Michael's Miles Round-Up

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Happy Friday Reader!

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I think the Chase Sapphire Reserve might be the best card for hotels out there right now. I'll share 1) why I think so, 2) my recent experience with it, and 3) a warning.

1) I've always been a fan of Hyatt, and now the Sapphire Reserve is really the only card that lets you transfer 1:1 to them, aside from having a Bilt card, of course.

But even if you're not a fan of Hyatt and you don't transfer your Chase points over to them, I'd still say it's a great card to book hotels with, thanks to the travel portal, their Points Boost feature, and the Chase Edit hotel program.

Funny enough, I think the Chase Travel portal is why I don't like the Sapphire Preferred anymore, but it's probably my favorite thing about the Sapphire Reserve. Because I find the usefulness (value) of the Points Boost feature greater with the Reserve than the Preferred.

With the Points Boost feature in the Travel Portal you're no longer really limited to the Hyatt program and its limited footprint. You've now got access to whatever hotels Chase decides to offer their points boost with. If you get lucky and find a hotel you want to stay at that happens to be part of their Edit collection, you also get some premium benefits.

These benefits include: Daily breakfast for 2, $100 property credit (including dining & spa), room upgrade, early check-in, late check-out, and wifi. Early check-in and late check-out subject to availability.

2) I've only had this card for a couple of months, and, granted, I've done a decent amount of traveling recently, but I've already benefited from this perk twice now.

This weekend is my birthday weekend, and I booked a hotel stay in Austin. I wanted to stay at one of the Bunkhouse branded hotels from Hyatt. Originally I just wanted to check that brand off the Hyatt Brand Explorer and work closer toward another free night certificate.

Going through Hyatt, the stay was going to cost 45,000 points for three nights, that's 15,000 points per night at a 4 star hotel, which is right around what I'd like to pay. The cash price was around $800 so around 1.7 cents per point.

Once I was about to transfer my points and book, I thought, let me check the Chase Travel portal.

Sure enough, the same hotel stay I was about to book was available for just 50,000 points total with Points Boost, and it was part of the Edit Collection.

Therefore I'd get the benefits I mentioned earlier which I would not have received since I only have mid-tier status with Hyatt.

The trade-off is that booking through Chase Travel meant I don't get the nights credited to my Hyatt account and so it won't count towards the Hyatt Brand Explorer. However, sometimes, Chase does offer loyalty-eligible bookings - just not with this one.

Ultimately I chose the free breakfast and the $100 credit for just 5,000 extra points.

3) Now, one thing to be aware of, like always, whenever you're booking through a travel portal: make sure you have some type of secondary assurance that your hotel reservation is on file with the hotel itself.

For my upcoming hotel stay in Austin, I called ahead because we're arriving pretty early, and I just wanted to give them a heads up to try to increase my chances of an early check-in.

Then they told me they actually didn't have my reservation on file, and that sometimes they have connectivity issues with Chase Travel.

I thought, uh oh, here we go. But they simply asked me to forward over the itinerary from Chase Travel, and they'd get on it and make sure we were all good. (I'll have to let you know next week if we were indeed all good.)

So calling ahead is always a good idea. But sometimes I don't call, here's are the times I'd be okay with being lazy and not calling.

If, for example, I'd been able to get this hotel reservation to show up on my Hyatt account, I would've felt better about the reservation connecting and wouldn't bother.

Or if I'd received a preemptive email from the hotel welcoming me and telling me about their amenities, that also would've told me they received the reservation and that I'm all good.

Otherwise, you're kind of risking it that the reservation may or may not be received by everyone involved.

So that's where my strategy and eyes have been lately in terms of hotels.

What are your thoughts on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, or do you have a favorite hotel program or strategy that you use?

P.S. The value also applies to the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business which is one of the best cards available for ad spend.

