The Venture X card keeps getting better with new lounges and features. Read up on the latest changes and updates.

Enough already. If I wanted to spend my weekends using Excel spreadsheets I’d become an accountant. I don’t want any more credit cards that require me to keep detailed books and tabs on my “benefits”, just to justify the annual fee.

I just want an awesome credit card that rewards my spending handsomely, and gives me easy wins I can justify carrying the card for, from day one and every day after that.

No more math, no more making me sign up for things I don’t really want or need, but feel like I need, just to get better value out of my credit card. Just make it great, right?

Capital One has given us the premium rewards credit card we all deserve, which pretty much does just that — and more. If you’re on the fence, here’s all the details.

Capital One Venture X

The Capital One Venture X is about to turn two, but already, it really is the credit card we deserve. The annual fee is $395, but each year you get $400 in card value right away — and each year thereafter too.

If you do it right, you get so much more. There’s no proverbially clipping through silly coupons via the offers portion of your online account every weekend, just to justify the card.

For a limited time, the welcome bonus and benefits are extra incredible! The TL;DR version is that this new Capital One card is…

• Big Earning: Up To 10X Points Per Dollar.
• Easy Rewards: Simple Credits And Perks, Including Exciting Lounge Access.
• Revolutionary: New Travel Protections And Help You Might Actually Use!
• Perks For Family: Benefits For Users Without Fees.

Venture X: The Initial Rewards

Ok, so first off, there’s currently 75,000 points on the table as a welcome bonus. That’s amazing. But as to the long term viability of this card, there’s a lot more to it.

Each year, Capital One Venture X offers a simple $300 travel credit, which covers $300 of any travel purchase made on Capital One Travel, even if the overall amount is more. This can include flights, cruises, car rentals.

On top of this, you also get 10,000 points, annually, which is enough to erase up to a $100 purchase on your account, or you can simply use as 10,000 miles with the Capital One airline or hotel transfer partner of your choosing, like Emirates or British Airways.

A year later, this card is even better.

Capital One Venture X includes generous airport lounge access, not just for Capital One Lounges including the recently opened Washington Dulles Lounge, but also with Priority Pass and some Plaza Premium.

It’s a phenomenal way to transform the airport experience in most airports around the world. You’ve got a space to relax, and yeah, probably to grab a drink and toast, too!

Since the launch of the Venture X Card, Capital One has also added more 1:1 points transfer partners, Virgin Red — better known as the umbrella program for the likes of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Hotels is one. Virgin Red gives access to things like Voyages. You can convert Capital One Miles into miles with so many airlines.

This means, among others, you can transfer your Venture Miles to Virgin or Virgin Atlantic with ease. Virgin is one of the best opportunity to book premium and upgrade to business class, or use miles on partners like ANA. Here’s all the transfer partners for Capital One…

• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• Finnair Plus
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Air Portugal Miles & Go
• Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
• Virgin Red (Virgin Atlantic)
• Wyndham Rewards

75,000 Points Is Phenomenal!

As noted, Capital One is offering a generous 75,000 point card welcome bonus after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of holding the card. All approvals will be able to take advantage of the annual $300 Capital One Travel credit.

There’s also now a Capital One Venture X Business card with a whopping 150,000 point welcome bonus too.

There’s most of your annual fee back right away, plus 75,000 transferrable points, so then it’s all about what the card can do for you and why it matters. Answer: quite a lot. Some things, 10X Miles at a time!

More Capital One Venture X Perks

Capital One has historically partnered with brands like Turo, and Venture X members received a huge 10X points per dollar spent on Turo rentals. A $1,000 rental would earn 10,000 miles, which could be transferred to airlines, or used as cash back.

Capital One also announced a variety of new memberships and credits.

As part of the unveil, a new “Premier Collection” of hotels has been introduced. A new membership to PRIOR, a trip planning service valued at $149 a year is also included with the $395 a year card fee.

There’s an additional $220 value on Cultivist, which gets free museum access. The complimentary six months to ‘The Cultivist’ allows free access to over 100 museums, including the Guggenheim and Musee D’Orsay.

New “Premier” Collection Of Hotel Perks

As part of this year’s unveils, a new “Premier Collection” of hotels has also been introduced.

At these hand selected properties, Capital One Venture X members who book through Capital One Travel will receive a $100 hotel credit, breakfast for two and other features on all stays is now a fixture of the program. Any standard Venture cardholders don’t receive access to this curated new collection, which adds value to the “X” factor card.

Tons Of Value

Those new things alone are worth up to $540 — not bad for a $395 a year card. Plus, add up $100 in credit for dining or hotel services on each stay, and that can stack up — fast! You’re not even factoring in the value of lounge access, or the $300 travel credit.

Getting Approved For A Capital One Venture X Card?

So far, all reports suggest that it’s much easier to get this incredible new card than it’s been to get many other Capital One cards historically. It didn’t use to be that way.

Even people with more than one new Capital One Card in the last six months are being approved, as are people who already have two or more card total Capital One cards.

If you’ve got excellent credit and don’t mind adding a new inquiry, that seems to do the trick for applications, based on the data points we’ve seen. This is an exciting update, and most people are being approved with credit lines north of $20,000, since the minimum line is $10k!

Yep, the Capital One Venture X is a Visa Infinite Card, which means there are great little cardmember extras on top of the specific benefits offered by Capital One.

Venture X: The Card Perks

What separates Capital One’s Venture X from the Venture Card? Massive earning, airport lounge access and a $300 annual travel credit, among others. The travel delay protections are also phenomenal.

A big difference with this Venture X card versus others, is that the included travel protections are things you actually want to use, rather than just things like collision coverage or trip delay insurance, which you really don’t want to need to use.

Points Earning

Capital One Venture X will earn 10X on hotels and car rentals through Capital One Travel and 5X on airfare via the same. For everything else, it’s 2X everywhere. There’s a lot more to this than just points earning though, as you’ll soon see.

Since Capital One Venture Miles can be redeemed at 1 cent per point of value toward travel, this effectively makes for a minimum of 2% cash back on all of your purchases, since the card earns at least 2X.

On hotel purchases through Capital One Travel, you’re earning 10% back, which is big.

For what it’s worth, Capital One has also offered increased earning rates throughout the years on bespoke partners, with offers like 5X on UberEats, so it’s always possible to earn more on non travel spend with the card, via these opportunities.

Travel Protections: No Hassle Cancellation, Price Drop & Freeze

Capital One is taking a different approach to the “use our travel site” game than Amex or Chase, so far. And yes, they all want you to use their travel booking sites very much.

Instead of just creating a decent travel booking site and offering more points for using it, Capital One bought travel tech company ‘Hopper’, so that it can offer a world class travel booking site, and new and unique benefits for cardmembers who do use it, in addition to the extra points.

Basically, there is real reason to use it, beyond points. One of those? Hassle free, no reason cancellation options on all airline tickets.

The two most blockbuster of these Capital One moves is the new price prediction tool, which dishes out partial refunds to cardmembers when it’s wrong, and the ability to purchase “no reason” cancellation for a small fee.

Capital One’s new price prediction tool gives cardmembers a refund on the difference in price, if the flight booking engine tells someone to book a flight and then the flight price goes down.

There are also bespoke features like price lock, which lets you freeze a good flight deal for up to 14 days to lock in a good price, and features like no hassle cancellations for a full refund.

If you book a flight and no longer can, or want to travel for any reason, you get money back, minus the fee paid for the cancellation protection or terms of the deal. It’s kinda like travel insurance, but actually much better.

GSTP would argue that Capital One Travel offers one of the most consumer friendly air travel booking experience of any travel website, thanks to these customer centric price drop and lock features. Who wouldn’t want a price tracker and predictor that gives money back? It’s far better than what airlines offer their own customers.

Trip Delay & Other Protections Too

As you can see, there are lots of features that are really handy to use regularly within the travel protection space. But as one might hope, there’s plenty of coverage for the things you don’t want to use, like…

• Primary Rental Car Collision Waiver: This counts as up to $75,000 toward collision or damage as the primary cover for rentals.
• Trip Delay Coverage: Up to $500 per person for necessary items and hotels during trip delays. Super handy, as airlines continue to cut customer service policies!
• Lost Luggage Protection: If your bag fails to turn up, and the ticket was paid for using your Capital One Venture X Card, you can claim up to $3,000 for your lost items.
• Mobile Phone Protection: By paying your mobile phone bill with your card, you can claim up to $800, up to two times per 12 months, for lost, damaged and other phone issues.

Here’s a link to all the benefit fine print from Capital One, for reading another time.

Access To Card Perks For Your Family, And Other Users Too

One of the annoying features of many premium credit cards is paying for extra users like spouses, children or trusted friends to have access to the key cardmember perks.

Capital One will not charge any fees for supplementary cards, and things like lounge access to the new Capital One Lounges will be open both to the primary cardholder and also any authorized users. So yep, if you get a card, family or friends can benefit without paying more for their cards. Unless of course they want their own bonus.

Cardholders are also welcome to bring two guests into the Capital One Lounges per visit, free of charge — and any guests after that would be charged at $45 per visit — a discount on the standard walk in price of $65 per visit for non-cardholders.

FYI the Capital One Venture X card also offers PriorityPass access.

In other words, a parent could sign up for the card and order authorized user cards for all the kids and everyone would be able to use the benefits of the lounges when they travel, without any fees.

Top Tier Hertz Status Too!

Hertz Presidents Circle is the best elite status offered by the dynamic car rental company and it comes with your Venture X Card. This is particularly exciting, given that Hertz just signed a deal for 100,000 Tesla’s.

As rental car shortages continue to create havoc, having elite status gives you a better chance of your rental car actually being there when you turn up, and even perhaps a nicer one, too!

Venture X: Why This Card Is A No Brainer

This card is a no brainer for a few reasons. It’s actually harder to think of an argument why not to get the card, than it is to drum up reasons to add the card to any portfolio.

The fact that you can combine your Venture Miles from the Capital One Venture X, with any other Capital One Venture Mile earning balances is pretty cool too! Here’s why this card makes sense, for just about everyone who actually travels at least a couple times a year…

• Access to 15 1:1 Transfer Partners: transfer points into airline miles with top loyalty programs, with a minimum of 2 miles earned per dollar spent on these partners.
• $400 of Value Toward $395 Annual Fee Every Year: Most credit card require you to do a bit more work before you break even on your annual fee. With this card, you’re getting 10,000 points worth at least $100 and $300 travel credit each year.
• Lounge & Guest Travel Benefits Too: Being able to get authorized user accounts for trusted family and friends allows perks to be shared with ease, and without annoying fees. Plus, the new Capital One Lounges are seriously nice.
• 10X Earning On Hotels And Car Rentals: As hotel loyalty programs become less rewarding, booking any hotel you want and earning 10X points, or the equivalent of 10% cash back is phenomenal.

This card is valuable purely on the basis of flight price drop protection, so when you add in rapidly expanding lounge access, crazy earning rates and this limited time VRBO and Airbnb credit, this is one of the best offers we’ve ever seen.

Capital One Venture X applications are live, and you can apply here.

The post Capital One Venture X Review: Perfect Premium Travel Card? appeared first on God Save The Points.

For all consumers, I hope that virtually everything I’m about to say will no longer be true within two years. For now, I really believe it is for Delta and what the airline just pulled off may be one of the master strokes of the decade in air travel.

People are emotionally lamenting significant changes to the Delta SkyMiles program, mainly around how people earn perks like upgrades or lounge access. Loyalty is now less of a fuzzy feeling and more of an absolute number. Scratch that — truly a number.

The reaction is amusing and even personal friends are hitting me for reaction out of sheer amusement for the exploding heads, talking heads and threats to never ever fly again. In one of those conversations I laid out what a business wide touch of genius this was, and how o-n-l-y Delta could’ve pulled it off. I think it’ll be wildly successful.

Multi Year, Multi-Phase Stickiness

Romantic ideas of loyalty are long gone in this house, though I yearn and lust for every gesture of old world hospitality and recognition still out there. Travel should be fun, it should feel personal and if you want people to really pull out their wallet, you gotta have rewards worth the squeeze.

What I believe Delta has proven, which I believe is the crux of this master stroke I speak of, is that building something superior does not need loyalty. If you have the best of the best with your products, loyalty is an icing and cherry on top of a Michelin starred dessert.

As I say, it’s always better to earn and participate in loyalty than not, but the master stroke here is that I think most of the negative reaction about switching airlines is hot air right now. People would be masochists.

Here’s why: for now, Delta is the best in the United States.

I am not even a Delta loyalist or regular, so just shut the f*ck up a bit before we start to march down the “omg paid spokesperson” stuff. I’m a mostly Oneworld frequent flyer who dabbles in SkyTeam via Virgin Atlantic. I don’t care about Delta’s bottom line or have any personal loyalty or business connection to the airline.

But — what I believe Delta has done is use it’s entire business to create a product people won’t leave. Not easily! Let me lay out why I think Delta is the best airline in the US right now.

