Welcome Back!

Hope everyone is having a great week 😊

So Eric Adams, the mayor of NYC, was indicted today on federal charges, and apparently he was receiving travel privileges from the Turkish government through Turkish Airlines. The amount of travel benefits he received has me convinced that he would have been a good travel hacker 😂 

Things like trying to route through Istanbul to get to the Easter Islands, and transferring in Istanbul to get to France really are things that people in travel-hacking or in the points & miles hobby would do. But he decided to be a government official instead, and seemingly not a very ethically sound one at that…

Incidentally, Turkish Airlines released a discount for some of their flights today! Either way, let’s get into today’s stories!

In today’s edition:

• 🇺🇸 The Card to Get if Barclays and American Break Up 💳️ 

• 🏦 Transfer Bonuses ✈️

• 🇹🇷 30-40% off Flights to/from Istanbul 🇹🇷 

• 📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

🇺🇸 The Card to Get if Barclays and American Break Up 💳️

We may see a credit card get taken off the market 👎️ 

A great way to get American Airlines miles in hand, as American has no transfer partners except for Marriott, has been their credit cards. Citi and Barclays both offer American Airlines cards to earn miles, but that may soon no longer be the case - Citi is now in discussions with American to be the sole provider of American Airlines co-branded credit cards.

Going back on how this situation came to be: Prior to American’s acquisition of US Airways, US Airways had Barclays as a partner to issue US Airways cards. After the acquisition, Barclays stayed on and issued American cards, along with Citi. Citi now wants a bigger piece of the pie 🥧 

This news is particularly relevant in regards to the Barclays Aviator Red card. Let me tell you, this has got to be one of the quickest, easiest ways to get your hands on a bunch of American Airlines miles. After paying the $99 annual fee and making just ONE purchase, you’ll get 70,000 miles! There’s no other spend requirement to this card! You can pay the annual fee and buy a coffee, and that’ll get you the full 70k points 😮 

This card with that signup bonus would disappear, assuming Citi does become the sole provider of American credit cards, so now might be the time to jump on this offer!

With 70k American Airlines points, you can:

• 🗼 Fly Japan Airlines Business Class from the US to Japan (60k miles)

• 🇶🇦 Fly Qatar Qsuites from the US to Qatar (or can continue onto India) (70k miles)

• 🇪🇺 Fly Business Class from the US to Europe (57.5k miles)

I’m considering jumping on this card myself, before it goes away, and I’d suggest that you all do so as well if you will have a need for American miles anytime soon, or have travel plans that these miles will fit into!

Hope this helps 👍️ 

🏦➡️✈️ Transfer Bonuses

🇹🇷 30-40% off Flights to/from Istanbul 🇹🇷 

Turkish just released a pretty sweet discount on their award flights, and I’m honestly slightly considering going to Istanbul because of it!

From today to October 2nd, award flights in economy to/from Istanbul from select cities are 30-40% off! 💸 

It is for economy seats only (so not the seats Eric Adams sat in). Do note that this deal is valid for flights from November 1st to December 10th, as well as January 15th to March 31st. Within those date parameters, this deal is fair game for all!

Flights between Istanbul and these cities in the Americas are 40% off: Atlanta, Bogota, Boston, Buenos Aires, Cancun, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Caracas, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Montreal, New York, Panama, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington!

A whole bunch of other cities globally are at 30% off for economy routes (listed in the terms and conditions of the earlier link)! Lots of discounts happening here 🥳 

Based on Turkish’s award chart, you’ll find that flights from North America to Istanbul typically cost 40k miles each way in economy:

This promotion will give 30-40% off of that 40k price, meaning that you can get from the US to Istanbul for 24k points each way in economy! Without a doubt, this is an excellent deal, and this will work for roundtrip too!

There are definitely other ways to get value from Turkish miles too, with my favorite being that nonstop domestic flights in the US, no matter the distance, cost 10k each way in economy. This includes United’s service from Newark to Honolulu! 🌴 

Again, this is definitely a good deal to take advantage of, if you’re itching for some travel deals! 🧳 

📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️ 

• 🐎 Wells Fargo has added Virgin Atlantic as its newest transfer partner!

• ✈️ Southwest announced a partnership with Icelandair, as well as their timeline for introducing assigned seating and premium seating…

• 🏦 Chase has an offer to earn 20k or 10k points for $500 of spend on Chase Travel - use the links to see if you are eligible!

• 🏨 Bilt is offering free Hilton Gold Status for the rest of 2024 with opportunities to have it for longer as part of its October Rent Day promotions!

💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

Again, the usual solid cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred^®/Reserve^®

• Chase Freedom Unlimited^®/Flex^®

• Amex Gold & Plat

• Capital One Venture X

• Capital One SavorOne

• Citi Strata Preferred^℠

Do search for public links for the above cards to compare signup bonuses to make sure you get the highest one (incognito mode, Resy, etc.).

For cards with elevated signup bonuses (targeted bonuses are not included), I’ve got:

📤️ Spread the Word! 📤️

Thank you so much for subscribing! This newsletter is committed to providing you all with helpful info and tips to maximize your points and rewards, at no direct cost to you! (appreciate you using any of my referral links, though!)

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Also, if my newsletter helps you to book travel using points, let me know! It’ll make me so happy 😄 

Hope that all makes sense! That’s all for this week’s edition of Sense per Point.

Wishing everyone a wonderful rest of your day and week 😊 

- Sean Kim

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