Tuesday Pair

Here’s an increased bonus for the Amtrak card from one of our favorites (Bank of America). It’s up to 30,000 points now. And here’s a very easy 1,500 Marriott points if you use social media. You should at least have accounts set up for stuff like this.

Monday Triple

  • If you care about La Quinta points (not sure how many people do), you can pick up an easy 1,500 of them here.
  • I mention every 45 minutes how much I like Bank of America cards (and how often I apply for them). But reader David sent a couple links over the weekend (here and here) for something I’ve never seen before. Looks like a nice offer but I know literally nothing about this card.
  • Your Ink cards are getting another workout this week. Along with the latest Staples offer, we have fee-free $100 MasterCards at Office Depot/Office Max. Good for today and tomorrow.

End Of Week Stuff

  • It sure ain’t glamorous, but there’s another sale at Southwest and, as usual, you’ll have a hard time beating the value they offer. Between cheap flights, flexibility with cancellations even when using points, and the oh-so-sexy Companion Pass…ok, I need to stop…they’ve got me sounding like a commercial. Or a creep. Anyway, I’m a fan of Southwest.
  • Another week, another excuse to hit the streets, pull out your Ink card, and take advantage of a Staples promo. In stores from Sunday through Saturday, get $20 back when you buy $300 in Visas.
  • True, my Uber/Lyft opinions change like the weather. But this isn’t a therapy session (usually). So before you forget, make sure you’ve connected your Lyft and JetBlue accounts for some free and easy points.

 

Neil Day Triple

Big thanks to a very special reader for sending all of these. Let’s just go ahead and call November 3rd “Neil Day,” shall we?

  • Neil Day starts with a possible link for easy President’s Circle status with Hertz. Worth trying, but these tend to stop working in a hurry. I’d bet Neil’s paycheck that the deal is dead within a day.
  • According to smarter-than-your-average-Neil, this is worth 6,000 Lufthansa miles per hotel booking. Unfortunately, my own computer/translation/brainpower skills are a little subpar. But it sure sounds nice!
  • Neils are famous for being good planners. So they make sure to collect Delta miles whenever they stay at an Airbnb.

No More Partnership Of Virgins

A bunch of you reached out to say the partnership between Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic is over in less than 2 weeks. Good thing there was a well-articulated announcement. And at least we got plenty of advance notice, right?

Actually, no.

If you’re a person who redeems Virgin Atlantic miles for Virgin America flights or vice versa…you just got screwed. And many of you are in that boat. If you’re affected by this, I strongly recommend calling and/or tweeting them today.

Devaluations? Not great.
No reasonable advance notice? A total lack of common courtesy.

This has been happening way too often lately. You guys earn miles, save them, and transfer points over because you have plans in mind. When something this bad happens this quickly without being announced, it’s clear that you (and your plans) don’t matter.