• truly good free WiFi on all flights for simply joins Delta SkyMiles
• typically the best on-time performance of any US airline
• currently the best business class experience among US airlines
• world leading in-app capabilities for flight changes, upgrades and more
• most choice in SkyClubs for personalizing experience (premium options)
• competitive credit card program driving butt in seat benefits
• economy offerings that don’t feel degrading or cheap
• staff that feel empowered thanks to profit sharing
• CLEAR airport security benefits for top tier elites

What I’m saying is that if every “big time” DYKWIA road warrior who thinks Delta is giving them the middle finger wants to leave, they can — but they’ve gotta check their ego versus what they’ll experience with other airlines.

None of this stuff happened overnight. WiFi rollout takes years. Seats take years. App investments and co-branded credit card deals are endlessly challenging. If Delta tried this at any time before now it probably would’ve failed. If another airline tried this now, they’d probably fail.

Delta’s FOMO Advantage

There are people who will prefer experiences with the other big US airlines that offer competitive loyalty programs and some will enjoy dabbling based purely on the price of the ticket. But that in itself means Delta won. They made it clear their airline loyalty program is for wholistic loyalty. They’re not interesting in chasing cheapest fare.

I can’t think of another airline that comes near matching Delta’s wifi capability right now. That alone is worth actual money, if faced with the choice of paying for access on another carrier. My time is certainly worth a lot to me, particularly with the arrival of a new baby boy this month, and on-time performance is always going to win a share of my coin.

Whether it was always the plan or a fortuitous circling of events, Delta really picked a master stroke time to pull these changes whether you like them or not. I really don’t personally even have an opinion.

All that matters to me is that they picked a time when they had maximum advantage with their hand, when service levels were down on other airlines and when they had launched better products and customer centric offerings than their competitors to make the big, bold move.

I’d argue if American felt like they had nailed the flying side, customer side and tech side as well as Delta, they’d have gone further with their Loyalty Points status changes in the last year.

I Hope This All Changes

I love free markets behaving properly and with all hope almost every bullet point of “why I think Delta has maximum advantage” to pull this sort of loyalty move will be challenged.

Let’s see all the other major players roll out truly fast, exceptional Viasat style wifi that delivers streaming speed to every seat. Bring on airlines racing to push out better in-app experiences. Gimme’ a US carrier launching a world’s best business class product rather than a North American best. It’s been a while.

Please, pretty please let us see airlines race out with product updates, juicy card offers and fun loyalty opportunities that challenge the status quo. It’ll come — but I reckon Delta has a year to enjoy the fruits of this move.

The master stroke played by Delta here was putting years of product and tech work into creating the best product and sharing that vision with their loyalty and co-brand card teams. Once the flying side of the business was at optimal competitive advantage, Delta hit “go” on a loyalty program that won’t please everyone, but will almost certainly bring in more money which can be reinvested in richer benefits for those who Delta thinks deserves them.

The post The Multi-Year Master Stroke Behind Delta’s SkyMiles Changes appeared first on God Save The Points.

If you don’t speak points nerd, it means that the reward you get for engaging with Finnair from flights on the airline, its airline partners and many other non-flying activities will soon earn you this type of points currency called Avios. 

Avios initially became famous as the reward system for British Airways and Iberia, but has since grown in global appeal thanks to robust ways to earn and burn the points among global partners, including leading US credit cards. 

While the Finnair announcement is quite interesting on its own, I can’t help but look at the broader factors this news creates for loyalty, points and credit card rewards. It now feels like airlines might not be the only use case for Avios.

More Appeal For A Regional Program

Loyalty kept airlines alive during the 2008 financial crisis and also during the global health crisis of 2020. It’s a valuable part of any airline operation in good times and bad and helps airlines, hotels and other brands to generate engagement and revenue, not just for flying planes and putting heads in beds. 

People can earn points all day from home, or from their daily activities and that type of engagement and earning is good for loyalty programs.

Finnair, until now, was a relatively obscure program without much global appeal. Sorry, it’s true. Brass tax, it was what Finnish people defaulted to for their airline program of choice, but it’d be hard to name a large cohort of Americans, or even Europeans who ever signed up or meaningfully engaged. Further afield and that’s even more true.

Current Finnair Points and award charts (the rates they charge for flights from one place to another using points) will convert into Avios 3:2 when the conversion happens in 2024.

But adopting Avios brings an interesting angle.

Avios, the loyalty currency issued by IAG Loyalty has a much broader appeal, thanks to US financial partnerships with Amex, Chase, Capital One and BILT, allowing people to create Avios from other rewards they already earn.

In addition, the currency has global earn and burn partners including all the EU Oneworld alliance airlines, as well as Qatar Airways and a myriad of online travel and every day shopping online retailers. People can earn Avios by buying laptops online from Apple, or shoes from Adidas, or car rentals and even wine.

In plain English, Finnair will likely pick up new members and international interest from the play, since it’s easier for people to earn Avios with these things they already do, than Finnair’s previous loyalty currency with limited partnerships. 

What’s Next For Avios? 

With the news today, every European, Oneworld airline alliance member now uses Avios for their loyalty currency. Qatar Airways does too. That’s big.

Impressively, it feels like a virtuous circle at present, as each partner gives greater strength to the Avios currency, while the currency offers greater strength to under recognized programs that adopt it.

It’s no secret that points can be a great profit center for airlines, so I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to come. Many Oneworld airlines aren’t based in the US or EU and don’t have any penetration in these great markets.

Airlines like Malaysia have big ambitions abroad but a virtually non-existent loyalty program outside of the country. A move like adopting Avios seems like the fastest way to change that overnight with the flip of a switch.

I’d Love To See A Hotel?

Loyalty programs are so much more in focus as financial boons for travel businesses and hotels are in an interesting period of time. The “big” hotel groups have massively expanded their loyalty programs and this has really locked travelers into their system.

People with loyalty to a big group like Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt aren’t typically going to chance it with a smaller brand just to earn some one off points they’ll never be able to accumulate in larger droves. These big programs make it too easy to jump into perks, with great credit card welcome bonuses for points and strong benefits.

It feels like there could be a situation where a hotel group that has struggled to crack the US could be innovative and adopt Avios, rather than an unrecognized currency if they want to actually siphon off some loyalty.

I certainly don’t care about earning a one time amount of points from a smaller hotel group, but i’d actually be fairly open to staying with a new brand if I was earning Avios and complementing my daily credit card spend and air travel earning with my hotel stays too.

Basically, I’m less likely to stay with a small chain if I’ll earn a loyalty currency I don’t care about, but if I could earn points and or status with one I already engage in, that’s another story entirely.

Interesting Timing

For the first time in years, I’m seeing really meaningful fare discounts on transatlantic routes and a dip in hotel daily rates. It feels like the absurd once in a lifetime pricing and demand in the wake of the pandemic is waning. I don’t care what execs say to the contrary.

If that’s true, airlines and other travel businesses will undoubtedly need to get back to delivering value not only to shareholders, but customers too. Loyalty remains the best pathway to keeping people immersed in the brand. It seems like Finnair has timed this well and I’ll be curious to see if there’s more to come.

