Michael's Miles Round-Up

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Happy Friday Reader!

Listen to this segment on: Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Ahh, October is here. Cue the pumpkin spice lattes, Harry Potter rewatch marathons, holiday prep, and Companion Pass season!

My first tip this week is about the Southwest Companion Pass. Here's an extremely brief synopsis: it lets you fly BOGO on Southwest Airlines for nearly 2 years if you earn it strategically. For the full explanation, check out this video from last year's strategy.

I plan to make a full strategy video here soon, but I wanted to make sure to give you this warning/advice now - if it's been more than 24 months since you received a sign-up bonus from a Southwest personal or business card, and earning that bonus again is part of your plan, I would recommend you cancel that card today.

To be able to get the sign-up bonus a second time, you need to give Chase enough time to recognize the account as closed before applying again, some people say 2 weeks is enough time, but I like to give it at least a statement period if possible.

Tip 2:

If you have a Freedom Flex card from Chase, there's a strategy circulating for getting 17x back on dining this quarter if you're willing to jump through a hoop or two.

The Freedom Flex already earns 3x back on dining, with dining being a bonus category you get an extra 4x, and then if you check out through Paze you get an extra 10x, totaling 17x.

You may already know about the few dining establishments that directly accept Paze online: Domino's, Dunkin' Donuts, and Whataburger.

But you may not know that Clover, a popular POS system restaurants use, allows you to pay with Paze as well. Now, this will take a little trial and error because not all of them make it easy to pay with Paze, but it may be worth it for that extra 10x.

To make it easier to find these restaurants, I've heard of two different websites/tools that have been made: Paze Clover Map and Pazemap (the first one appears to work better).

With that said, I haven't tried it out myself yet, and I would very much expect the worst and hope for the best since Paze is still a fairly new concept.

Here's an article for a breakdown if you don't yet know what Paze is and what I'm talking about.

You've got the points.
Here's the process for actually turning them into the flight you want.

• I'll be covering this week's news more in-depth at MMR Live at 11am Central on YouTube.
• Bilt will be following Chase and devaluing Hyatt points transfers from 1:1 to 4:3 starting January 1st, 2027.
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• Chase announced a big change to its IHG card lineup: including a new premium card, annual fee increases, new benefits and reductions to some existing perks. A lot to unpack, but for me it makes it harder to justify after the first year of having any of the cards.
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• New Flying Blue Promo Rewards below including deals to Kenya and China.
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• Last week I mentioned how it appears lifetime language is appearing on Southwest business card offers, well I'm not actually seeing that on my end. Maybe I spoke too soon.
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• However there have been some datapoints about there being a 3/24 rule for Chase applications that applies specifically to Sole Proprietors. See datapoints & details.
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• You can earn 10x AA miles on Red Cross Hawaii Hurricane Relief donations through October 9th. You should also be able to earn an additional 5x Chase UR using your Freedom Flex card since Red Cross is one of the bonus categories.

Lots of Alaska Airlines news:

• Alaska Airlines announces Atmos Communities: an optional feature where you can join one of 6 communities that come with extra perks like 20% back on award travel for kids 12 and under.
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• You can now choose how you accrue miles when flying with Alaska Airlines: per-mile, per-dollar, or per-segment for 2027 flights.
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• They've also announced a new premium cabin coming in 2028 as well as other 2027 changes you can view by scrolling down this page.​

Point Sales:

Purchasing points on sale is a way to access travel sweet spots at a cash discount, especially useful for those who can't earn points quickly through credit cards (those living outside the U.S.) or those who want to fast-track specific luxury redemptions.

I recommend only purchasing points with a redemption in mind, or if you're topping off an account. ​
​
Air Canada up to 30% discount as low as 1.90 cents each, exp 10/13​
American Airlines up to 40% bonus as low as 2.26 cents each, tiered
​Choice Hotels up to 40% discount as low as 0.62 cents each, exp 10/22
​Delta SkyMiles up to 50% bonus as low as 2.51 cents each, exp 10/31
​Finnair Plus up to 50% bonus as low as 1.45 cents each, exp 10/5
​IHG up to 100% bonus as low as 0.5 cents each, exp 10/5.
​Lufthansa up to 50% bonus as low as 1.39 cents each, exp unk.
​Southwest up to 50% discount as low as 1.50 cents each, exp 10/2
​Virgin Atlantic up to 70% bonus as low as 1.47 cents each, exp 10/4
​World of Hyatt up to 20% discount as low as 2.08 cents each, exp 10/5
​Wyndham up to 90% bonus as low as 0.68 cents each, exp 10/21

Checkout today's Michael's Miles Roundup Live at 11am Central.

Here are some of the best sign-up bonuses that I've found. I've included referral links to the offers I have access to. For offers not linked, I'd recommend applying through other channels to support creators' work.