Learn the framework and strategies I use to book flights for clients and myself with my signature course:

• Avios.com now offers calendar search for British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus awards, makes it much easier to find availability!
• US Bank Altitude Reserve cardholders now have access to transfer partners: Accor (2:1) and Ethiopian (1:1). Flying Blue and Qantas were originally launched but then pulled within 24 hours, so maybe they're coming soon? Details.
• American Airlines will no longer let elite status members receive complimentary economy-to-business upgrades on 3-cabin domestic flights (transcontinental & flights to Hawaii) effective August 25; elite members will clear to premium economy instead.
• The Hyatt promo to earn 3k points per 3 nights at Hyatt Place/Select now runs through September 30.
• You can now earn Qatar Airways Avios on Turo car rentals 1 point per dollar spent; sweet.
• TAP Air Portugal now offers 2 miles per €1 on Airbnb stays through new partnership. Cool, but I'd choose British Airways or Delta instead.
• Amex adds 350 more hotels to their FHR program and "The Hotel Collection."
• You can now use Bilt Cash to book Blade flights i.e., helicopter transfers between JFK, Manhattan, and EWR.
• Amex's Resy has added Tock restaurants to the platform, but you'll need to wait until 9/15 to use your Resy credit at select Tock venues. Eligibility will be indicated on the page.
• Etihad Guest now allows Starlux bookings, but costs nearly double what Alaska Airlines charges in points.

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 of 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.

Alaska Airlines up to 100% bonus as low as 1.88 cents each, exp 8/20​
American Airlines up to 40% bonus as low as 2.26 cents each, tiered
​Choice Privileges up to 40% discount as low as 0.62 cents each, exp 8/28
​Hilton Honors up to 90% bonus as low as 0.56 cents each, exp 8/12
​IHG One Rewards up to 100% bonus as low as 0.50 cents each, exp 8/17
​JetBlue up to 20% discount as low as 2.58 cents each, exp 8/18
​Lufthansa up to 50% bonus as low as 1.39 cents each, exp unk.
​Marriott Bonvoy up to 50% bonus as low as 0.83 cents each, exp 9/9
​Qatar Airways up to 10% bonus as low as 2.09 cents each, exp unk.
​Southwest up to 50% discount as low as 1.50 cents each, exp 8/26
​United Airlines up to 50% discount as low as 1.88 cents each, exp 8/20
​World of Hyatt up to 20% discount as low as 2.08 cents each, exp 10/5

We're talking about the Capital One Venture card and if it has what it takes to be the best card for beginners overtaking the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

If you're interested in supporting NMT via affiliate links here's how:

​Sign up for Travel Freely with my affiliate link then apply to any card through their CardGenie feature while logged in.

I get a small commission at no cost to you, and it's actually how I'm able to cover Chase, Capital One, and Amex content more freely.

"***" = Different from last week
"**" = Apply through Travel Freely after signing up with my affiliate link.​

Flexible Points Cards: (Sign up through Travel Freely)
-**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 Ink Unlimited $0 - 100k points after $8,000 spent in 4 months
-**Chase Ink Cash $0 - 100k points after $8,000 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 3mo.
-Capital One Venture $95 - 75k after $4,000 in 3mo.
-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 Spark Cash $95 - $1000 + $250 Travel Credit, or 100k if you have a Venture Miles earning card, you can transfer cash into miles.
-Capital One Spark Cash Plus $150 - $2000 + $500 Travel Credit, or 200k if you have a Venture Miles earning card.
-Capital One Savor $0 - $250 cash back (25k points) after $500 in 3 months
-Citi Strata Elite $595 - 75k points, $595 annual fee
-Citi Strata Premier $95 - 60k points, $95 annual fee

Hotel Cards​
​-Chase Marriott Boundless Card $95 - 4 Free Night Certificates (worth 50k points each) + $100 in Airline Credits* after $3,000 spent in 3 months. *Get $50 in statement credits semi-annually after spending $250 on eligible airline purchases.

Airline cards:​
- Bank of America Atmos Business $95 - 70k + $99 companion fare after $5,000 in first 90 days.
- Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select $99, waived first year - 80K miles after $3,500 spend in 3 months.

Dallas (DFW) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Houston (IAH) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Las Vegas (LAS) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
New York (JFK) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Phoenix (PHX) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
San Diego (SAN) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
San Francisco (SFO) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
Seattle (SEA) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
Washington, D.C. (IAD) - Europe: Premium Economy for 30k Miles
​
**Los Angeles (LAX) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
**Miami (MIA) - Europe: Economy for 18.75k Miles
**Orlando (MCO) - 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 August for travel dates up to January 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.

Cathay Pacific:
​From ANY bank 10% - Ends 8/28, registration required.​

American Express:
​Avios 30% - Ends 9/27​
​
Capital One:​
​Avianca 15% - Ends 8/31

Chase: ​
​IHG 70% - Ends 8/31
​Aeroplan 20% - Ends 9/30

Citi:​
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) 20% - Ends 8/22
​Turkish Airlines 40% - Ends 8/31

Rove:​
​Qantas 50% - Ends 8/14

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

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