The ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China has certainly generated huge impact on the travel industry worldwide. We have seen airlines cancelling flights to and from China, and many hotels in China remain close. Needless to say, lots of people have to change or cancel their travel plans, affecting their ability to reach elite status this calendar year. Given this situation,…
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[2019.12 Update] Today Marriott changed its official terms and conditions, and the 10 elite night credit for Marriott Bonvoy Events will officially end on Dec 31, 2019. A strong rumor recently surfaced among the Points & Miles community (1, 2) regarding Marriott’s intent to get rid of the ability to earn 10 Elite Qualifying Nights from your first Marriott Bonvoy Events…
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Starting from today, you can redeem your AAdvantage Miles towards flights operated by China Southern (CZ). At the same time, you could also earn redeemable miles on all CZ-operated and -coded flight, with an earning rate outlined below. Understandably, the accrual rate is pretty bad on some heavily discounted cabin, and you should also be aware that it will NOT…
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After its merge with SPG program, Marriott incorporated a lot of legacy SPG policies, including the No Blackout Dates policy, stating that if a standard room is available for sale by any means, it should be redeemable using points. However, we recently found that Marriott has changed its no Blackout Dates policy without announcement. Here’s the new policy: 3.2.n. The…
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Yesterday we noticed that American Express has just added Avianca LifeMiles as one of the Membership Rewards transfer partners. The transfer rate is currently 1:1. The partnership between Amex and LifeMiles undoubtedly boosted the value of Membership Rewards points, especially in terms of redeeming Star Alliance flights. Now Amex has four SA partners: Avianca LifeMiles, ANA Mileage Club, Air Canada…
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[Update] Citi has now announced changes via TPG. The 4th night free benefit will be limited to 2 times per calendar year, and the annual fee will become $495. See the update part of Citi Prestige review for more details. Today one of our readers reported that a new point earning structure will come to Citi Prestige later this year. He…
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As you may be aware, Marriott and Starwood Hotels merged their IT systems and points on August 18, 2018 (five days ago). This was a huge deal in the points and miles world because Starwood points were being converted into Marriott points, accounts were being merged, there was a travel package bonanza, lots of IT issues, and brand new credit…
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Back in late April United opened its second Polaris Lounge in San Francisco, and it was a truly amazing lounge. At the preview event, we were told that the next Polaris Lounge to be opened will be United’s fortress hub at Newark. Indeed, a couple of days ago it was announced that EWR’s Polaris Lounge will be open to public…
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Disclaimer: The following passage is the author’s sole interpretations of Marriott’s policy and may not reflect the opinions held by US Credit Card Guide or Marriott International and its affiliates. The author bears no responsibility for the inaccuracies/inconsistencies of such interpretations and any consequences arising from such inaccuracies/inconsistencies. Everyone in the game of points-and-miles by now should have probably heard…
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Qatar Airways currently holds the “best all-around business class” distinction thanks to the innovative Qsuite. It is the first business class seat in the industry with a sliding door, and the ability to convert into a double-bed for center seat. No wonder Lucky at One Mile at a Time proclaims Qsuite is the best business class seat in the world….
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Well this was developing FAST! A couple of days ago we shared the news that the SPG website will go down on August 1st. Back then we were wondering why Marriott and SPG had not made any official announcement, particularly given how close we were to the purported deadline. Now, two pieces of new information just emerged and may shed…
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People used to earn a lot Amex Membership Rewards points by getting sign-up bonuses from different versions of Platinum cards. They currently offer Platinum, Mercedes-Benz Platinum, Schwab Platinum and Ameriprise Platinum for normal users. You at least can get 195k MR points by simply getting sign-up offer of these Platinum cards. However, if you go to application page of AmEx…
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I believe many of you still remember that Marriott and Anbang Insurance became the last two players to buy SPG after SPG Hotel Group revealed its willingness to sell itself in 2016. At that time, the two sides constantly offered higher prices. At some stage, the Anbang Insurance Group prevailed, and offered a price that Marriott can not afford. What’s…
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So by now you’ve probably heard that SWISS opened the floodgates of First Class award space last Thursday. SWISS does not USUALLY release its F space to partners, so this is a truly rare occurrence. However, I underscore “usually” because things like this happened in the past. When in June 2016 SWISS temporarily allowed such partner redemptions, all ticketed reservations…
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Alaska announced a devaluation of their partnership with American a few days ago. The major changes are related to how flight credit is earned. For domestic travel, you have to fly American on an Alaska codeshare to earn Alaska miles. Similarly, you need to fly Alaska on American codeshares to earn miles/credit with American’s AAdvantage program. Elites for both programs…
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