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Miles, Points and Travel Hacks | Weekly Round Up

Posted by: SteveHacksTravel , December 15, 2016

Miles Points Travel Hacks Weekly Round Up

Welcome to the Miles, Points and Travel Hacks Weekly Round-Up
for the week of December 11th

Each week we sift through all of the posts, blogs, PR, hyperbole and rumors, boil it down and share the best stuff with you. It’s beginning to look a lot like…. that crazy rush at the end of the year to reach elite status and feast on discounted points and miles. This week we’ll take a look at what’s out there that makes us want to break out our credit card. So, let’s get going.

Alaska Airlines Sale and Contest

Alaska Airlines December 2016 Sale and Contest
©2016 Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are one of the best travel currencies out there. They dropped down a notch back in March of 2016, when they announced a massive devaluation of the program for their partner, Emirates. Even with that move, there is still a lot of great value to be had with Alaska. Alaska partners with British Airways, Delta, American, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Korean and several more. First Class on Cathay can be had for a very cheap 140,000 miles round trip from the US to Asia, and that’s quite a deal.

Alaska Cathay Award Chart
Alaska Cathay Award Chart | ©2016 Alaska Airlines

Until December 31, 2016, you can buy Mileage Plan miles and get a 40% bonus on purchases of 30,000 miles or more. That’s not quite as good as the 50% bonus they feature from time to time but still a good deal. That’s about 1.9 cents each and they are conservatively valued at around 2 cents. You can access this deal right here. There is also a contest going on that will award 1,000,000 points to the winner and 500K and 250K to 2nd and 3rd place finishers.

Starwood Points Have Great Value

Starwood December 16 Points Sale
©2016 Marriott / Starwood

Now that the Marriott/Starwood merger is complete, elite status on either/both programs delivers a lot of value. Starwood points have always been one of the most valuable travel currencies as they transfer to great airline partners like Singapore Airlines, Delta, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Virgin, Asiana, Alaska, ANA and many more. Plus you can use or transfer your Starwood points for award stays at Marriott and Ritz Carlton properties.

Through December 31, 2016 they are having a sale on Starpoints that offers a 25-50% discount. This offer is somewhat targeted as the discount percentage changes based on your user profile. The non-discounted rate for Starpoints is 3.5 cents each and Starpoints are conservatively valued at about 2.2 cents each so it makes sense to buy them if you can get at least a 40% discount. Another good thing to remember is that Starwood will give you a 25% bonus when you transfer Starpoints to an airline program in increments of 20,000 (yielding 25,000 points). Transfers are limited to 79,999 per day so be sure to do some advance planning if you have a specific redemption in mind. You can access this offer here.

Delta Expands Their Elite Status Match Program

Of the 3 US major airlines, Delta is considered the best run. Their financial performance has been excellent and lately they have been introducing lots of changes to their Medallion program, their planes, lounges and other benefits. Diamond or Platinum Medallion status is definitely worth having, particularly if you live near a major Delta hub like Atlanta, New York, Minneapolis, Detroit, Salt Lake City or Los Angeles. If you have elite status on another airline, Delta has expanded their Status Match program to welcome even more airline elites to the Medallion program. It’s fairly simple and straightforward per the chart below.

FIRST, CONFIRM YOUR COMPARABLE STATUS WITH THE SKYMILES PROGRAM:

Delta SkyMiles Medallion Status

Silver

Gold

Platinum

Air Canada Altitude Status

Prestige 25K,

Elite 35K

Elite 50K

Elite 75K,

Super Elite 100K

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Status

MVP

MVP Gold

MVP Gold 75K

All Nippon Airways Mileage Club Status

Bronze

Platinum

Diamond

American Airlines AAdvantage Status

Gold

Platinum

Executive Platinum,

Platinum Pro,

Concierge Key

Asiana Airlines Asiana Club Status

Gold

Diamond

Diamond Plus,

Platinum

British Airways Executive Club Status

Bronze

Silver

Gold

Copa Airlines ConnectMiles Status

Silver

Gold

Platinum,

Presidential Platinum

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Fly On Status

Crystal

Sapphire

Premier,

Diamond

Lufthansa Miles & More Status

Frequent Traveler

Senator,

HON Circle Members

United Airlines Mileage Plus Status

Premier Silver

Premier Gold

Premier Platinum,

Platinum 1K,

Global Services

If you have status with another airline not listed above, you may still be eligible for this challenge. Please submit your information below to confirm eligibility.


Then, determine the MQMs or MQSs needed to retain status:

Delta SkyMiles Medallion Status

Silver

Gold

Platinum

Flight Requirements

6,250 MQMs or 8 MQSs

12,500 MQMs or 15 MQSs

18,750 MQMs or 25 MQSs

You won’t be able to match Diamond Medallion, but Platinum still provides nice benefits and enhanced access to upgrades. To maintain Platinum status you do need to earn 18,750 within 90 days of receiving your status match. A couple of trips across the Atlantic or Pacific in Business Class / Delta One will accomplish that easily. Further details on the program are available here. 

That’s all for this week. I hope you find some good value to enhance your own travel here at the end of 2016. As always, if you have any good tips, rumors, whispers, hints or observations, please send me an email – steve@travelzork.com

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Tags: alaska, american, American Airlines, ANA, Asiana, buy points, cathay, Cathay Pacific, challenge, Delta, diamond, elite, Elite Status, etihad, gold, Japan Airlines, Korean, Korean Air, Marriott, medallion, miles and points, Platinum, points, points.com, qatar, Starpoints, Starwood, status match, value

SteveHacksTravel

About the author

Steve has spent the last 35 years traveling around the world for both business and pleasure. He is a Delta Three Million Miler and has earned top tier elite status with multiple Airline and Hotel Programs. One year after a very long mileage run to Japan to qualify for Delta status, he decided to get serious about finding the best way to travel better for less and started building a portfolio of travel hacking tools and techniques. If there's good travel, hotels, food, wine, spirits and company to be had, there's a way to have it for less.

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