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There are some nice year end point sales going on across the board. Both Alaska and Hilton are running best ever sales with 50% and 100% respectively. In fact, Hilton also increased their cap from 80k to 160k meaning you can purchase a grand total of 320k Hilton Honors. Used in the right way…that’s a helluva deal. The third, IHG, is offering a good sale at 80%, but not quite their best ever of 100%.
As we always note…award currency can fluctuate and devalue at the drop of a hat. These are solid opportunities to buy if you have a need, but I wouldn’t speculatively purchase.
Alaska Airlines – up to a 50% bonus or 1.97 cents a point.
Alaska Airlines is my favorite airline reward program. In fact, for the last two years I’ve been MVPG75, their highest status. The biggest reason is the value of their points when used to fly in super fancy partner airlines. From Cathay to Qantas, American, and BA, I’ve used Alaska miles to fly in some of the best cabins the air offers. You can read more about booking Alaska miles like a pro here.
Hilton – buy with a 100% bonus – up to 320k total points for $1600.
One of the most aspirational places to go in the world is Bora Bora. The Conrad Bora Bora just so happens to be 80k a night. With this deal, you could buy 4 nights at the Conrad for $1600. Even better, if you have Gold or Diamond status, you’d get a 5th night free when you book with all points. $320 a night for the Conrad Bora Bora that typically goes for nearly $1k is an insane deal. Read more here.
IHG – buy with a 80% bonus – max out at 180k points for $1k.
If you’re an IHG Premier cardholder and enjoy a 4th night free, this is a great way to fill your account up prior to that 4 night stay. If you’re like me and have the IHG Rewards Select and a 10% off Ambassador renewal, you can end up stretching those 180k points even further. Here’s an example.
The Intercontinental Sydney, pictured below, is 60k a night. With the IHG Rewards Premier you could book this for 4 nights and just pay 180k, or $1k. Great deal for a prime hotel in Sydney at $250 a night. If you’re like me and get the additional 20% back, you could end up paying just 144k points for all 4 nights. That is fantastic.
Air France 75% offer – good til January 2019 – 1.76 cents a piece.
This offer has been floating around all year and I’ve actually been able to utilize it with some award clients who needed some shoring up to hit an award booking.
Air France continues to offer great deals, especially when you can book far enough in advance and know which aircraft offer the following product: their incredible 1-2-1 reverse herringbone business class. Hint…772, 773, A330 ( some of them ) and avoid the A380 if possible.
Happy Shopping!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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