Last chance: 10000 Lufthansa miles card bonus, 100% bonus buying Hilton points
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News in brief:
Last chance to get 10,000 Miles & More miles with the Lufthansa credit card
For only the second time, Lufthansa is offering an increased sign-up bonus on its new UK payment card. You will receive 10,000 Miles & More miles if you sign up by 31st December after which it will presumably drop back to 5,000 miles.
You can find out more, and apply, here.
It is an odd product, I admit. You get a Diners Club card (!) and, luckily, you ALSO receive a Mastercard, featuring a smart picture of the virtually unknown Boeing 747-8 with the extended upper deck.
The sign-up bonus is 10,000 Miles & More miles. This credits with your first purchase – there is no spend target to hit.
The real value is in your on-going spending. You earn 1.25 miles per £1 spent. This is a VERY good rate for a Mastercard, even one with an annual fee. It isn’t as good as the market leading Virgin Flying Club Reward+ Mastercard (1.5 Virgin Atlantic miles per £1) but the fee is 50% lower.
The annual fee is £79. Supplementary cards are not allowed. Note that this is a charge card and NOT a credit card. You MUST repay your balance in full each month.
Having this card will stop your Miles & More miles from expiring. The ’36 month rule’ on expiry is waived. The conditions are that you have been a holder of the cards for at least three months and you make at least one miles-earning purchase on the card each month going forward.
It is all quite complex. Rather than dig through old ground again, I recommend you read my full review of the Lufthansa Miles & More Global Traveller card here.
You can apply for the new Miles & More cards here. If you want to jump on this offer, the higher 10,000 mile bonus is only available until New Year’s Eve.
Last day: 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points
Hilton Honors is currently running another promotion offering a 100% bonus when you purchase 10,000+ points.
The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here. Today, Saturday 28th December, is the last day to buy.
Regular readers of Head for Points will know that I tend to value Hilton points at 0.33p each. You are paying 0.40p (0.5 cents) here so the maths in general doesn’t work.
HOWEVER ….. there ARE real bargains to be had at peak periods. Conrad Maldives at 95,000 points per night, the new Waldorf Astoria Maldives at 120,000 points, the ‘all suite’ Conrad New York Downtown or Conrad New York Midtown at 95,000 points etc are places where you will usually save a lot of money by buying points instead of paying cash. This is especially true if you have Hilton status and can get ‘5 nights for the points of 4’ on a longer stay – and if you don’t have status, you can get a match here.
If you are just buying a handful of points to top off your account, the price per point doesn’t matter anyway. If you a few thousand short of a redemption then this is a decent opportunity to buy them.
The annual cap has been doubled for this offer. You can buy up to 320,000 points (160,000 + 100%) for $1,600.
You can buy points via this link. The offer ends tonight, Saturday.
Think you might have a Marriott stay in the next two weeks?
The current Marriott Bonvoy promotion, Unlock More, runs until 14th January.
Annoyingly, however, registration ends on New Year’s Eve. If you think you might have a couple of Marriott stays before 14th January, you should register for the Marriott promotion now, just in case.
You will receive 2,000 bonus points for your second paid stay after registration.
After you have done this, you will unlock ‘a personalised additional offer’ which will also run until 14th January. Given that the offer ends soon, I wouldn’t worry about this part as it is unlikely you will reach it.
All 7,000 hotels across all 29 hotel brands are taking part. The 29 brands you can stay at include: AC Hotels, Aloft, Autograph, Courtyard, Delta Hotels, Design Hotels, Edition, Element, Fairfield Inn, Four Points, Gaylord, Le Meridien, Marriott, Moxy, Protea, Renaissance, Residence Inn, St Regis, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, The Ritz-Carlton, Springhill Suites, Towneplace Suites, W and Westin.
I value a Marriott Bonvoy point at 0.5p, so the 2,000 bonus points means that you are getting an additional return of £10-worth of points after your 2nd stay. This is clearly not life changing, but if you are going to do the stays anyway then you might as well register.
Click here to visit the registration page on the Marriott website.
How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (December 2023)
There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.
You can apply here.
Marriott Bonvoy American Express
20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review
You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.
Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status. We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.
The Platinum Card from American Express
Crazy 100,000 points (TO 9th JANUARY) and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:
- American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
- American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.
and for small business owners:
- American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
- American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)
The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.
(Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)
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