Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
Normally when you’re choosing an airline for which to be loyal, you’d pick the one you fly on most, right? Wrong. Alaska Airlines offers incredible value, even to people who don’t live in one of its west coast hub cities. I’m currently living in Shanghai, I’ve never once flown on Alaska Airlines, and the Alaska …
Continue reading “What is Alaska Airlines elite status worth in 2020?”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
Do you live in a city serviced by JetBlue? If so, you’ve got access to the comfiest, most enjoyable domestic airline in existence. It’s got the best lie-flat business class seats. It’s got amazing complimentary snacks. It’s got live TV. And just by holding its airline credit card, you’ll receive a boost of more than 10% in value …
Continue reading “JetBlue TrueBlue points review: How to earn and burn points”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
INSIDER SECRET: Many popular destinations, especially in Southeast Asia, have cheap cash rates for luxury hotels. Make sure to double check before you redeem your points! While there were many losers in Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood and subsequent rollout of the new Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program, one of the biggest winners in all this chaos …
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
INSIDER SECRET: Before booking any Hilton award stays, make sure to open one of the Amex Hilton credit cards to earn automatic Hilton status and receive the fifth night free on award stays of five or more consecutive nights. The Hilton Honors loyalty program often gets a bit of a bad rap because of the …
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
The IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card just catapulted itself into the running for the best hotel credit card. It’s got a gargantuan 140,000 point sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. I’m not a fan of IHG’s incredibly limited award availability, but I’ve gotten some great redemptions using …
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
IHG doesn’t have as many locations as Marriott. It’s award chart isn’t as appealing as Hyatt’s. It’s not as generous as Hilton in recognizing elite status. However IHG has a unique attraction for travelers, even those who are already loyal to other hotel chains: The benefits that come with the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, …
Continue reading “How to use IHG points for maximum value”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
At the moment, Marriott offers four of the best hotel credit cards, with every card except the no-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card offering an anniversary free night certificate (which are potentially worth several hundred dollars). If you want to know how to earn Marriott points quickly, earning credit card welcome bonuses is key. With three of …
Continue reading “Comparing Marriott Bonvoy credit cards: Which one is right for you?”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
INSIDER SECRET: Some of Marriott’s best US hotels cost exactly 35,000 points per night. You can use the annual free night certificate with certain Marriott cards to stay for free! While the dramatic and frustrating roll-out of Marriott Bonvoy has caused a lot of people to lose faith in the world’s largest hotel chain, I …
Continue reading “The Best Marriott Hotels in the US to Book With Points (5 of My Favorites!)”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
When it comes to points-earning credit cards, there is no absolute uncontested winner for the best overall credit card. But depending on your travel or rewards goals, one (or more!) cards might stand above the rest. In this post, we’ll look at two card…
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
Alaska Airlines miles are some of the most valuable, even if you’ll never actually fly the airline. The West Coast-based carrier isn’t yet a member of any airline alliance (though they intend to join Oneworld in 2021), but don’t let that fool you. Through individual partnerships, the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan loyalty program is more …
Continue reading “How to use Alaska Airlines miles: Everything you need to know”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
With four personal and three business Delta credit cards available, picking the right card for you or your small business can be a challenge. It’s a push and pull between earning the best bonus offer and the most valuable and relevant perks while keeping your costs low. Enter the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, …
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Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card is a great way to stock up on Delta miles — up to 70,000 of them to be exact — after meeting minimum spending requirements — while keeping your costs low. It won’t cost you anything to try out, because the $99 annual fee is waived the …
Continue reading “Delta Gold Business Card review – Huge 70,000 mile offer for a limited time”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
INSIDER SECRET: No matter which Alaska Airlines partner you fly, you can include a free stopover. That turns your vacation into a two-for-one! Despite not being a member of one of the major airline alliances, Alaska Airlines has built a network of individual partnerships that allow you to redeem your miles to visit just about …
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
In my humble opinion, Alaska Airlines has the most valuable miles of any U.S. airline and the competition doesn’t come close. That’s something I’m comfortable saying despite never having flown with Alaska Airlines (and not having any plans to in the near future). The reason is because they have such valuable travel options with their …
Continue reading “How to earn Alaska Airlines miles in 2020”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
INSIDER SECRET: Alaska Airlines elite members can rack up thousands of miles buying discounted tickets on partner airlines like American and British Airways. Normally when you’re choosing an airline for which to be loyal, you’d pick the one you fly on most, right? Wrong. Alaska Airlines offers incredible value, even to people who don’t live …
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
When trying to decide which airline miles to collect, many people start with the airline that offers the best routes from their home airport. I’ve never been to Alaska (or its hubs in Seattle or Portland), yet Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is hands down my favorite frequent flyer program out there. Alaska Airlines isn’t a …
Written by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
While cash-back credit cards aren’t going to get you into fancy first class cabins or five-star hotels, they can offer solid rewards without the hassle of having to find award space. And every time an airline devalues its award chart or adds some new award booking restriction, they start to look a little more attractive …
Continue reading “Bank of America Premium Rewards card review”
Read MoreWritten by Ethan Steinberg @ Million Mile Secrets
IHG Rewards, the loyalty program for hotels like Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and more, can be a tricky program to navigate. IHG used to have broad appeal even to travelers who were primarily loyal to a different hotel chain, but even that is changing and the opportunity cost of sticking with IHG keeps going up. …
Continue reading “IHG Rewards review: Everything you need to know”
Read MoreChase’s Sapphire brand doesn’t just apply to two extremely popular rewards credit cards; it now extends to the Sapphire Banking checking account option. Available exclusively to Chase Sapphire cardholders who meet certain requirements which we’ll discuss below, this premium checking account is now open for applications in-branch, with a 60,000-point sign-up bonus. This can be stacked …
Read MoreQatar Airways introduced their new Qsuite business class product last year, and it quickly became apparent that this is the best business class seat in the world. When TPG Editor-at-Large Zach Honig reviewed it onboard a Boeing 777-300ER, he was blown away by the high tech suite and incredible attention to detail. Qatar eventually hopes to …
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