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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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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