I’ve always been a big fan of thepointsguy, and bloggers similar to him who are always trying to arbitrage frequent flyer points and credit cards. I’ve played along for a while and the sad part is all I’ve really had to show for it is a massive pile of points. The problem for me has been that some of the best award travel bonuses happen on off days – getting one and a half to two cents per point if you are not into flying first class flights Wednesday to Wednesday is a bit tricky. Flying Wednesday to Wednesday is for people who have lots of time, or don’t need to maximize their vacation days.
What did I learn today? I learned that last minute travel is where there is some serious edge! On Tuesday may 26th, I was debating flying Philadelphia to San Francisco for the weekend. Round trip non-stop tickets Friday to Sunday, or Friday to Monday are pricing around $1500-$1600. One stops around $900 – but I hate stopovers. In fact, I’ve pretty much vowed never to fly connecting flights if I don’t have to.
In comes the American Airlines advantage points, who recently merged with US Airways so the points are all the same now. You can acquire points a number of ways for these programs including the American Airlines credit card, the US Airways credit card, or one of my favorites, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Booking award travel, the same flights for this weekend are 12.5 thousand points each way, plus the ~$80 or so in taxes and last minute booking fees, which is basically the same points price for a flight I would book 3 months away! (Note if you have higher status on American $75 worth of fees are waived!)
If you value these points vs what I would have spent buying a ticket the normal way, I’m using AA Advantage points at more than six cents per point! That would make the chase sapphire preferred 40,000 bonus worth $2,400 which is no chump change! Hands down the most lucrative use of points and airline miles I’ve ever found!
If you liked this post, and want to support more like it – use the below priceline link to book last minute hotels!
