Staples will again be offering $200 Mastercard Gift Cards with no purchase fee from Sunday, 4/21/24 through Saturday, 4/27/24. Note that the new limit of eight per customer per day is listed, but some may be able to purchase more at their local store. ...
Staples will again be offering $200 Mastercard Gift Cards with no purchase fee from Sunday, 4/21/24 through Saturday, 4/27/24. Note that the new limit of eight per customer per day is listed, but some may be able to purchase more at their local store.
This promotion is good towards fixed-value $200 MC gift cards only. It will not work on the variable load cards that many Staples now carry.
The Deal
Staples will be offering fee-free Mastercard gift cards from Sunday 4/21/24 through Saturday, 4/27/24.
These deals can be great way of getting rewards through spending at office supply stores. If you can buy 8 at a time, that’s a potential of $1,600 that’s possible each day. Note that some stores may allow you to purchase more than 8, and we also hear occasional reports that some managers will only sell a smaller amount despite what the ad says.
Hilton Honors has announced its Summer promotion of 2024, which will run between May 2, 2024 and September 2, 2024. Members who register will earn double points on all stays during the promotion period.
There is no minimum stay or night requirement for the promotion and all Hilton properties are included.
The Deal
Hilton Honors will be awarding 2x base points on all stays that occur between May 2, 2024 and September 2, 2024.
Offer valid for stays completed May 2 – September 2, 2024 (“Promotion Period”) at any hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio.
Hilton Honors members must first register at HiltonHonors.com/DoublePoints prior to completing a stay within the Promotion Period.
Registered Hilton Honors members checking in before May 2, 2024 will receive Bonus Points for their stay if the stay is completed on or after May 2, 2024 and prior to or on September 2, 2024.
Registered Hilton Honors members will earn Double Points per stay during the Promotion Period. “Double Points” means members will receive Bonus Points equal to the number of Base Points earned during a stay.
There is no limit to the total amount of Bonus Points that may be earned during the Promotion Period with this offer. However, there are restrictions on the number of Base Points that can be earned on a single stay at certain brands.
Quick Thoughts
This new Hilton promo will be extremely easy to use, as there’s no minimum stay or night requirement. All stays will be eligible at all Hilton properties. The double base points are nice, adding another 4.8% in return based on current RRV’s, but that’s more or less the starting point for most Hilton promos these days.
Let’s say you have a one-night stay during the promotion at a property that costs $150. If you’re a Hilton Aspire cardholder, you’ll earn:
10 points per dollar (base points)
10 points per dollar (bonus points for Diamond status)
10 points per dollar (bonus points from this promotion)
14 points per dollar (bonus points earned by paying with the Aspire card)
Grand total: 6,600 or 44 points per dollar. That represents a pretty decent return of ~20%.
If you are planning on staying with Hilton during the Summer, or even if you think there’s a chance that you will, this promotion is certainly worth registering for. It’s probably not enough to make me change any of my stays though.
Singapore Airlines is out with its latest “Spontaneous Escapes” award sale and this month’s deals are available to book until 4/30/24 for travel between 5/1/24 to 5/31/24. Included in this month’s offerings is an appealing option that I flew last year: Singapore’s fifth freedom route from NYC – Frankfurt in Singapore’s 777 business class. During the promotion, the flight is on sale for 56,700 in business each way…and availability is quite good for much of the month.
Singapore Airlines has released this month’s Spontaneous Escapes, offering discounts to/from Europe, among other destinations. This month’s deals must be booked by 4/30/24 and flown between May 1-31, 2024 (though note that some routes feature blackout dates). Sale options include:
New York (JFK) to/from Frankfurt for 56,700 miles each way in business class, 36,400 in premium economy or 17,500 in economy
Los Angeles (LAX) to/from Singapore for 52,500 miles each way in premium economy
A fifth freedom route is when a long haul carrier operates a flight outside of its home network, primarily to utilize airplane downtime between long haul routes. These provide a terrific opportunity to sample a product that otherwise would be reserved strictly for flights to and from the airline’s home airport. One notable example is Singapore’s JFK to Frankfurt route, which is on sale this month.
Seats for this route must be booked directly with Singapore Airlines and the 56,700 miles fare corresponds to 30% off normal pricing. Singapore has multiple transfer partners making KrisFlyer Miles fairly easy to generate:
If you can’t spring for business class, flights between the US and Asia for 50-55K one-way in premium economy are a decent deal given the excellent on-board experience you’re likely to have with Singapore. Particularly for a daytime flight, getting some extra legroom and decent in-flight entertainment for a small premium over what most airlines charge in economy class could be very appealing.
