Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Last call: big Lufthansa credit card bonus; buy Hyatt, Avios and Starwood points

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Here is a quick reminder of four deals which are drawing to a close this week.

Lufthansa Miles & More credit card

30th May (not, note, 31st May!) is the last day to apply for the Miles & More credit card with the current bonus.

The special offer of 11,500 miles is a substantial – to put it mildly – improvement on the usual 1,500.

The cards are free so this is a decent deal if you have a Miles & More account and want to build it up.  It is not very attractive if you do not already have a Miles & More balance – short-haul rewards are very poor value and you need a decent balance to get something worthwhile.

More details can be found on the Lufthansa website here.

My full review of the Miles & More cards can be found here.

Lufthansa

20% bonus when you buy Hyatt Gold Passport points

Another deal which ends this week, on June 1st, is the 10% – 20% bonus when you buy Hyatt Gold Passport points.

The link to buy is here, scroll down to the Hyatt logo.

My original analysis of this deal can be found here.

25% discount when you buy Starwood Preferred Guest points

Until 31st May, you will receive a discount of 10%-25% when you buy Starwood Preferred Guest points.  Because these can be transferred at 1:1 into 29 different airline programmes, it offers a way of buying miles cheaply in airline programmes which do not usually sell miles.

My original article on this deal is here.  The link to buy is here, scroll down to the SPG logo.

25% bonus when you buy Avios points

Finally, BA’s current offer of a bonus of up to 25% when you buy Avios points ends on 1st June.

I was not impressed by this deal as I wrote here!

Category

Lufthansa and Miles & More, Starwood Preferred Guest, World of Hyatt

Comments (11)

  • signol says:
    28 May28 May 08:14

    Hi, what are your thoughts on the “buy IHG points” offer here? https://dailygetaways.ustravel.org/OfferDetails.aspx?pid=2e7e3E51-bc9a-4956-83b3-d2d465bb4c75 15000 points for $90, if you pay with an Amex.

    • Rob says:
      28 May28 May 09:43

      It is legit but you need to know how to get a UK Amex to work!

      Here is my view. You can, at any point, buy 15k IHG for $105 via the ‘cash and points and cancel’ trick.

      This deal means, for a 15 per cent discount, you are committing your cash now and risking a devaluation or otherwise not being able to use them. For me, 15 per cent off is not enough to justify committing my money now. I am happier keeping my cash abd paying $105 at a time when I definitely need the points.

      Up to you though!

  • Ben23 says:
    28 May28 May 08:53

    Signol – not sure about 3rd parties selling IHG points – not seen this before, are they legit? The price is similar to what you pay if you do the cash+points cancel trick…
    1. Find a hotel with a reward night for 50,000pts.
    2. The cash+points cost is 40,000pts + $70
    3. When you book this you are actually, still paying 50,000pts – you just buy 10,000 more for $70 and use 40,000 from your existing balance to make up the 50,000
    4. Then cancel the reward booking.
    5. 50,000pts is re-credited to your account.
    6. Hence you just bought 10,000pts for $70

  • Jenni says:
    28 May28 May 10:01

    OT, but I know a lof of HFP readers have recently cancelled their Amex Plat. I cancelled mine 3 weeks ago, how does the pro rata refund of the annual fee work? How long should I wait for that and is it a cheque in the post they send you? Thanks!

    • Rob says:
      28 May28 May 13:22

      It is credited back to your Amex account oddly! You then need to ring and transfer it to another Amex if you have one or ask for a bank transfer.

      • Jenni says:
        28 May28 May 13:58

        Oh right, that’s odd thanks Raffles! The balance on the cancelled card says £0.00, will this change to reflect the refund or how do I know when its ready to claim?

  • signol says:
    28 May28 May 10:02

    Thanks both. I have a specific redemption in mind – 3 nights at HI Wembley, and I currently hold 16k points (so I need 14k). One to think about (and maybe test with a UK card!)

    • signol says:
      28 May28 May 15:00

      This direct points purchase doesn’t work, as you need a US address, and when I put my cousin’s it fails as it’s different to the Amex address. At least the HI have part pay options – 5k points + $40 / night.

      • pazza2000 says:
        29 May29 May 08:22

        I purchased a daily getaway a couple of years ago, used a UK Amex and US address I believe and it was successful, albeit perhaps now they are stricter.

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