Points And Miles Required Reading, Volume III

All information about the Delta SkyMiles Gold, Gold, Hilton Honors, Surpass, and Aspire American Express Cards has been collected independently by Miles to Memories.

Points and Miles Required Reading

Welcome to volume III of Points and Miles Required Reading, where I talk about various unrelated items worth mentioning, but not enough to justify individual articles.  I wrote the second volume in this series four months after the first, and this one’s coming five and one-half months after the second.  What does this mean?  I’ve been focusing more on the big issues in individual articles, right?  Or maybe I just talk way too extensively about the minutiae in those longer posts.  Regardless where your opinion lies, hopefully you’ll agree I won’t linger too long on any topic today.  We’re touch and go with this one.

My DD Balance Gets Dunked On

In I-only-learned-this-due-to-a-random-Amex-benefit news, the maximum Dunkin’ card balance in the app is $125.  Why does this matter?  Why do I have a balance, anyway?  Those two questions have the same answer.  I trigger my monthly Amex Gold Dunkin’ benefit via the easiest possible method – loading my Dunkin’ card $7 at a time.  Attempting a load that will bring the balance above $125 will deliver an error message.

A simple fix exists, though.  Just create a new Dunkin’ card in the app and keep on loading!  Minor detail – don’t forget to actually make Dunkin’ purchases sooner or later.  Otherwise, this was all just a big waste of time.

United Travel Bank Weirdness

It’s commonly known among United Travel Bank users that funds are limited to flights on United metal.  But of course, one may bump into other exclusions – I recently have.  It appears Travel Bank cannot be used on “Travel Options Bundles” like Economy Plus seating, etc.  I recently tried to book an Economy Plus ticket using Travel Bank to cover the entire purchase.  Instead, this amount only covered the base fare, taxes, and fees, asking for a separate form of payment for the “Travel Options Bundle” including Economy Plus.  But unlike a stand-alone ticket, I found that an Economy Plus subscription can be purchased with Travel Bank.  Shocker – it seems United wants travelers to spend more on subscriptions.

Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills

Probably The Widest-Appeal Hilton Amex Offer

Amex is currently keeping our attention with plenty of elevated welcome offers for Delta and Hilton cards.  You can check out details in those individual DDG posts.  I already wrote about how the Gold versions of the Delta card offers work out best for many.  For the Hilton products, I’d suggest the Surpass welcome offer is the optimal pick for most.  It offers 130k points, a free night certificate, and plenty of benefits for a $150 annual fee.  Plus the welcome offer only requires $3k spend in six months.  The benefits, or even just a referral bonus for those playing the game in two-player mode, can more than make up for the annual fee.

Of course, the no-fee and Aspire card offers are increased, as well, so some may want to consider those first.  Even better, active hobbyists can go after multiple different products!

I Shall Unflinchingly Pick This Silly Luggage Tag

VFTW recently reminded us that American Airlines is now offering a “personalized luggage tag” as a 15k Loyalty Point Reward.  Insert jokes here.  Before I go on, here’s the full list of options at this level:

• Personalized luggage tag
• 1,000 Loyalty Points
• Priority privileges and Group 4 boarding for a trip
• 5 Preferred Seat coupons

I’m currently an Executive Platinum, so those last two options don’t do anything for me.  It comes down to 1k LP’s or the tag.  I’m not having issues earning LP’s, so that extra 1k doesn’t mean much, if anything.  Besides, I like niche airline tchotchkes.  My decision here is easy – I’m going with another luggage tag to pile onto the others which I’ve never used.

Points And Miles Required Reading – Conclusion

I’ll stop here with volume III of Points and Miles Reading.  If pattern holds, I’ll be referring to this post as I complete my upcoming to-do list.  I see a United subscription in my future in the form of a United Club membership, in addition to a few more Hilton cards and yet another luggage tag.  But the way things are going with Amex, I think our Dunkin’ credits will peak in the near future.  While the Gold’s a solid card for many, we have other Amex priorities for those 10 slots.

What’s been on your mind in the world of points and miles?

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