Lazy Points of the Week
Story of the week: Alaska’s Global Getaways
They’re back!!! Alaska’s ultra-discounted partner awards are back, and this time they can take you to Ireland, Iceland, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, or even Uzbekistan:
You have to book by April 11 for travel from March 11–July 31, 2025, and you should move quickly—discount tickets on the best dates are likely to sell out fast. But unlike some other airlines’ flash sales, these deals really exist:
Low-priced cash fares to Europe (especially Iceland) are still pretty easy to come by, but mileage deals from the West Coast are relatively rare, especially on fully refundable, nonstop flights. If I had the time off available for it, I would already be packing my bags. The deals for Australia and Vietnam are solid as well, although it’s not usually too hard to get a flight to Vietnam with Delta miles for under 80k miles if you have a Delta credit card. As for the flight to Uzbekistan… I have no idea what the going rate is on those flights, but 40k round trip sounds pretty sweet.
Other card and points news
Amex Member Week is coming. Check your Amex offers on Monday. Amex Member Week starts on the 17th and promises offers on all sorts of every-day purchase brans like Hertz, Hilton, Lowes, Macys, Barnes & Noble, Brooks Brothers, Levis, and Exxon Mobil. The details are yet to be revealed, but Amex cardholders will likely have a good chance at saving money if they remember to check their offers.
No more bags flying free on Southwest. Well, all good things must come to an end, including bags flying free on SWA. Oh, and SWA flight credits that don’t expire. Or real points earning on base fares. Or reliably-priced award tickets. Or flexible basic economy tickets. Southwest is ditching all the things that made them unique and beloved. Most of those things were expensive and made it hard to compete, but I’m not sure “basically the same as the rest but not as good” is a vastly superior strategy. We’ll see what the future holds. Most of the changes will apply to tickets booked after a certain date, so If you have impending travel with Southwest, check to see if your plans will be affected.
Pay for free lounge access? Priority Pass has a huge network, but also a huge user base thanks to the number of premium credit cards (including functionally-free ones like the Capital One Venture X) that come with free access to that network. As a result, lounges are ofter waitlisted or outright closed to members. However, some lounges are taking reservations, allowing you to assure yourself access at the cost of paying to get into your “free” lounge. ThePointsGuy explains.
Sign-up bonus of the week: Citi AA Platinum Select
We just got back from Japan. This time we used Alaska miles, but last time we used AAdvantage miles. Either way, 75k of either should be about enough to get you across the Pacific Ocean, and guess what AA is offering right now? Yep, 75,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $3,500 in the first 4 months after opening an account. Even better: the $99 annual fee is waived for the first year.
The Platinum Select is a half-decent card as well, earning double points on restaurants, gas, and AA purchases. Few airline cards earn more than 2x on anything, and restaurants and gas are two excellent categories for double points. Although 2x on dining is pretty weak considering you can get 4x with an Amex Gold or 3x with many other cards like the no-fee Bilt card, AA miles are, at least for now, highly valuable and hard to earn, with no credit card transfer partners. It only takes a checked bags each year to recoup the cost of the annual fee given AA’s bag fees, so this might be a wallet-worthy card even after the bonus is collected.
Previously highlighted bonuses with offers still available:
•80-100k miles on Delta cards
•75k points + $250 travel credit on the Venture Rewards
•30k points + Companion Pass on Southwest Airlines cards
•170k points on the IHG Premier
•70k on the Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard
•75k points on the Citi Strata Premier