Weekend Blitz

Hurry and book now to take advantage of the Air France/KLM Flying Blue Promo Awards to travel to Europe this summer!

Until June 30, you can book this promo award which will give you 50% off the typical award rate between Houston-IAH and Europe and knock it down to just 25,000 miles per person in Economy.

Head here to book your travel: Flying Blue Promo Awards

So, where will 25,000 miles take you? Basically, any of these cities in Europe are eligible (if you can find award space):

Because the only eligible routes are Air France/KLM routes from Houston-IAH, you’re limited to:

The “SPG Hot Escapes” list is out for the week of July 25, 2014. They offer discounts of 20-50% off of typical rates for a few hundred select properties worldwide. The flash sale lasts for about 3 days and allows you to book the properties for the next 6 weeks:

The Deal

SPG Hot Escapes for the week of July 25, 2014 allow you to book selected Starwood properties for 20-50% off. Some of the highlights include:

Sub-$100 U.S. Properties:

Worldwide deals:

How to Get It

Don’t forget:

Although we haven’t covered it much in the past, Starwood Hotels & Resorts releases a list of flash deals every Wednesday, called “SPG Hot Escapes.” They offer discounts of 20-50% off of typical rates for a few hundred select properties worldwide. The flash sale lasts for about 3 days and allows you to book the properties for the next 6 weeks:

The Deal

SPG Hot Escapes for the week of June 18, 2014 allow you to book selected Starwood properties for 20-50% off. Some of the highlights include:

U.S. Only, lots of New York properties for ~$150/night:

Worldwide, great deals in Thailand (thanks to the military coup): [...]

The American Express Platinum card is one of the best cards out there. While it carriers a very hefty annual fee ($450) for both the Personal and Business versions, it has some of the best benefits and travel-related services that are very value-add. Here’s a quick list of what the $450 a year will get you:

As I wrote about back in April (Deal Blitz: Starwood “Hear the Music” 2014 Promo – $50 Ticketmaster Cash for Every 2 Nights), Starwood was running a promo that gave you a $50 Ticketmaster e-voucher for every 2 paid nights at a Starwood property between between April 3 and May 31, 2014. The only catch was that you had to make the bookings using a SPG mobile app.

This was a pretty phenomenal promotion because it was based on paid nights, not paid stays during a 2-month period. Anyway, I’m happy to report that the promotion ended just about a week ago and the e-certificates have started to email!

While I’m glad I got at least 4 of [...]

Note: These are bookable now.. Don’t miss out on Flying Blue’s summer promo which allows you to book Air France/KLM awards for 25-50% less that normal in July & August 2014:

Award bookings on Air France/KLM routes have been reduced by 25-50% for travel between August 1 – September 30, 2014.

For those of us sitting in ‘Merica, we’ll be most interested in:

The Priority Club PointBreaks list has been updated through July 31, 2014! Below is a list of all of the hotels that IGH/PriorityClub Rewards is offering for just 5,000 pts a night. Don’t forget that you can buy 5,000 points for just $35, which basically allows you to book any of the rooms below for just $35/night:

Check our tutorial on how to book rooms for $35 / night

When you’re ready to book (note, booking starts Tuesday May 27): Click here to go to the PointsBreaks site (the new IHG site)

Sample prices below are based on a 1 night stay from June 8 – June 9, 2014.

Here’s a great opportunity for reduced price Amtrak travel!

Amtrak is running a special promo that gives you a 50% bonus on purchased points until June 30, 2014. Typically, the number of points that you’re allowed to purchase for yourself or receive as a gift from another member is 10,000 per calendar year but, because this is a 50% bonus on purchased points, you can buy up to 10k points for $275 and will get 15k points:

This is a great deal, especially for those who don’t have a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Plus/Bold that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to Amtrak. [...]

American Airlines is currently running 2 contests that could earn your some serious miles… if you win, of course:

1. American Airlines Buy Miles Sweepstakes – 1x prize of 500,000 AAdvantage miles

Don’t miss out on Marriott Reward’s Summer 2014 promo “Marriott Rewards Getaway Bonus”:

My targeted offer

The Deal

You’ll have to login to your Marriott account and head to the MegaBonus page to see your personalized offer. Here are a few of the offers you may get, all running from June 1 to August 31: