Are you looking for new and creative ways to earn points and miles? While many travelers are familiar with traditional methods of earning rewards, such as through credit card sign-up bonuses and airline or hotel loyalty programs, there are many non-traditional ways that can help you earn points and miles with little effort. Let’s take a look at some of those strategies for earning points and miles through alternative methods.
Guides
Which hotel status is right for you: Hyatt Globalist vs Hilton Diamond
If you’re a frequent traveler, you know how important it is to have elite status with a hotel loyalty program. It gives you access to exclusive benefits and perks and can also make your travels more comfortable and enjoyable.
Two of the top-tier elite status levels offered by hotel loyalty programs are Hilton Diamond and Hyatt Globalist. Both come with a wide range of benefits and perks, such as room upgrades, late check-out, and free nights. However, there are also some key differences between the two that may make one program more appealing to you than the other.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at Hilton Diamond and Hyatt Globalist and compare the benefits they offer. We’ll also discuss the requirements for achieving elite status, as well as the earning and redemption options available. By the end of this post, you’ll have a good understanding of what each program has to offer and be able to make an informed decision on which one is right for you.
How to find award availability with the World of Hyatt program
The World of Hyatt Loyalty Program is a free loyalty program that offers rewards and benefits for guests who stay at Hyatt hotels. As a member, you’ll earn points on your eligible stays, which can then be redeemed for free nights, room upgrades, dining, and more. Plus, you’ll enjoy perks such as complimentary breakfast, late checkout, and more at participating hotels.
If you have been a member of the World of Hyatt program for a while, then you know that one of the keys to maximizing your rewards is finding award availability for your desired hotels and dates. Here are some tips for finding award availability with the World of Hyatt program:
Maximizing credit card rewards: cashback vs transferring to travel partners
Redeeming credit card points for cashback or transferring them to travel partners are both popular options for using your credit card rewards. Which is the better choice for you?
In this blog post, we’ll compare the pros and cons of each option to help you decide which method is right for your spending habits and travel goals. Redeeming points for cashback is a simple and flexible way to use your rewards, but transferring them to travel partners can often offer higher value.
We’ll explore the advantages and disadvantages of each option in detail to help you make an informed decision.
How to get an American Airlines status without flying?
American Airlines is one of the biggest airlines in the world, and it flies to more than 235 destinations on six continents, including Europe, Asia, and South America. This airline is also top-rated in North America to get to the Caribbean or the Pacific destinations.
Like all airlines, American Airlines has a frequent flyer program. The American Airlines Frequent Flyer Program is called “AAdvantage,” and it is the most popular frequent flyer program in the US! It is important to mention that It is linked to the Oneworld Alliance loyalty program.
In 2022, American Airlines completely revamped the method of qualifying for an AAdvantage status. Before the update, you were required to keep track of three status metrics: EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles), EQS (Elite Qualifying Segments), and EQD (Elite Qualifying Dollars).
In the update, the carrier has changed how its status is calculated. And now, instead of the three status metrics, it uses one: Loyalty Points.
This update made earning an AAdvantage status much easier for people who aren’t frequent fliers. So, let’s dive into a few methods that can help you fast-track your status with American Airlines and get an American Airlines status without flying.
Everything you need to know about the Centurion Lounge, by American Express
Airports are often associated with the stress of going through the TSA / Airport Security, and when you think of an airport, you don’t usually imagine a luxurious experience. American Express Centurion Lounge is a luxury travel perk that gives you a space in the airport to relax and enjoy high-quality food and drinks absolutely for free! How can you actually get that benefit?
Keep on reading, and we will demystify some of the aspects of getting into an American Express Centurion Lounge.
How to book a United Airlines flight using American Express Membership Rewards points
American Express Membership Rewards points can be easier to earn than Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and American Express has plenty of airline transfer partners, but unfortunately, United Airlines is not one of them.
So, you might’ve been wondering if American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred to United Airlines to book a flight somehow?
Even though you can’t transfer your Membership Rewards points to United Airlines directly, there’s still a way to book a United Airlines flight using your Membership Rewards points, and in this post, we are going to show you how. Let’s dive into it!
Everything you need to know about booking Hyatt hotels with Points
As you know, we have chosen to be members of the World of Hyatt since we consider Hyatt’s loyalty program to be one of the best in terms of award redemption value, as well as the perks that it provides to its elites. Plus, we are just big fans of Hyatt Hotels as Hyatt offers a wide variety of quality hotels and resorts all over the world.
Even though Hyatt is considered to have a smaller footprint than Hilton or Marriott, Hyatt keeps consistently adding more hotels and resorts into its network. For instance, Hyatt just recently purchased 102 resorts in the Caribbean and Europe under Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, and Zoetry brands, expanding the World of Hyatt program.
If you’re interested in getting started with World of Hyatt, want to learn more about earning and redeeming Hyatt Points, and explore other benefits the program provides, this post is for you.
How to keep your miles from expiring (domestic airlines)
Unlike many international airlines, most of domestic airlines have a generous mileage expiration policy. In the recent years many (but not all) of domestic airlines switched from their award charts to dynamic pricing but silver lining is that by doing so they updated their mileage programs so that miles no longer expire.
In this article, we put together a list of domestic airlines, and major facts about their programs such as alliance attribution, miles expiration policy and easy ways of earning more miles or extending them if they expire.
Airline miles expiration and transfer partners
When you decide to transfer your hard earned credit card points to one of the airline mileage programs, it’s important to know their expiration policies. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had their miles stranded with various airline mileage programs due to overall disruption in travel and even though some programs extended or paused miles expiration, it was still unfortunate to have your miles and points locked with a program that has a harsh miles expiration policy.
We decided to put this article together to have a quick and up to date reference to domestic and international airline mileage programs and their miles expiration policies.