125K Bonus Offer on the Marriott Amex Brilliant Ends 1/13

 

You only have a few more days to take advantage of the 125,000 bonus point offer on the luxury Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express card. It's a great offer if you qualify and don't let the hefty annual fee scare you. 

Let's break it down. The offer:

• a $5000 minimum spend in the first 3 months 
• earn 100,000 points 
• earn a 25,000 point bonus on your one-year anniversary 
• plus earn the 50,000 points FREE night certificate
• $450 annual fee
• $300 Marriott hotel credit that's good for one year
• Priority Pass Airport Lounge Membership
• Global Entry $100 credit
• a monthly $15 Uber cash credit
• Platinum Elite status (bonus points on stays, room upgrades, a welcome gift which could be breakfast, bonus points or other amenities, hotel lounge access, late checkout, and enhanced wifi). 

This card comes with a lot of goodies which brings the hefty annual fee down to a reasonable rate. 

So what can you get with 125,000 Marriott points? I like Marriott points second only to Chase Ultimate Reward points. Marriott points are super flexible since you transfer them to dozens of airlines including United, American, Alaska, Delta, and more. And when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points to any airline, the points transfer 3:1, you get a bonus of 5,000 miles, so your 60,000 Marriott points are worth 25,000 miles on any airline. United actually gives you a 10% bonus on top of the 5,000-mile bonus. 25,000 miles can get you a round trip ticket across the US or one way to Europe or South America. 

Obviously, you can use the points to book hotel rooms at any of the Marriott Bonvoy brands which include Marriott, Starwood/Sheraton, Fairfield Suites, Springhill Suites, Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, W Hotels, Courtyard, Aloft, Moxy and more. The rewards chart includes peak and non-peak rates: 

Marriott also offers a travel portal where you can use points for car rentals, cruises, and more, but check around because you may be able to get more value elsewhere. 

This American Express offer is only good through Jan. 13, 2021 so hurry. You can only get this card once in a lifetime so plan accordingly. You don't qualify for the bonus if you have had an active JP Morgan Ritz Carlton card in the last 30 days, you were approved for the Bold or Boundless in the past 90 days, you received a points upgrade from Marriott in the past 24 months, you previously had this card or the Starwood luxury Amex. 

If you aren't sure if you qualify, don't worry. American Express has a handy tool that will let you know when you are submitting your application if you are eligible for the welcome bonus. And at that point, you can continue with your application and American Express will pull your credit report or you can end the application without the hard pull. 

Pretty sweet! 

Amazing Daily Deals From American Airlines

 

In order to encourage travelers to fly again, American Airlines has launched daily deals. You can find the deal on this website. It launched on Monday, Jan. 4th with a kids fly FREE deal to the Caribbean. On Tuesday, there were cheap flights to warm places. 

You will have to check daily and move quickly to take advantage of this. Even if you aren't sure you want to fly right now, it might be worth purchasing one of these daily deals since American's flight change policy is so generous. 

Right now, American is waiving change fees on tickets purchased through Jan. 31, 2021 so you may have a lot of flexibility. 

Happy Holidays From All Of Us

 

As we approach the end of the strangest year I've ever experienced, I am humbled. This year, I have been forced to slow down, explore my neighborhood and my home city. My son put it best when we were considering heading to Hawaii over the holidays, he said "we live here, why do we need to go somewhere else?"

Yep, we live here. We are fortunate to live in San Diego and lots of people come here for vacation. So why do we want to explore somewhere else in the middle of a pandemic? Good point. 

So for now we stay put, explore our home town, enjoy time with our immediate loved ones, and watch a lot of sunsets. And when I have downtime, I look at travel websites and dream of a time when we can travel again. 

It's not too bad. So this holiday season, wherever you live, enjoy the moments, the treasures of your hometown like a tourist. And we wait together for better times in 2021. 

Alaska Airlines BOGO Promotion Is Back

 

It's back! Alaska Airlines just brought back the BOGO sale, but you need to hurry. You must book your ticket by Dec. 28th, 2020 for travel anytime from January 12, 2021-May 19, 2021. 

