of the hotel mid-tier status levels. One of the perks is free breakfast! Here is a way to pick up Hilton Gold status, as long as you hold the American Express Platinum card. All you have to do is call American Express and give them your Hilton number.
