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Reading Time: 7 minThree more airline shopping portals joined the bonus party this week, while at the same time, Delta is running a stack of summer SkyMiles boosts, and limited-time elevated welcome offers on Hilton and Marriott credit cards are winding down fast.
Plus, the Air France/KLM card just hit its biggest-ever welcome offer, and a matching Citi transfer bonus may make it doubly easy to load up on Flying Blue miles this month. Here's the full rundown of this week's top travel, points, and miles deals.
Last week Southwest and United kicked off a pair of "back to school" shopping portal bonuses, and now three more airlines have jumped in with promotions of their own.
American, Delta, and Alaska all launched three-tiered portal bonuses this week. The details are a little different for each one, but here's the breakdown:
All three portals also include card-linked in-store offers that count toward the spending totals, so you don't have to route everything online to hit the thresholds.
There is one catch worth noting: Alaska's terms now say bonus points won't count toward status, which appears to reverse the guidance the program shared at launch. Thanks to our friends at Frequent Miler for flagging that change.
If you've been eyeing a new hotel credit card, this weekend is the time to move, because two of the biggest chains have elevated welcome offers that are winding down shortly.
Right now, Amex has boosted offers on all four of its Hilton Honors cards. The Hilton Aspire leads with 175,000 bonus points, while the Hilton Surpass and Hilton Business cards each earn 130,000 bonus points (with first-year annual fees waived). And the no-fee Hilton Honors card picks up 100,000 bonus points plus a $100 statement credit.
However, all of these Hilton offers are slated to expire this upcoming Wednesday, July 29th, so you've only got a few more days to snag one if you want one.
Meanwhile on the Marriott side, Chase's Marriott Boundless card is offering 125,000 bonus points plus a 50,000-point free night certificate after $3,000 in spending. The no-annual-fee Marriott Bold is also running an increased 60,000-point offer after $1,000 in spending, giving you a lower-lift path. There's no official end date on these yet, but the word is both offers are ending soon.
Both chains have devalued at the top end recently, with Hilton standard awards now hitting 250,000 points per night and Marriott quietly pushing some properties past 66,000. Still, if you value the flexibility of these programs, these are decent offers worth grabbing before they disappear.
While we're on the topic of limited-time credit card bonuses, Air France and KLM's frequent flyer program has long been a favorite for cheap awards to Europe. But their credit card now features not just a large sign-up bonus, but an interesting play for elite status.
This week Bank of America rolled out the largest welcome offer ever on the Air France/KLM Flying Blue card: 70,000 miles plus 100 Experience Points (XPs) after $3,000 in spending within 90 days, and another 30,000 miles after hitting $7,500 in total spend within 180 days. The card has an $89 annual fee.
The 100 XPs piece is what makes this offer stand out. It's enough to earn Flying Blue Silver elite status, which gets you an extra checked bag on any SkyTeam flight (including Delta), free standard seat selection, and priority check-in and boarding.
As a reminder, you can also now earn Air France/KLM points on your rent by paying through Bilt when you have this card, and at a solid 3 points per dollar. However, you do have to pay a 3% fee on rent payments through Bilt if you're using a third-party card like this one, so you might be better off with a Bilt card instead.
Air France miles shine through their monthly Promo Rewards, where economy awards from the U.S. to Europe sometimes drop below 11,000 miles each way. Just remember that Flying Blue also transfers 1-to-1 from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi, so it's easy to earn these miles without opening a new card.
If the Air France/KLM credit card offer isn't the right fit for you, but you've got Citi ThankYou points sitting around, there's another way to load up on Flying Blue miles at the moment.
Now through August 22nd, Citi is running a 20% transfer bonus to Air France/KLM Flying Blue. That means people with the Citi Strata Elite, Strata Premier, or AT&T Access More cards can move 1,000 Citi points and land 1,200 Flying Blue miles on the other side.
That makes some of Flying Blue's sweet spots even sharper. Business class between the U.S. and Europe starts at 60,000 miles each way, and July's Promo Rewards drop that as low as 45,000 miles for flights from New York's JFK. That works out to just 37,500 ThankYou points each way after the bonus is applied.
Points Path Pro and Founders Club members get live Air France and KLM mileage prices right in Google Flights. You'll also find transfer bonuses like this flagged both in your live search results, and on our active transfer bonus page on our website.
Finally, Delta is running a stack of SkyMiles boosts this month, with bonuses available across gift cards, car rentals, hotels, and Airbnb bookings.
Now through August 6th, Delta's "Go Beyond the Summer" promotion is offering four different ways to earn extra Delta miles:
A couple of notes on these offers. For the Delta gift card purchases, the bonus multipliers depend on your Delta elite status. Basic Delta members earn only 2 miles per dollar spent, while Silver elites earn 3x, Gold elites earn 4x, and Platinum and Diamond members earn 5 miles per dollar spent.
The Hertz offer similarly scales with your Delta elite status. Regular members earn 8x on Hertz bookings, while Diamonds max out at 16x, and rentals must be completed by March 31st, 2027. The Airbnb and hotel bonuses are flat regardless of tier.
Remember, when it comes to buying Delta gift cards, you can also get them at giftcards.com and routing a purchase through one of the airline shopping portal promos from the top of this newsletter could mean more miles than buying direct from Delta, even with this summer bonus.
That's all the ways to stack miles with this week's deals. But if you've been sitting on Bilt points wondering what else they can do beyond travel, don't miss our new guide about unconventional Bilt redemptions. Have a great weekend! ✈️