The sale is valid on most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays for most flights. For flights to Hawaii, Mexico, and Costa Rica, the sale is offered on Monday - Wednesday, and the return is offered on Tuesday-Thursday. Blackout dates: Feb. 11-15, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10, 17, 2021. You will need to use the code LETSGOBOGO in the booking form.  and enter 2 travelers. 

I did a quick search of flights to Honolulu from San Diego and I found plenty of availability for the low fares. 

The return was a bit more expensive. So the total for two people came to $246.40 round trip, pretty good. Now I have a Southwest Companion Pass and if you compare, it's a better deal to fly Southwest. If you use points for your trip, then it's almost FREE which is the best, of course. 

Remember, you must book your travel by December 28th at 11:59pm PT. If you pay for your reservation with your Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, you will earn 2x points on travel and with your Reserve you will earn 3x points. You can read about why these are my two favorite cards here and if you decide to apply for one, please consider using my referral link. 

New Ways To Redeem Miles With Barclays Arrival Card

 

If you hold a Barclays Arrival Plus Mastercard (closed to new applicants), you have a new way to redeem your miles, but just for a few weeks. 

Many of the leading credit cards like Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve are offering new ways to redeem points other than travel since many of us have not traveled in 2020. I just redeemed thousands of Chase Ultimate Reward points to pay for my bathroom remodel - woohoo! 

And many of these new redemption methods are offering better value than using them for travel. 

Now Barclays is allowing you to redeem your miles for credit on gas, grocery store, and restaurant purchases. 

This offer is only valid through January 31,2021, but you can use them to erase purchases made in the past 120 days. 

As usual, you will also earn 5% of redeemed miles back to use on future redemption. 

Chase FREEDOM and FLEX Q1 Bonus Announced

 

One of the benefits of the no annual fee Chase FREEDOM (closed to new card holders) and the new FLEX card are the rotating 5% or 5x points bonus categories. 

Both of these cards earn Chase Ultimate Reward Points which are my new favorite due to their flexibility to use for hotels, airlines, and cashback. I just used the points to pay for part of my bathroom remodel.  You can check out how I am maxing out these points right now. 

Chase just announced the bonus categories for Q1. Drumroll, please. The categories are wholesale clubs (Sam's BJ's and Costco), cable, internet, phone, and some streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Spotify and more). These bonus categories are for spending between Jan. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2021. 

Note that Costco only accepts Visa in store so the FREEDOM FLEX which is a Mastercard will not be accepted, however, if you have the FREEDOM card, you can use that. 

You need to activate this offer by clicking here. You can activate any time before March 14, 2021, but I like to do it early. 

If you don't have the FREEDOM Flex card yet, you can apply for it here using my referral link. You will get 20,000 points for a $500 minimum spend plus 5x points on grocery purchases up to $12,000 or one year. It's a no annual fee card so it's pretty much a no brainer. 

Last Day To Convert Southwest Travel Funds To Points

 

Earlier this year, Southwest announced that you could take leftover travel funds stored in your account and convert them to points instead of letting them expire. But today, December 15th, is the last day to do that. 

What are travel funds?

When you cancel a Southwest flight, Southwest will ask you if you want the difference or the taxes returned to your credit card or stored in your account as travel funds. If you chose travel funds, they are stored in your account until you book your next flight. 

Side note, I always choose to refund the dollars to my credit card unless I'm rebooking right away. Southwest has made it easier to find your travel funds and use them since it changed the computer program earlier this year, but it's still easier to just refund to your card. 

To convert your travel funds

1. log into your Southwest account

2. Click on my account

3. Click on the banner at the top that talks about travel funds

4. Click on the tab "My Travel Funds" 

5. If you have any that are eligible to convert, click the convert button 

The points should be added to your account immediately and you can use them for any future flight. Southwest points and the Southwest companion pass are great because they are so flexible. You can read about both here. 

The Southwest credit cards are one of the easiest ways to earn points fast, right now, the personal cards are offering a bonus of 80,000 points. If you decide to apply, please consider using our referral link.