A short newsletter this week
Nothing majorly new this week in award travel.
However, TSA lines are getting a bit out of hand at some airports as the partial government shutdown continues. For almost every airport, having a combination of Clear, TSA Precheck, and Touchless ID (TSA site for details) should help make the experience fairly painless. For some airports like Atlanta, it seems as if those expedited options are not always offered, so plan in advance and check your local news, Facebook groups, and local airport website for an idea of what to expect. ICE going to be deployed at airports? (Washington Post)
This week's highlights
Citi devalues 2 hotel partners
This week, Citi announced that the transfer rates for two hotel programs will get worse. Starting April 19, the rates from Citi to Choice Hotels and to I Prefer Hotels will be worse
Choice will go from 1,000 : 2,000 to 1,000 : 1,500. This is a 25% devaluation rate.
I Prefer Hotels will go from 1:4 to 1:2, a 50% devaluation.
More details here on One Mile at a Time site. Sadly, it seems like credit card programs are devaluing, likely due to pressure from partners. This has led to a few programs moving away from the standard 1:1 transfer rate over the last year.
But Citi adds 2 transfer bonuses
Citi adds two transfer bonuses this week. There is a 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic, and a 25% bonus to Avianca. These both run until April 18, 2026.
But, should you use these bonuses? Think about the opportunity cost of using Citi points vs. other credit card points. Personally, I think it is not as easy to get Citi points compared to American Express and Chase points. Avianca also often sells miles at ~1.3 cents per point. You can actually buy Avianca points for 1.27 cents per point right now.
With Citi having some unique transfer partners such as American Airlines, Cathay (still 1:1 while Amex is 5:4), and EVA Airways, I probably would use another currenty for Virgin and certainly rather buy the Avianca Lifemiles instead.
Source: Citi
End of quarter checklist
Another reminder as we approach the end of the quarter. This is a complete repost of what I sent last week. Skip this section if you already know.
American Express is the largest culprit for quarterly credits, so here is a reminder to use them! For a more comprehensive list to make sure you aren’t missing anything, check out a list of credits by credit card on AwardWallet here.
American Express
Amex Platinum: $100 Resy quarterly credit
Amex Platinum: $75 Lululemon quarterly credit
Amex Business Platinum: $50 Hilton quarterly credit
Amex Hilton Surpass: $50 Hilton quarterly credit
Amex Hilton Aspire: $50 flight quarterly credit
How am I using these credits?
Amex Platinum Resy: Bought a $100 gift card from a restaurant and got a $25 bonus, then used it at said restaurant. Check out this site called Use Your Credits to find which restaurants by geography let you buy gift cards online that will most likely trigger the Resy credit. FYI, paying through Toast should 99% work. However, I have bought a gift card through Securetree (Bavette’s Chicago) and still got the Resy credit.
Amex Platinum Lululemon: I bought a $75 gift card in-store and it triggered the credit. Buying a digital gift card online will not work.
Amex Hilton credits: I will test mine at a bar based on a Hilton property later this week. There is a Google Sheet that has some data points on which Hilton-based restaurants work and don’t work. If you have an upcoming stay at a Hilton property, you could also ask for a credit card authorization form and add $50 credit to your future stay. I do this with my Hilton Aspire resort credits. Or just stay at a Hilton.
Amex Hilton flight credits: Unlike the Platinum card where you get $200 in annual airline incidental credit, the Hilton cards give you credit for anything flight-related. So it will credit for airfare as well. I just bought United Travel Bank.
Earlier this month, Hilton was offering 100k points and discounted stays if you listened to a 2 hour timeshare presentation. The offer is now 150k points (and a discounted stay still). Details directly on the Hilton Grand Vacation site here.
This can be a pretty lucrative offer if you know how to say “no” countless times over the 2 hour presentation period. You could book 3 nights in Orlando for $199 total for example.
Source: Hilton Grand Vacations