The post Finnair Adopts Avios, So Who’s Next? appeared first on God Save The Points.

Sometimes you have a moment where something just clicks and that’s been the case with Uber’s loyalty strategy for me. I never particularly cared about their program, but now I do and it’s going to drive my behavior.

It goes without saying that I love points and rarely miss an opportunity to earn more of them. More is typically better, but I find it important to admit that to me, some loyalty games never feel quite worth playing. Uber was almost one of those?

While on one hand I loved that Uber was offering me a chance to earn Marriott Bonvoy Points or British Airways Avios on my Uber rides, I also felt like Uber was a niche part of my life. With limited exceptions, I pretty much only take an Uber to the airport when no decent mass transit exists or when I’m away from home.

So what changed? Well, the whole “super app” thing.

Trains, Planes And Automobiles

I like earning Avios or Bonvoy Points on each Uber ride I take, but at a clip of 20-80 per trip in recent deposits, I’m not jetting off or crashing on any plush five star hotel beds anytime soon. It’s just a nice little “why not?” moment for my points accumulation.

But I got an email this week telling me that in the UK where I spend most of my time these days, I can now book my train tickets via the app. I get rewarded for it, unlike when I book direct. I assume the same is true in areas of the US too?

Basically, as a “super app” Uber is finding more ways to issue me more points in my favorite loyalty currencies as they interact more with my daily life, rather than just my travel or airport life.

I’m on a train to or from London every few days and I can now get 10% Uber Credit back on all train tickets booked via the Uber app. If I book directly at the station or just tap my Google Pay to hop on, I’d earn nothing back. This launched in April but hadn’t been of note to me. If I want Avios instead, I get one point per £1 spent for booking via the Uber app.

A Reason To Change Behavior

I, of course, use a rewards earning credit card to make every purchase in my life and that includes when I tap Google Pay to grab a train. But now I can get even more if I change my behavior to book the very same things via the Uber app instead.

I’ll still earn my credit card reward when I pay, but I’ll double dip with this opportunity to earn 10% back in credit, or points with a loyalty program I already enjoy by changing my method of booking.

I have to imagine that Uber has worked out a clever partner strategy with these travel booking integrations that doesn’t eat into the train company revenue like traditional online travel agencies have for flights, cars and hotels.

I Don’t Necessarily Want This, But…

I want to be clear that I like robust competition in the market. We tend to benefit more from competition than anything else in life.

I say that, because Uber developing a “super app” where you can book flights, trains and all sorts of other stuff that isn’t a traditional car and driver, may cause a real shift in the market.

You could easily argue that Uber is helping tourists discover things like train options and therefore the train is acquiring new customers, but if the Uber app becomes the primary source of growth and customer bookings, the train company could become subservient to Uber, or stop innovating with their own booking platforms.

However you see this gaming out, for now — Uber is brilliant for using their loyalty program and coalition partner earning strategy as a call to action to use their platform for things you could book elsewhere.

The post The Power Of Loyalty In Uber’s “Super App” Strategy appeared first on God Save The Points.

British Airways is moving to a system where you’ll earn Avios, the points currency used to fuel the loyalty program, based on how much you spend rather than how far you fly.

Air travel is a particularly emotional endeavor and that’s even true when things go on time without a hitch. It may not be new, but flying is still aspirational and vital for so many reasons.

For a long time, the way people earned miles and rewards in the British Airways Executive Club when flying was based actually on the distance flown. It matched the emotional component of more reward for longer journeys, even if it wasn’t entirely logical.

Particularly since the invention of the internet, increased airline competition and new sales technology, distance became an increasingly questioned metric for earning. This is a world where someone can fly from London to Australia for £450/$550, but fly from London to Geneva for £600/$784.

British Airways Moving To Spend Based Avios Earning: Background

The first programs to switch over to “spend based” earning were in the U.S. with programs like Delta and none have shifted course, while many have joined. That list already includes European programs like Air France/KLM’s ‘Flying Blue’ as well as Miles & More from Lufthansa and Swiss.

Spend based earning rather than distance based earning creates a tighter relationship between spend and reward points dished out. If you ask any loyalty program leader, you’ll always hear that unlocking more reward seats for members with points is a key concern. Having better economics around the points helps that cause.

It’s fair to say it’s more transactional and feels less warm and fuzzy than the emotional relationship of flying long distances to earn more points, but it’s also fair to say that it better rewards people flying shorter distances more frequently, and people flying long distances may still earn more rewards this way. Let’s dive in.

Avios Earn Rates Under British Airways New Program

Any flights booked from October 18th, 2023 will earn based on spend rather than distance. And yeah, any flights booked before that date, even for travel after that date will earn as they currently do.

To be clear, metrics for earning elite status is unchanged for the time being and this solely impacts Avios points earned which can be spent for rewards.

From October 18th, 2023 British Airways Executive Club members will earn Avios based on the following rates per pound spend. For other currencies, total eligible spend will be converted into GBP.

Fare and carrier charges apply to the new Avios earn rates but government imposed charges do not. Hopefully British Airways will do a good job of displaying how many Avios you’ll earn in the sales flow, so you don’t have to do any math.

• Blue members will receive 6 Avios per qualifying* £1 spent
• Bronze members will receive 7 Avios per qualifying £1 spent
• Silver members will receive 8 Avios per qualifying £1 spent
• Gold members will receive 9 Avios per qualifying £1 spent

For a direct, apples to apples European comparison, Air France/KLM’s “Flying Blue” offers 4 points per euro spent for base members, and then 6,7 and 8 for elites. This makes British Airways changes more generous by at least one point per tier.

I find the best way to assess loyalty changes are through practical real world examples. There will always be red herring situations, but factually speaking British Airways will actually issue more points to members via this new system rather than fewer.

Take a recent trip to Geneva

On the lowest fare, which may still be quite expensive, London Geneva earns 125 Avios each way currently. Yes, a round trip would earn a measly 250 Avios. Even the most expensive economy fares only earn 500 Avios each way, for a total of 1000 round trip.

Under the new upcoming system, a base ‘Blue’ member paying just £100 each way would earn somewhere around the current high Avios total for the economy cabin. Geneva fares often trend into the £275 each way mark during key times which means base members would earn far move Avios under the new system than before.

The £275 example would yield 1500 circa Avios each way which easily surpasses the current highs. A Gold member at 9 Avios per £ spent could make off extremely well.

Winners And Losers

Spend based earn is a concept far more familiar than many people will make this out to be. Blogs including this one shout all the time about the merits of rewards credit cards. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these are spend based earn tools.

Spend X, get Y Avios.

