American Express Transfer Bonus

There’s a pretty good 40% transfer bonus from Amex points to British (or Iberia or Aer Lingus) Avios through November 15th. The main negative continues to be the British Airways website. It’s less reliable than the customer service at my local DMV…the pizza from my local food court…the performances in my local Ben Affleck movie.

I have no issue with the math of this bonus…it’s more about the pain that often comes along with redeeming these points. But, if we’re being honest, I’d jump on this if I had a specific booking in mind.

End Of Week Stuff

  • In spite of the slopfest experience of dealing with them lately, you might want to register for a Marriott/Starwood promo. And one from Choice hotels
  • See if you’re targeted for a promo from United. Here’s one from IHG. And another.
  • This hasn’t stopped feeling strange. There’s another great Delta award sale available. It continues to make me as confused as Hannibal Lecter in a vegan restaurant.

Have a great weekend, nerds!

New Discover Option

The last time I applied for a Discover card…phones had cords, Pauly Shore was a movie star, and the ultimate comeback was telling someone to “talk to the hand.”

But it could be time for me to get another one…

This new Discover It Business card is 1.5% cash back and that’s doubled for the first year. At minimum, 3% across the board is worth looking at. Then again, I’d have to wait the whole year to collect it all. This one is in the “to be considered” pile.

Combination Catalog?

Well, this is a new one…

Reader Paul reached out because Chase doesn’t feel his Office Depot online purchases are from an office store. According to them, that spending is now in the “combination catalog” category. Obviously, this could be a big deal if it’s happening to others. Anyone know anything about this?

Edit: Turns out the order was for store pickup. Not the worst-case scenario by any means. Nothing to see here. As has been the case for a while, in-store pickup is not the way to go if you want 5x points.

Tuesday Triple

  • The Hertz weekend rate sale for neighborhood locations is back. Starting at 13 bucks per day. Good deals are available…the question, as always, is if they match up with your city and schedule.
  • In a couple of days, the Citi ThankYou to JetBlue point transfer ratio becomes 1-to-1. That moves it into the “worth looking at” category for some. It makes the most sense if you have a JetBlue personal and/or Business card (since points are refunded back for award bookings).
  • You’ll need your browser to translate the page, but here’s a Lufthansa award sale. And the latest Last Minute Deal list from Kimpton is here