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.

The Top 25 Credit Cards

(If you see any errors or missing cards, please let me know. I try to keep a full list, but it’s a lot of information and I do make mistakes).

Significant Changes Since Last Month:
-American Express Business Platinum with a new 100,000 point offer.
-Amex also upped their SimplyCash Plus Business bonus to $500.
-Starwood cards moved up to 25,000 and 30,000 points (man, American Express was busy).

Time for the monthly edition of my Top 25 Credit Cards. I call it “Top 25” out of tradition, but you get a lot more links than that below. Again, if you’re a rookie, make sure you read The Newbie Guide. It’s a little outdated but many of your questions can still be answered there. Basic things like not applying for 3 Chase cards at the same time should be known before you continue. For people running out of cards, remember there’s often a Business card option. I listed a few here but not many, so it might be worth exploring more Business cards. Also, “churning” might be an option. The dates here were a guideline but things always tend to vary individually.

Miles and points aren’t an equal currency. 50,000 Delta Skymiles are worth less to me than 50,000 miles from Singapore Airlines. 25,000 Hyatt points mean more to me than 25,000 Hilton points. And so on. These links work right now (November 1st at midnight). If you read this later, many of the offers will have changed. Things move fast in this game so read offer details and terms before applying. Especially all that small print when you’re trying to get bonuses more than once on the same card. Ok, enough blabbering…here we go! My “Top 25” current credit cards are below…

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Staples Card Offers Keep Coming

And Chase Ink cardholders keep smiling.

(while they rack up 5 points per dollar)

Seems like every week it’s another card party at Staples. This week it’s $15 back when you buy $300 in Mastercard gift cards. Supposedly one per household but…yeah.

End Of Week Wrap-Up

  • I’m getting a lot more questions about Club1Hotels. That probably means writers/whores are “helping” readers again by sharing this “opportunity.” I wrote about it already, but I should add something – from all the reports you guys have sent, Club1Hotels sucks. I don’t recommend it at all. But if you frequent the kinds of websites that push it on you (because they’re getting paid)…please don’t email me to complain about them. Not direct enough? Ok. How about this? If you support/read any bloggers who put money over integrity, stop crying to me about them. I’m not on your side.
  • Some of you have been seeing 30,000 points as the Starwood bonus. A nice offer if you can get it. Try all kinds of stuff (Internet Explorer, Chrome, incognito browsers, etc) and that bonus might pop up for you.
  • IHG’s latest PointBreaks list is here. As usual, it’s one of the best values around for your hotel points (if you find anything on the list).

IHG 100% Bonus

Considering I’m not the world’s biggest fan of buying points…and the fact that I’ve never done it…

…this will still save money for some people.

If you’re short on hotel points and see the 100% bonus in your IHG account, the math might work. Especially if you have a stay in mind. It’s worth a look.