The British Airways Premium American Express Card has offered as much as 70,000 points as a welcome bonus in the UK this year and has defined earn rates. All partner hotels, Uber partnerships and online e-store purchases are also spend based earn.

Take a Booking.com promo of 10 Avios per £1 spent on hotels via BA and you have an identical program to the new British Airways spend based earn for flights.

For many flight distances there will be some winners and losers in the new spend based program, but again, more points will be issued by British Airways, IAG Loyalty and Avios to support this program, which means more people are being rewarded, more.

Clear Winners

Inflexible travelers with fixed dates who often purchase high fares will mostly win out with these changes. They’ll earn more Avios. The more painful the ticket cost, the more Avios you’ll earn to soften the blow.That may likely include families on school holiday schedules, business travelers and premium leisure customers.

Generally speaking, base members will be more rewarded than they were before on short haul travel with fares at current levels or higher. Any elite Bronze, Silver and Gold members will have their spend better captured.

And though no one likes paying for ancillary purchases, ancillaries like seat selection, upgrades or other fees will also be eligible for Avios earning.

Marginal Wins And Losses

Customers who typically fly longer distances like a London – New York as their primary route will win some and lose some. New York is one of the “cheaper” routes of longer distance, with fares sometimes dipping as low as £350 round trip these days, or £1500 in business class.

With high government taxes on this route, like other US routes, the earning may really fluctuate. A “Blue” member would currently earn 1729 Avios each way to New York on most economy fares currently.

Looking at a £505 round trip fare, only £310 of that fare isn’t government taxes. A blue member would earn 1510 Avios for this flight round trip, which is an unfortunate dip in earning.

In business class, I recently flew London-New York as a Gold member and earned 17,290 Avios round trip. At a rate of 9 Avios per £1 spent, a £2,300 business class ticket would earn me more Avios, hitting exactly 18,000.

And this is a key distinction: currently, there’s no benefit to spending more. It doesn’t matter whether I paid £1500 for a business class ticket and you paid £7,0000 — we’re rewarded the same. In the new program, if you spend £7,000 on a ticket as a Gold member, you’ll earn 63,000 Avios for a flight you previously earned 17,290.

Potential Losers

I would certainly never derive pleasure from calling the most pedantic spreadsheet folks in the Flyertalk crowd losers, but they’re likely targets here. People flying almost exclusively on error fares will earn fewer points than they currently do with flights earning based on distance as they do currently.

Since these types of fare typically make it to less than .0001% of customers, it’s not something for most to really factor. Don’t get me wrong, I love a generous fare, but I am also not greedy enough to think I deserve to be top tier for enjoying them.

Those who book the lowest super sale short haul fares may also earn fewer Avios. Some like to use fares like £80 round trips as an example, but there are a lot fewer of those than there are realistic fares over £250 at the moment.

It’s not like there were big hauls of earning from these flights anyway. Pre-elite-status earnings typically topped out around 1,000 Avios round trip for most short haul routes. Hardly a primary avenue for significant points earning compared to credit card spend, wine clubs or e-store purchases.

Spend Based Earn: Sustainable Economics?

The fuel needed and crew required between London and Geneva is nowhere near the cost required to fly someone between London and Sydney, yet as previously noted, it might be cheaper to fly to Sydney and you would currently earn more points. That puts an immediate strain on loyalty program economics across the business for no logical reason.

U.S. airlines have used spend based earn to invest in better loyalty perks than those available in other markets, largely because there’s better accountability for customer value. Points are issued without question. It’s a bit “show me the money” (barf), but it’s also a lot easier for finance teams to see the value that loyalty brings in real terms.

There will always be a fair element of missing the “good ole days” of loyalty being an open ended game without perfect logic, but there’s also excitement around programs actually performing better and delivering on their value promise.

Having better tech, more valuable benefits and more seat availability is arguably far more exciting than the “game” of old, however aspirational and whimsical it felt.

However you feel, British Airways is moving to spend based earn starting October 18th, and from that day forward there will be a direct relationship to what you spend with the airline and what you earn, much like you already do with credit card rewards, e-store purchases and partnerships.

The post British Airways Is Changing How You Earn Avios From Flights appeared first on God Save The Points.

You’ve likely heard of Marriott Bonvoy Moments, Hilton Honors Experiences, or World of Hyatt Experiences, but there’s a new kid on the block that you might not have caught wind of yet… And that’s Accor Live Limitless (ALL) Experiences.

Many people traditionally think that you can only redeem points and miles for airfare and hotels. And they either don’t know, or they forget, that you can actually redeem your points for many unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

One such event that I got to attend recently was Accor Live Limitless’ SailGP season 3 finale race in San Fransisco. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and one I will never forget! It’s also an experience I would have never been able to partake in had it not been for points and miles, since the cash price would have been WAY beyond my budget.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at my experience at Accor’s SailGP event, and also dive into the ALL Experiences program. I’ll walk you through how ALL Experiences works, how it can offer great value, and also share info on how you can book your own SailGP VIP experience with ALL points.

What is SailGP?

SailGP is a new international yacht racing league, which features athletes who are former America’s Cup champions and Olympians.

SailGP boasts the most competitive fleet in sailing, with any team capable of winning an event. That’s because each team is racing identical F50 catamarans, which ensures only one thing will decide a SailGP champion — talent.

SailGP’s high-performance, fully-foiling, F50 cats are based on several of the AC50 cats that took part in the 35^th America’s Cup in Bermuda, but they have been updated and equalized to create as close racing as possible.

SailGP is unique, as it also has a world-first initiative that sees teams compete for a second championship, called the Impact League. The Impact League initiative tracks the actions that all of the SailGP teams make to reduce their overall carbon footprint and to help accelerate inclusivity in sailing.

Upcoming SailGP Season 4 Schedule // 2023-2024

2023

July 22-23 // Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix
September 9-10 // France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 // Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 // Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía-Cádiz

2024

January 13-14 // UAE Sail Grand Prix
February 24-24 // KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 // ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
May 4-5 // Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 // Canada Sail Grand Prix
June 22-23 // Mubadala New York City Sail Grand Prix
July 13-14 // SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco

How to redeem Accor points for SailGP or other amazing experiences

I was lucky enough to score a once-in-a-lifetime, VIP weekend package to attend the 2023 SailGP final race in San Francisco via ALL Experiences. For 35,000 ALL points, the package included the following:

• 2 nights at the fabulous Fairmont San Francisco
• 2 VIP tickets to the weekend-long SailGP SF races, including access to the premium, shoreside Adrenaline Lounge
• Transportation to and from the Adrenaline Lounge
• VIP breakfast on the final’s day at the Fairmont San Francisco

My husband and I are big-time boaters and major racing fans, and being able to be right in the middle of the action for the final SailGP race of the season was a dream come true!

