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Hawaiian Airlines Gamblers Win, Southwest 85k Personal, and Citi/Chase Transfer Bonuses
Estimated read time: 4 min 30 sec

A slower week but hopefully today’s email helps spark some travel ideas for you.
Today’s in-flight entertainment:
🧠 Strats/Hacks/Tricks: Successful Gamble - Alaska & Hawaiian Merger Will Be 1:1 via DOT
⏳️ Time-Sensitive:
Chase Southwest 85k Personal Card Expires 10/09
Credit Card Transfer Bonuses
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📣 WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
ICYMI - Now is the time to get 2 years of buy-one-get-one-basically-free flights from Southwest.
IHG has 3k points every 2 nights on stays b/w 09/19 to 12/31. Register here.
IHG also has 5k points for new members after their first stay. Must register for IHG here.
Aeroplan is giving up to 50k points back on hotel stays on points. It looks like redemptions are 1-1.5 cpp. Register here.
Chase Freedom Flex 5x Q4 2024 categories: McDonald’s, PayPal 🎮️, Pet Shops & Vet Services, and Select Charities. Activate your card here.
Qatar Airways devalued award redemptions by adding distance-based award redemption fees. The internet freaked out as the fees were ridiculously high but it seems this was an implementation issue. Fees are now lower but still not a great development. (ht OMAAT)
Amazon Prime Day Deals are coming 10/08 - 10/09. Take a sneak peak at some deals here (direct).

🧠 CREDIT CARD STRATS/HACKS/TRICKS
Successful Gamble - Alaska & Hawaiian Merger Will Be 1:1 via DOT

Image credit: U.S. Department of Transportation
The DOT has issued the following guidance:
Rewards members can transfer HawaiianMiles miles to and from Alaska Mileage Plan miles at a 1:1 ratio prior to the launch of the new combined loyalty program. Each outstanding HawaiianMiles and Alaska Mileage Plan mile must be converted into a mile in the new loyalty program at a 1:1 ratio, resulting in all members having the same number of miles before and after conversion.
Your bets paid off for those who gambled last month and capitalized on AMEX’s 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian.
However, it’s not too late to capitalize on this. Hawaiian Airlines remains a transfer partner of American Express, and the Barclays credit cards can still be obtained.
Offer details:
Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard (personal card)
70k miles after $2k spend in first 90 days
Annual fee: $99
Hawaiian Airlines Business Mastercard (business card)
50k miles after $4k spend in first 90 days
Annual fee: $99
The business card was originally at 70k miles but it’s no longer available. Remember that Barclays should combine hard pulls on the same day so consider more than 1 card if you’re going to apply.

⏳️ FINAL BOARDING CALL - TIME-SENSITIVE
Chase Southwest 85k Personal Card Expires 10/09

Image credit: Chase
Until 10/09, Chase Southwest personal cards have 85k SUBs. Offer details:
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus
85k points after $3k spend in first 3 months
Annual fee: $69
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority
85k points after $3k spend in first 3 months
Annual fee: $149
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier
85k points after $3k spend in first 3 months
Annual fee: $99
If you’re doing these to obtain Southwest’s Companion Pass for BOGO flights, consider the Southwest business card discussed last week. It’s a higher spend requirement (120k points for $15k spend), but I’d personally prefer to knock out the Companion Pass requirements with a single card.
Credit Card Transfer Bonuses
As usual, refrain from speculatively transferring and ensure you’ve found availability for the redemptions you want.
Citi → Avianca lifemiles 25% bonus until 10/19
Despite the recent devaluation, there are still deals to be had on Star Alliance partner airlines. If you’re looking for transatlantic flights, however, consider looking elsewhere.
Citi → Leading Hotels of the World 25% bonus until 10/19
LHW is basically a coalition of independent luxury hotels as opposed to an overarching hotel brand. You’ll have access to magnificent hotels such as Excelsior Vittoria (Italy), Nihi Sumba (Indonesia), and Royal Champagne (France). Pictures below.
Chase → Marriott 50% bonus until 11/15
Unless you need to top-off to make a redemption happen, I generally recommend against transferring to Marriott. Marriott points are low in value (less than 1 cent) whereas Chase UR points have a minimum floor of 1.5 CPP.

🛍️ CREDIT CARD MERCHANT OFFERS
Automatically add, favorite, and search all merchant offers on every card with a single click via CardPointers (Fly EnPoints readers get 30% off).
AMEX (login at americanexpress.com to check)
On: 10x MR points | Limit of 10,000 MR points | expires 11/24
ITA Airways: 17,500 MR points after $1,000+ in purchases | Flight must originate in US and be charged in USD | expires 11/30
Super Duolingo: $30 credit after $75+ spend | expires 11/30
Patagonia.com: $30 credit after $200+ spend | expires 12/31
National Car Rental: 5x MR points after $250+ spend | expires 12/31
Enterprise Rent-A-Car: $50 credit after $250+ spend | expires 12/31
Chevron and Texaco App: $5 credit after $35+ spend | Chevron and Texaco app | expires 12/31
The Global Ambassador Hotel: $200 statement credit after $1,000+ spend | Book at globalambassadorhotel.com | expires 03/16/25
Chase (login at chase.com to check)
Faire: $100 back after $150+ in purchases | expires 09/26
Dell: 5% off up to $100 | expires 10/01
Topgolf: 15% off up to $60 back after $40+ in purchases | expires 10/01
Southwest Airlines: 10% off up to $40 back after $50+ in purchases | expires 10/01
Great Wolf Lodge: 10% off up to $48 back after $100+ in purchases | expires 10/16
Other
Staples: No purchase fees on $200 Visa gift cards | Limit 9 in-store | 09/15 - 09/21


Some travel experiences are so profound we can’t help but want to share them with those closest to us. Traveling on points enabled me to create these lifelong memories with loved ones, and it can do the same for you.
Share Fly EnPoints with friends and family so they can join your next life-changing adventure. It may be the experience you all reminisce on together for years to come!

Thank you for Flying EnPoints today and I hope to see you again soon!
-Aaron