If you’ve been following the news in our hobby, you’ve probably already heard of the “enhancements” recently added to The Platinum Card® from American Express: 

Annual fee is now $695 (Rates & Fees) for new accounts opened on or after July 1, 2021 

For existing cardmembers, the new annual fee will take effect on the annual renewal date on or after Jan.

Avianca’s frequent flyer program, LifeMiles, is a program many people love to hate. Yes, there is a somewhat quirky web interface, hard to reach customer service and often the program doesn’t show the same award space as other Star Alliance partners.

The American Express® Gold Card is a rather compelling choice for foodies looking to maximize the return on spending. The card earns a rewards multiplier on purchases at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, and the perks include dining credits at select restaurants and Uber cash credits for Uber Eats orders.

When making purchases with the Amex Gold Card, you’ll earn rewards at the following rates:

4X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at restaurants (including take-out and delivery)4X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at U.S.

Many travelers have Australia on their bucket list. There really is something for everyone, from the snorkeling and diving at the Great Barrier Reef to wineries, cool cities and spectacular beaches. 

The competition for the very limited number of award seats to get there, however, is fierce. Airlines’ frequent miler programs certainly don’t make it easy and finding award space on the nonstop flights from the U.S. could be quite a challenge.

American Express offers two different types of card - regular credit cards we are all very familiar with and the no pre-set spending limit cards.

We began this series with an introduction to the three types of credit card reward programs frequented by travelers: transferable point cards, airline- and hotel-branded cards, and fixed point value cards. Next we'll dive a little deeper into the first type, transferable point cards.

In the coming weeks we’ll be looking at different types of credit cards and their reward programs, with an aim to introduce you to those frequently used by travelers. Such a topic can be divided into three categories: transferable programs, airline and hotel branded cards, and fixed point value cards.

Delta has put many routes between the US and Mexico/Caribbean on "sale" right now through September 5, 2018 (this coming Wednesday). I say "sale" because Delta doesn't have a published award chart anymore, but we know from charts maintained by people like us online that the standard lowest level US > Mexico and US > Caribbean award price is 17,500 Delta miles one way.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card is the latest addition to the Marriott family credit card portfolio, launched August 23, 2018. Rumor was the bonus would be 125k points, but turns out it's 100k points for $5k in spending.

All the new eligibility rules for sign up bonuses on Marriott family cards kick in August 26, but since the card has already launched there is a small window of time (right now!) in which one can apply before the new rules lock you out for up to two years. Today is August 24.