SailGP’s F50 cats are utterly spectacular to see in the flesh, and have been clocked in previous races reaching 92.6 km/h (50 knots/57.5 mph). It’s an incredible sight to experience for yourself!

We had a wonderful stay at the glamorous Fairmont San Francisco, and we loved the VIP treatment of being chauffeured to and from the the weekend’s events and activities.

The Adrenaline Lounge made us feel like celebrities, with complimentary champagne, craft cocktails, fine wine, and delicious, gourmet food. The other amazing thing about having access to the Adrenaline Lounge was that the SailGP athletes made special appearances at the lounge throughout the race weekend, so that you could chat with them and take photos. As San Francisco is the final race of the SailGP season, we were even lucky enough to have front-row seats for the trophy presentation, and we got to celebrate, toast champagne and party the evening away with the winners (Team Australia).

In my opinion, this type of points package is hands down worth it, and I would redeem ALL points for another SailGP event in a heartbeat! As Accor is a sponsor of the French SailGP team, I think they are so smart for putting together an amazing promotion like this to help ALL members have a truly unforgettable SailGP racing experience.

For the upcoming, inaugural SailGP Los Angeles race on July 23rd, Accor has package available for 5,000 points per ticket. Included in the promotion are the following:

• Access to the invite-only Adrenaline Lounge at Berth 46 with 360° views of Cabrillo Beach and San Petro Bay to watch the three races
• Shoreside hospitality with premium, sustainable & locally procured food and beverages
• Entertainment by an acclaimed local solo artist & international DJ

Given the fact that grandstand tickets to the LA race are $85 per person, the ALL Experiences package is a no brainer! As you’ll get access to the Adrenaline Lounge and be given the VIP treatment, I’d 100% redeem for ALL’s promotion versus paying cash for bleacher, grandstand seats myself!

About Accor Live Limitless (ALL)

Accor has 52 brands and has a presence in 100 countries. With over 5,100 hotel properties globally, Accor features some of the world’s most iconic hospitality brands under the ALL rewards umbrella, including Raffles, Fairmont, Orient Express, Banyan Tree, SLS, the luxury homestay provider OneFineStay, and many more.

Accor Live Limitless Experiences

ALL Experiences have a set redemption rate, unlike other loyalty programs that also have an auction format. The ALL Experiences offerings change frequently, but when we published this story options included: SailGP Los Angeles, tickets to the Billy Joel, P!nk, Guns and Roses, or Bruce Springsteen concerts in London, KISS performing in Sydney, and many more.

How to join ALL

Visit the Accor website and click on the icon in the upper right corner. Registration is fast, simple, and free.

You’ll be prompted to provide an email address to open an ALL account. Simply fill in your details and click “Sign Up,” and Accor will email your registration details to you.

How to earn ALL points

With such a large hotel portfolio and so many great properties, having Accor points can come in handy. Here are a few ways you can easily earn Accor points:

Hotel stays

Accor awards non-elite members 5-10 points per 10 Euros spent on their hotel spend. On the other hand, ALL elite members can earn up to 44 points per 10 Euros spent, depending on their tier status.

Accor points are worth a flat rate of about 2.2 cents each. That means you’ll earn as little as 1% return and as high as 8.8% return on an Accor hotel stay.

If this sounds confusing, don’t worry. Accor has a nifty, little tool to help you calculate the points that you’ll earn on your next stay according to your elite status tier, the hotel brand, and the room cost. You can this find calculator at the bottom of this page on Accor’s website.

Transfer points to ALL from Capital One or Citi

Earning ALL points when staying at Accor properties can take a little while for them to add up. So the easiest way to accrue ALL points is likely to transfer them from a credit card partner.

Accor does not offer a co-branded credit card in the US unfortunately. But, Accor does partner with both Capital One and Citi. Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou points transfer to Accor at a 2:1 ratio. You can quickly earn Capital One miles or Citi ThankYou points after hitting the sign-up bonus with the following Citi or Cap One travel rewards cards:

• Capital One Venture
• Capital One Venture X
• Capital One Spark 2X Miles
• Citi Premier

Travel Partners

You can credit the rewards you earn with Avis, Hertz and Europcar to ALL. For example, you’ll earn 3 ALL points per Euro spent with Hertz. Accor points are worth roughly 2.2 cents each toward Accor hotel stays, meaning you’ll effectively receive more than 6% back for your rental car.

Bottom line

If you want tickets to SailGP or another type of special event, check out what Accor Live Limitless Experiences has to offer. Depending on the specific event, ALL Experiences can be a great redemption value. What’s even better is that some packages include one or more nights at an Accor hotel, or offer a VIP experience that you can’t put a price tag on. If you’re lucky enough to find one — like the upcoming SailGP experience in Los Angeles — then don’t hesitate to redeem your ALL points. You can always get more points, but once-in-a-lifetime, VIP experiences don’t come around that often!

The post How To Redeem Accor Points to Attend SailGP – the F1 of Sailing – and Other Awesome Experiences appeared first on God Save The Points.

One of the best ways to get people to care about points for the first time is to simply show them the good stuff. Book that hotel room, flight or travel experience that makes them realize it’s not just hoopla and let them enjoy it to the max.

This was booked with points…for real? Yeah.

Yet when it comes to sharing experiences with points, things aren’t quite so seamless. Many companies either charge a significant fee to transfer points to another account, only let the individual account holder redeem the points or make it really difficult to move points.

There are a bunch of perceived logical reasons for this, but a trend is emerging where the sharing of points is actually encouraged.

Why Banks, Airlines And Hotels Protect Points

Travel points are aspirational, but ultimately they are a cash alternative and have real implications. At every airline, bank or hotel issuing points, they’re treated like a major currency and large teams of people people spend considerable time ensuring that they are flowing in and out the door in an optimal way and that fraud is minimized.

A bank would react quickly if you were to claim fraud on a $1,000 purchase, and so too would a travel brand or credit card company if you were to claim fraud on a 100,000 point transaction.

And fraud or mismanagement can be pretty “vague”, when you consider someone’s kids using their points without authorization, or business owners squabbling over how to divvy all the points earned on their corporate accounts.

To many airlines, banks and hotels, it’s easier to just slap a lot of red tape on who can redeem points or transfer points than to deal with the millions of situations outside of their immediate control, which can result in dissatisfaction and loss. That’s pretty easy to do and it’s accomplished a few different ways.

• By automatically making the account holder the named guest on the reservation.
• By requiring any people you wish to share points with to be added to a named list.
• By limiting online functionality to require call ins for any sharing transaction.

That may, or may not be the right way to go and lately, people are finally wondering if the latter is actually simpler for everyone thanks to technology.