It used to be that the primary reason to book through Singapore Krisflyer was that you couldn’t really find Singapore Airlines business or first class space through any of their partner airlines. Booking through Krisflyer (and oftentimes paying a premium over what other airlines would charge) made sense because it was often the only way to book premium cabin travel on Singapore.
These days, Air Canada Aeroplan has access to a lot of Singapore Airlines premium cabin space. While the Spontaneous Escapes pricing will allow you to book business class from New York to Frankfurt for a discounted rate of 56,700 miles, that’s only a modest discount over the price that Air Canada Aeroplan would normally charge for the same route (60,000 miles).
By using Aeroplan, you would also have the option to continue on with other partners (paying more miles if you travel into the next distance band of course). More importantly, you would have the ability to cancel and get your miles back for $150 CAD (about $111 USD). With a Singapore Spontaneous Escapes award, you have no ability to cancel or change the award…which could be less important, given that it’s only for travel in the coming month.
Wyndham has launched a new promotion offering double points at La Quinta properties. Not all La Quinta hotels are participating in this promotion – seemingly only those with their new “Del Sol” design, but there’s something like 200-250 participating properties and so it’s worth being aware of this promotion if a La Quinta fits your accommodation needs.
The Deal
Earn double points when staying at participating La Quinta by Wyndham Del Sol properties.
Book by May 17, 2024 for stays through July 31, 2024.
Blackout dates may apply.
Multiplier will be applied to base points only.
A Bonus earned from a stay at a Wyndham Rewards hotel will usually be posted within two to four weeks after such stay.
Maximum of one (1) Bonus per Member, regardless of how many stays he or she completes at a participating hotel during the promotion period.
A Member will not receive the Bonus for a no-show.
Quick Thoughts
As noted above, this promotion isn’t valid at all La Quinta properties nationwide. Instead, it only seems to be valid at hotels that have their new Del Sol design. Wyndham’s search results don’t display which properties do and don’t have the Del Sol design, but the offer page linked to above does have a comprehensive list of participating properties if you scroll down the page.
Double points isn’t a huge offer, especially seeing as it’s only valid on one stay, but it will stack with Wyndham’s separate promo giving 7,500 bonus points when staying two nights.
If you travel with dogs and haven’t stayed at a La Quinta in a while, be aware that most of their properties do charge a pet fee nowadays rather than days of yore when pets stayed free.
Choice Privileges has launched a new set of Sweet Spot Rewards – properties where you can book discounted award nights through the end of June.
With hotels in the US, Canada and France on the list, as well as quite a few of them being Choice’s higher end brands like Ascend and Cambria, the list is worth a look.
The Deal
Book discounted award nights at 29 participating Choice Privileges properties that are on their Sweet Spot Rewards list.
There’s 29 eligible hotels in this latest list of Sweet Spot Rewards; 24 are in the US, three are in Canada and the other two are in France. Almost a dozen of the properties are either Cambria or Ascend which are Choice’s nicer choices, so this isn’t just a bunch of roadside Quality Inns.
The Quality Hotel La Marebaudiere-Vannes in France caught my eye seeing as it’s only 10,000 points. Despite growing up in the UK and visiting France several times, I’d never heard of Vannes. However, having taken a quick look at the town on Google Street View, it looks like an incredibly cute place to visit, with the hotel being within walking distance of downtown and only a couple of miles from the beach.
The Elevate Hotel At Sierra Blanca Ruidoso (an Ascend Hotel Collection property) in New Mexico is another hotel that caught my eye as New Mexico has been my favorite state we’ve visited on our 50 state road trip so far (we’re at state 44 now, so there’s not many states left that could dislodge it). Ruidoso is only an hour or so away from White Sands National Park which is one of the most fascinating National Parks we’ve visited, not to mention that you (and your pups if you like seeing as it’s dog-friendly) can go sledding down the sand dunes.
Our intrepid sledder at White Sands National Park
There are several other noteworthy properties due to the types of rooms/suites you can book with points:
Columbia River Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection property in Dalles, OR has two bedroom suites bookable for only 16,000 points
Inn At I’On, Ascend Hotel Collection in Mount Pleasant, SC (just outside of Charleston) has suites available that include a full kitchen for 25,000 points per night
Cambria Hotel Burbank Airport has 1 bedroom suites for 20,000 points per night
Country Inn & Suites By Radisson, Shoreview, MN has a suite with a kitchenette for 12,000 points per night
Cambria Hotel Portland Downtown Old Port, ME has 1 bedroom suites for 25,000 points per night
Before rushing to book award nights though, be sure to check the cash pricing because even with the discounted award pricing it might not offer great value versus the regular room rate.
Don’t forget that you can transfer Citi ThankYou and Wells Fargo transferable points to Choice on a 1:2 basis.
members must first register at HiltonHonors.com/DoublePoints prior to completing a stay within the Promotion Period.
