For the next six weeks you'll earn 250 SPG points each time you check in for your stay at a St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Four Points, or other participating Marriott/SPG hotel through SPG's mobile app.

There is not a cap to how many points you can earn through this promotion, but only check-ins through June 15, 2018 that you booked directly with SPG on its website or in the app will count.

Today through June 15, 2018, you can transfer your Membership Reward points--the points earned by cards like the Amex Platinum, Business Gold Rewards, and the Blue Business Plus--to Flying Blue and earn a 25% bonus. This means 24,000 Membership Rewards = 30,000 Flying Blue miles, which is enough for a roundtrip between the mainland US and Hawaii in Delta economy, at least if booked before June 1.

The brand new PointBreaks list allows us to book hotel rooms beginning today, for stays through July 31st, 2018 for as little as $30 per night.
InterContinental Mendoza (Argentina wine country): on a previous list

This post will tell you how to book any hotel on the list of IHG Reward Club’s PointBreaks hotels for $30 to $90 per night, even the ones that ordinarily cost a lot more.

What’s my strategy to make the most of PointBreaks?
What are the top properties on the newest PointBreaks list?

IHG Rewards Club Pointbreaks
IHG Rewards Club is the loyalty program for

On Friday, I covered some of the changes that Marriott recently announced concerning the merger of Marriott, SPG, and Ritz Carlton's loyalty programs. I am only discussing Marriott and SPG since those are much more commonly used than Ritz points.

In August, the loyalty programs become one, using just one point currency, award chart, elite qualifying system, etc. They will keep their separate names until 2019 when the loyalty program will be given just one (yet to be announced) name.

Marriott recently announced a lot of big changes for the future of their combined loyalty programs. Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton will merge into one program in August 2018.

Marriott bought SPG many months ago, creating not only the largest hotel portfolio in the world but also the fastest growing. August of this year marks the day the loyalty programs become one (i.e. using one point currency, award chart, elite qualifying system, etc).

For the moment at least, payments made via online payment processor Plastiq with Chase Ink Business Preferred Cards are coding under the 3x category bonus.

The 3x category bonus on the Ink Business Preferred is supposed to be for travel and shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines.

I recently spent two weeks in Buzios, Brazil. Only a 3ish hour drive from Rio de Janeiro, Buzios is an easy and enjoyable side trip if you're planning a vacation in Rio.

Buzios is a resort town nestled into a hilly peninsula with over 20 beaches. The water is a beautiful shade of dark turquoise and green, and the beaches are sandy and often lined with jungle covered hills. It's a popular spot for Brazilian and Argentine tourists, so if you don't want to share the beaches with lots of people, avoid the end of December through February.

Until May 17, 2018, using your Membership Reward earning Amex card to pay for specific online purchases through Amex Express Checkout will you earn 2 bonus Membership Rewards per dollar spent (on top of whatever category bonus your card may also earn for the card, or on top of the at least one point you'd earn for non-bonused spend).

Chase has come out with new sign up bonus eligibility rules that make earning a  Southwest Companion Pass more complicated.

As of April 5, if you already have a personal Southwest credit card open (the Personal Plus or the Premier Plus), you are no longer eligible for the other personal Southwest credit card.

In an interesting departure from Delta SkyMiles' typical behavior, the price of Delta