Opening Up Points Sharing For All

In the US, Marriott has become a world leader at allowing points to be shared socially. Any two people with Marriott Bonvoy accounts can login online, and with some basic detail, can freely share points with any other person. In the UK, fintech startup Yonder is setting the trend, with open points sharing for all.

As long as accounts are properly secured, which thanks to things like 2FA (two factor authentication) is fairly straightforward and de-risked, it feels better to err on the side of ease and joy for members than bureaucratic processes.

It’s also a lot cheaper for the business to create an online functionality to than to perpetually operate a call center to handle transfer requests. Plus, who wants to pick up the phone and listen to jazz music these days?

Points Sharing Allows Incredible Member Experiences

We all have people who we value and love in some way. Being able to create travel joy and create emotional and aspirational experiences for others is such a fun way to turn points from something mundane to meaningful.

Tell your friends who don’t have enough points to upgrade their honeymoon flights that “you got them”, you just need their account number and they’ll be whisked over in an instant. Let your sister book that better hotel on her much needed vacation all by sharing your points.

The joyous reasons and possibilities are endless and when they’re made easy, they’re a whole lot more fun.

I somewhat recently leant a friend 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points just before they added online points sharing. I had to call in and it was all fine, but it was an “effort” to make it happen. I had to carve time to call, wait, explain and all that stuff.

When that friend built their points balance back up, they couldn’t believe how easy it was to send me 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points back online. It actually prompted a “how awesome is this” discussion about other ways we’d share points with friends.

The post Should We Be Able To Share Points With Anyone, No Restrictions? appeared first on God Save The Points.

Points can unlock the extraordinary, but there are usually limits when it comes to “peak, peak” travel times.

Unless you’re willing to grind or become a super planner, it just ain’t easy to to bag a coveted seat during spring break to the hottest destination of the year. I say “usually”, because Avios, British Airways and IAG Loyalty are changing the record on that with a very cool opportunity.

Channeling a clever concept from Qantas but with a new level of fanfare, British Airways will offer a series of flights to peak destinations at peak times, every seat of which will be booked using Avios. Yes, every seat on the plane will solely be available using points.

British Airways “Avios Only” Flights

Starting from the home base of London, British Airways is releasing a series of flights for Avios fans and collectors to book the most sought after destinations at the most in demand times.

Rather than four or eight seats being released and people gobbling them up the moment strikes midnight almost a year in advance, entire British Airways planes will be made available exclusively using Avios.

Avios Flights: When And Where?

British Airways will operate “Avios-only” flights starting in November 2023 and continuing in February and March of 2024, with London being the launch city for both. Flights will be available to increasingly popular Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and to Geneva during peak ski season.

• First flight will be London Gatwick to Sharm El Sheikh in November 2023.
• Four London – Geneva flights will jet off in February and March 2024.

Specifically the Geneva flights will be flight BA728 from Heathrow to Geneva and BA729 from Geneva to Heathrow on February 10th, 17th, and 24th, as well as March 2nd.

The Sharm El Sheikh “Avios Only” flight will depart Gatwick on November 3rd.

To be clear, these seats go on sale today!

How To Book

These flights will be as hot as a Jordan 1 “Chicago” drop, so make sure you tune your eyes in here for a moment to get it all right. To be eligible to book you’ll need to have an active Avios account with British Airways and have enough points.

Don’t forget that points can be transferred into Avios from Amex Membership Rewards in the UK, and from Amex, Chase, Capital One and Brex in the US, if you’re short.

Simply login to BritishAirways.com and select “Book With Avios” and enter the dates mentioned above. You should see wide open availability if you move fast. If you don’t, you’re too late and will have to wait for the next drop of destination opportunities.

Pricing for London – Geneva starts at 18,500 Avios + £1 each way in economy or £1 plus 30,000 Avios for business class, or you can use more cash to lower the Avios price still.

The London – Sharm El Sheikh flights will run £1 plus 27,500 points for economy or £1 plus 48,500 for business class, with the same opportunity to lower points costs by using more cash. One pound has a nice ring to it.

The good news is that every seat will go using Avios. The bad news is that a larger amount of people than usual will be all over this and want one too. Oh, and just FYI companion vouchers can be used.

More This, Please!

In a time where cash doesn’t seem to go as far as it once did, it’s really cool to see airlines investing in creating memories and experiences for people that bring joy. I can only imagine how many awesome and nerdy conversations will take place on these flights.

Qantas was pretty much the first to trial this before the pandemic, but these new flights take things to the next level and it’s the kind of competition where customers win in every way. I’d be elated if every airline starts doing this in some fashion.

Good lock on the hot Avios seat drop!

The post Forget Cash, This Airline Is Launching “Points Only” Flights! appeared first on God Save The Points.

If you haven’t had to cancel a trip, or at the very least change a flight, what’s your secret? Travel is as wonderful as ever and in many ways more appreciated than ever now, but it doesn’t always go to plan these days.

For some people, it’s no longer in the plans at all, but things like new phones, home decor, offsetting the cost of a special meal, or sneakers certainly are.

After a decade of virtually every credit card moving to offer incredible travel rewards to keep up with the mega trend of airline miles and hotel points, the pandemic makes the “what do I do with my credit card points” thing a bit more complicated.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be complicated. The trick to earning credit card rewards during a pandemic is to earn with cards that present a double threat: a card which can convert points into airline miles or hotel points, but also offers lucrative cash back, too.

That way, you’re covered for whatever you want your rewards to unlock.

Double Threat Credit Cards

Double threat credit cards don’t lock you into a one size fits all approach to spending your rewards. If you want cash back, you can have it. If instead you want airline miles or hotel points which can unlock aspirational value, you can have them too.

Airline miles and hotel points are wonderful when availability presents itself in the perfect cabin or room, on the perfect day, but for many people those two things lining up together are fanciful.

Cash back only cards leave out the potential for aspirational value, such as first class seats or five star suites, but miles only cards leave the ease of use of “just gimme cash” off the table as well. One card offering both is the ultimate “win”.

Best In Class Double Threat Cards

Cash back is supposed to be easy, and transfer to airlines or hotels should be too. But for “best in class” double threat cards, those two things alone aren’t good enough. You also need…

• Strong points earning rates
• Strong points and cash back redemption rates

For the best earn rates on your spending, the strongest value points transfer options and dependable value when converting points into cash back, two cards really stand out: the Capital One Venture X, and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Each card offers the potential to earn up to either 10X points or 10% cash back on select travel purchases, easy to digest 1:1 airline and hotel transfer partners, as well as clear guidance on how much points are worth, if used for cash back.

Capital One Venture X

Capital One Venture X carries a $395 annual fee, but more than $400 in annual travel perks which are easy to use, such as a $300 travel flexible credit for Capital One Travel, and 10,000 bonus points. Right now, there’s also a 75,000 point welcome bonus.

