Save money, buy bonus miles

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Good morning 🙂

It’s been a busy week, eh? So take a breath, relax, and enjoy catching up on our favorite topic—travel!

✅ There are so many transfer bonuses right now (including a few new ones this week!). Check ‘em out here.

✅ Stay up to date on the Million Mile Challenge (and learn how to decipher fare codes for any flight you take).

✅ JetBlue just made its status match that much better.

✅ If you’re looking for some tips to help you get approved for your next credit card application, this week’s YouTube video does just that.

🏆 Favorite pick of the week: Save money, buy these bonus miles

I would rarely vouch for you to buy airline miles on a regular basis, but every now and again, a good deal comes along.

Or in this case, a really good deal 👀

Right now, you can buy Hawaiian miles with up to a whopping 100% bonus until November 15th.

Here’s how it works:

Until November 15th, you’ll get tiered bonuses when buying Hawaiian miles
Earn 80% bonus miles when you buy between 3,000-9,000 miles
Earn a 100% bonus when buying 10,000 or more miles
You can buy a maximum of 100,000 miles per transaction, but there is no cap on how many times you can do this 😮

Now, you might be thinking that you don’t fly Hawaiian regularly enough for this deal to make sense.

And I would say, “Wait. Let me explain.”

Ever since Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines merged, we’ve been able to freely transfer miles between the two airlines.

And I bet a whole lot more of you fly Alaska more often than Hawaiian.

And even if you don’t fly Alaska… They are part of the Oneworld Alliance, which features the very popular American Airlines (among others).

Here’s an example of how an American Airlines award flight from Dallas to Tokyo could either cost you 37.5k miles or $1,579 in cash 👇

But with this current bonus, you could actually just freaking buy 38,000 Hawaiian miles for $483, transfer them to Alaska, and book your AA award flight through Alaska’s site! 🤯

What the…

Yeah. Make it make sense (but also, don’t question the system and just take advantage of it).

In our OG newsletter section, Mike even details how you could fly to Europe in business class for just $600 worth of purchased Hawaiian miles.

It’s a great travel win, so check it out here.

🏃🏻‍♀️ Runner-Ups

We love Flying Blue—the joint rewards program of Air France and KLM.

And we love them even more right now because, earlier this week, they released their November Promo Rewards, which feature flights to/from North America and Europe starting at just 15,000 miles!

It’s great to see my two home-base airports (Seattle and Vancouver) on the list this month.

Plus, other popular cities like New York, Denver, and Ottawa are also featured.

Double plus, there’s a 20% transfer bonus from MR Points to Flying Blue until November 10th that could turn that 15,000-mile award flight into a 12,500-mile one 👀

Just remember that you need to book your flights before the end of the month, and if you can also get in on this transfer bonus before it ends… even better!

🥈 Buy Hyatt points with a 25% bonus

I swear, we aren’t always advocating that you buy your miles and points… 😅

But Hyatt is tempting us with a 25% bonus that is actually pretty decent. Here’s why that is.

A 25% bonus may not sound that crazy, but if you can find a Hyatt stay that requires a lower level of points (but would otherwise have a high cash value), you can actually come out ahead by buying points—similar to buying Hawaiian bonus miles from the section above.

For one example, take this Hyatt Regency in Miami where one night could cost you either $445 (🤬) or just 12,000 Hyatt points.

As seen in the screenshot below from Mike’s account, buying 12,500 points with this bonus would cost $240… Which is $205 cheaper than just paying the cash cost for the room.

Again… Make it make sense 😜

But beware, this isn’t always the case. You may find a property whose cash cost is still cheaper than buying the points needed (if it requires a lot of points).

But if you have a redemption in mind, run the numbers and see if buying the points will be cheaper than the price of the hotel in cash!

📣 Quick Callouts

🤔 Interesting: Cathay Pacific might just be the most underrated Oneworld points program
👀 Intriguing: [Targeted] Earn 30k MR Points by flying with ANA
🌎 Inspirational: Where in the World Wednesday (Lisbon)
😀 Good to know: Qatar just launched a new tool to help us find award seats