"***" = Different from last week

Flexible Points Cards:​
-Chase Sapphire Preferred $95 - 75k, after $5k spend.​
​-Chase Sapphire Reserve $795 - 100k after $6k spend.
-Chase Sapphire Reserve Business $795 - 200k after $30k spend in 6 months
-Chase Freedom Unlimited $0 - 20k/$200 after $500 spend in 3 months
-Chase Freedom Flex $0 - 25k/$250 after $500 spend in 3 months
-Chase Ink Unlimited $0 - 75k points after $6,000 spent in 4 months
-Chase Ink Cash $0 - 75k points after $6,000 spent in 4 months
-Chase Ink Business Preferred $95 - 100k points after $8,000 spent in 3 months.

​
-AMEX Gold $325 has an offer for "as high as" 100k
​-AMEX Business Gold $375 - "as high as" 200k Targeted Offer after $15,000 spent in 3 months. Try copying and pasting link into Private/Incognito browser. ​
​-AMEX Platinum $895 - "as high as" 175k after $12k spend
-AMEX Business Platinum $895 - "as high as 300k" after $20,000 spent in 3 months; Also here's a 200k No Lifetime Language link.
​
-Capital One Venture X $395 - 75k points after $4,000 in 3 months.
-Capital One Venture $95 - 75k + $300 travel credit after $4,000 in 3 months.
-Capital One Venture Business $95 - 100k after $10k in 3 months.
-Capital One Venture X Business $395 - 150k bonus, after $30,000 in 3 months.
-Capital One Savor $0 - $250 cash back (25k points) after $500 in 3 months
-Citi Strata Elite $595 - 75k points
-Citi Strata Premier $95 - 60k points

Hotel Cards​
​-Amex Hilton Honors $0 - 70k + Free Night Certificate after $2000 spent in 6 months. Ends 1/13/27​
-Amex Hilton Surpass $150 - 130k + Free Night Certificate after $3000 spent in 6 months. Ends 1/13/27​
-Amex Hilton Aspire $550 - 200k after $6000 spent in 6 months. Ends 1/13

Airline cards:​
-Chase Southwest Premier Business - 80k miles after $3,000 spend in 3 months. Ends 10/26
- Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select $99, waived first year - 80k miles after $3,500 spend in 4 months.
- Citi AAdvantage Executive Mastercard $695 - 125k miles after $15,000 in 5 months.
-Delta SkyMiles Gold $150, waived first year - "as high as" 80k miles + $250 statement credit after $3,000 spend in 6 months. Ends 11/4.
(Business version also available)
-Delta SkyMiles Platinum $350 — as high as 90k miles + $300 statement credit after $4,000 spend in 6 months. Ends 11/4
(Business version also available)
-Delta SkyMiles Reserve $650 — 50k miles + two domestic round-trip Comfort certificates after $10,000 spend in 6 months. Ends 11/4
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business​ $650 — 200k miles after $20,000 spend in 6 months. Ends 11/4

Atlanta (ATL) - Beijing (PEK): Economy for 30k Miles
Austin (AUS) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Boston (BOS) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Chicago (ORD) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Chicago (ORD) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Chicago (ORD) - Shanghai (PVG): Business for 86.25k Miles
Houston (IAH) - Beijing (PEK): Premium Economy for 48.75k Miles
Houston (IAH) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Las Vegas (LAS) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Miami (MIA) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Miami (MIA) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
New York (JFK) - Mauritius: Economy for 30k Miles
New York (JFK) - Nairobi (NBO): Premium Economy for 48.75k Miles
Raleigh/Durham (RDU) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Seattle (SEA) - Europe: Business for 45k Miles
Toronto (YYZ) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles

**New York (JFK) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
​**Orlando (MCO) - Europe: Business for 45k Miles
​**Vancouver (YVR) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles

**These awards are only available for Flying Blue Extra subscribers, this subscription starts at 379 EUR per year.

- Book by the end of October for travel dates up to March 31st, 2027. Includes reversed routing.
(Here's how to book it step by step.)

- Flying Blue Promo Awards are 25% discounted fares offered by KLM & Air France. Offer changes every month, and is released on the first weekday of the month. Above are U.S.-based routes, click here for other international-based deals.

American Express:​
​Aeromexico 20% - Ends 10/30​
Flying Blue 25% - Ends 10/30​
Hilton 30% - Ends 10/14​
​
Capital One:​
​British Airways 20% - Ends 10/31

Chase: ​
​Marriott 70% - Ends 10/15

Citi:​
​Avianca 25% - Ends 10/24
​JAL 30% - Ends 10/24

Rove:​
​Japan Airlines 50% - Ends 10/31
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) 40% - Ends 10/31
Qatar up to 35% - Ends 10/31

Have a good weekend!
​
​Michael​
​Nurse Michael Travels