The card offers an incredible 10X points or 10% cash back on hotels and cars booked through Capital One Travel, and 5X on flights through Capital One Travel. That’s right, you can choose whether to use your points with airlines and hotels, or as cash back to cover some, or all of any purchase.

The Capital One Travel platform also offers price drop protection, which gives a partial refund if flight prices drop after the search engine suggested booking!

A fantastic feature of this card is that all spend earns at least 2X points or 2% cash back which makes it a fantastic choice for non-bonus categories found in daily spending.

1:1 Transfer Partners

Capital One now offers 15 airline and hotel transfer partners, where 1 Venture Mile equals at least 1 mile with these airline partners. This means a 100,000 point bonus could be converted into 100,000 miles with a variety of airlines.

But since it’s a double threat card, the points can be converted to cash back in a tap.

1 Cent Per Point Towards Travel

If you can’t find availability to redeem points through an airline or hotel program, you can always just pay for a flight or hotel and use your cash back to cover some, or all of the purchase.

The same way Capital One Venture Miles can be converted into airline miles, they can also be converted into cash with purchase eraser. The new 100,000 point bonus would represent $1000 towards travel and can be used all together, or bit by bit.

If you had a $3,000 Airbnb stay and wanted to make it a $2,000 purchase, you could use 100,000 points to erase $1000 off. It’s not an optimal value, but it’s there.

Read the full review of the Capital One Venture X.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

This card is fantastic for many of the same reasons as the Capital One Venture X, but the card carries a higher $550 annual fee, which requires a bit more work each year to justify keeping.

With that said, it can be totally worth it, and with new airport spaces such as the Sapphire Terrace at Austin International Airport opening, good things appear on the way.

Chase now offers 10X points earning for hotel and car rental purchases made at Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel, as well as 5X on flights. In that sense, the two cards are very similar. The card currently only offers a 60,000 point welcome, but that can change for the better, and often does!

1:1 Travel Transfer Partners

Chase also has an impressive stable of 1:1 transfer partners, where points can be converted into miles with a variety of top airlines, including Emirates, United, Virgin Atlantic and more.

They can also be converted into hotel points 1:1 with the World of Hyatt program, which is a significant win for cardholders to unlock great value.

Better Than 1 Cent Per Point On Travel & Mystery Categories

A key feature of the Chase Sapphire Reserve which makes up for other features where the Capital One Venture X clearly has a leg up, is that Chase offers better value toward cash back, when used on select categories.

With Capital One Venture X, you get 1 cent per point of value on travel, but with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get 1.5 cents per point of value.

This means 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points are worth $1,500 when used toward travel, rather than $1,000, like Capital One. Making matters even more unique, Chase rotates a variety of categories in, which also benefit from the higher cash back rate, often including dining or home improvements.

So yeah, if you had a $150 grocery bill, you could wipe it off your card account with 10,000 points when dining is part of the enhanced ‘Pay Yourself Back’ offers. Charity donations also currently could for the 50% bonus. Nice touch!

Double Threat Rewards Credit Cards: The Key To Earn & Burn

People who said they’d never use Chase, Amex, Citi or Capital One Points for cash back before the pandemic, have since used points for cash back. Much has changed, and it always feels good to unlock fun things with points.

By earning with incredibly rewarding cards with the largest multipliers, you’re always getting a top return on your buck, but with these double threat cards you’re also able to use rewards to fit any evolving needs.

If you’re looking to stay on top of the points game during a pandemic, now you know.

The post The Best Credit Card Rewards Strategy Right Now appeared first on God Save The Points.

With inflation being everyone’s favorite word du jour, it feels like it’d be hard to convince someone that its possible to grab flights and hotels and jet off somewhere delightful for about $1/£1 per person. Incredibly, it’s true.

British Airways has launched a new option to use Avios, which allows travelers to book entire flight and hotel, or flight hotel and car packages using Avios. With things like two person trips to Spain with flights and at least two nights of hotel for 67,650 Avios and a grand total of £1 for two — nope, not per person! — there’s a lot to love.

Choice is good, so here’s everything that matters about these new offers allowing you to use Avios for British Airways holidays, including even for trip deposits.

British Airways Holidays & Avios

Avios are proving increasingly valuable with recent changes lowering taxes and fees and huge recent card bonuses certainly don’t hurt either.

Now, there’s a new way to cash out Avios, that might be just the ticket for people who want a nice getaway but don’t want to pay more than £1/$1 in cash for their flights or hotel. Even if you’re made of money, a trip for £1 has quite a ring to it. You can’t get a coffee for that.

Avios For Trip Deposits

British Airways Holidays is still offering double tier points to earn elite status with the airline and is often a source of great deals. Airlines are often willing to eat part of the retail fare for those booking holiday packages, which can lead to real savings.

Avios holders can now use their points as the deposit for a trip, allowing you to lock in a great trip without any cash outlay at all. Even for pricier trips in first or business class, BA holidays offers low deposits starting around £300.

Avios For Entire Trips

It’s always healthy to break out the value calculator and price out a trip offering with points, in cash as well to compare value — but either way you can now use Avios to cover entire British Airways Holidays trips. You can also use them to cover part of a trip too.

This can be to book flight and hotel, flight hotel and car, flight and car or basically any permutation. Whatever the cash price, there will be an Avios price too.

Again, it’s good to zoom out and look at the prices in cash separately, or elsewhere, but quite often the BA holidays price are tough to beat and these Avios prices sound very competitive. A couple real live examples from London include…

• Barcelona: Round trip flights and two nights’ hotel from £1 + 67,650 Avios for two people sharing (50p + 33,825 per person)**
• New York: Round trip flights and three nights’ hotel from £1 + 246,275 Avios for two people sharing (50p + 123,188 Avios per person)**

These prices will sit differently with everyone viewing them, but there’s a lot to love. For many people it’s all about the food, wine, museums and shopping at the other end, so being able to use points to cover flight and hotel is everything.

Paying 123,188 Avios per person for a trip to New York with three nights of hotel and no cash outlay is incredibly competitive, considering flights alone would cost 50,000 Avios per person, so you’re only paying an incremental 70,000 ish Avios per person for three nights of hotel.

Choice Is Great

Blog readers tend to get a bit holy about sacred points valuations, but for most people a deal is a deal and not forking over cash is not forking over cash. These offers simply give new choice to British Airways Avios holders and expand the ways you can redeem points at very solid rates.

Everyone can mix and match how many Avios they’ll use, if any, and during promos or great hotel sales some phenomenal values are likely to creep out. You can check out how Avios sits within the new British Airways Holidays.

The post British Airways Now Lets You Book Entire Holidays On Avios Points appeared first on God Save The Points.