Milenomics² NoAF Podcast Episode 75: Transfer Bonuses, Heightened Offers & Booking Partner Awards.

Milenomics ² Podcast - No Annual Fee Edition

0:21 Transfer Bonuses

• Chase UR to Marriott Bonvoy: 70% (through Aug 14, 2024) EXPIRES SOON
• Amex MR to Avios: 30% (through Sept 30, 2024)
• Amex MR to Hawaiian: 20% (through Aug 31, 2024)
• CapOne to Qantas: 20% (through Aug 31, 2024)

08:24 United Premium Cabin Awards (on United Metal) Gets Even More Expensive (Live and Lets Fly)

• We’ve talked a lot the past year or two about this being a bail out maneuver when there are no partner awards
• 200k pp one-way to Europe now as good as it seems to get for “anytime” awards (was 155k)
• Discuss: The current state of AA, Delta, and United miles

15:21 JetBlue Plus 80,000

• Direct Link
• Found on jetblue.com
• $99 AF not waived first year
• $1k min spend in 3 months
• Regularly 50k

16:14 Heightened Amex Bonvoy Welcome Bonuses

• Bonvoy Bevy
• 155k for $5k in 6 months
• $250 AF not waived first year
• Bonvoy Brilliant
• 185k for $6k in 6 months
• $650 AF not waived first year
• Available through referral
• Better offers said to end Oct 2, 2024

Main Topic: Partner Award Bookings

17:59 Qantas As An Alternative to British Airways for Domestic AA Partners Awards

• Saw one-way flights from State College to Boston through PHL on AA for around 10k/12.5k
• Flights were $300 pp one-way
• Thought I might have to use some precious AA miles, but noticed there was partner availability!
• BA wants 24k pp one-way in Economy
• But Qantas wants just 8k, and what a pleasure of a site to work with…
• They allow you to enter the FF # of AA/Alaska at the time of booking
• They clearly lay out the change and cancellation terms at the time of booking
• The record locator can be discovered (for seat selection) by checking your AA account (it just works!)
• So much better than booking with BA ever was. Why did BA get so much press back in the day?

23:42 Booking JetBlue Mint with Qatar Avios

• Space can be confirmed on ITA Matrix or Qatar’s site
• Amex MR -> BA Avios: Instant
• BA Avios -> Qatar Avios: Also instant. I established that link before.
• One gotcha: I haven't been able to link P2's BA Avios to her Qatar Avios account. I suspect it might be because I have my mobile number listed for both of our accounts, and there's a lot of 2FA involved in all of this. Just a hunch.
• Online booking w/Qatar Avios is pretty straightforward. They do ask for passport number and expiration dates, which is unusual for a domestic flight.
• They have a field for adding Known Traveler Number at the time of booking, but it asks for the expiration date of KTN which I don't know so I couldn't add it
• I didn't see a way to select a 3rd party frequent flyer number at the time of booking an award ticket. Non-related Qantas allows this which is really nice.
• Record locator to manage the flights (add KTN and select seats) on JetBlue's side can be found in the individual receipt emails they send each passenger, or by chatting Qatar
• Hardest part is getting JetBlue's IT to behave and recognize that record locator
• When I'm logged in to JetBlue I can't add itineraries to manage. I have to be logged out.
• When I'm logged out it kept telling me my birthday didn't match the record locator. But I'm certain the birthdays are accurate.
• I ended up having to message JetBlue on Twitter DM to select seats and add KTN numbers, whic his annoying
• The flights were $1,200+ pp one-way so with the 30% transfer bonus it made sense to book this way
• I think cancellations can be made online for a $25 fee up to 24 hours prior to departure
• All in all, assuming you've got the accounts established and the links set up this isn't too bad of a booking process (much better terms than Etihad)