Hilton HHonors Amex 62.5k + Citibank 50k

Earn 100k HHonors points by applying for the HHonors Amex and Citibank HHonors Visa Signature cards. This will cause two pulls on your credit report; only apply if you are committed to the HHonors program. 
HHonors points are most valuable when redeeming for stays with Hilton hotels. If you have some trips coming up and you need a hotel, check out these offers.


*Hilton HHonors points do not have very good conversion rates to airline mileage: 10,000 HHonors to 1,000 miles.


AmEx:

• 20k with first purchase
• 30k with $300 spend in first three months
• No Annual Fee
• Complimentary Silver Status for duration of membership
• Up to 2.5k additional miles on first four Hilton WorldWide hotel stays

Silver members receive a 15 percent point bonus, complimentary health club access when available and the option to redeem points for VIP Rewards, with award stays of up to 14 nights at participating hotels worldwide.

Citi Visa:

• 50k HHonors after $1,500 spend within first 6 months
• No Annual Fee
• Gold VIP membership after 6 stays within 90 days of Card membership

BONUS: If you are approved for a Visa Signature consumer card then you may qualify for instant Gold Membership. Check out the offer and see if you are eligible. Expires 8/31/2011.

Alaska Air 40k BofA Bonus

To prove there is no east-coast bias on my site, here is some love for those out west; The Alaska Air BofA 40k Bonus.

• 40k miles
• $99 Companion Fare Certificate
• Partner Rewards
• Annual Fee up to $75

$99 companion fare certificate- buy one ticket to any destination, any service class, any fare, and get a second ticket for $99 plus any taxes or fees. You can get a second first class ticket for almost nothing but you can NOT use the certificate with award travel.

This deal is not a mileage dump in the purest sense, bonus of 50k plus miles, but requirements to meet the bonus are supremely easy- APPROVAL. You just need to get approved for the card and the 40k miles are yours. This offer is great if you already have some Alaska Air mileage stock piled. I found nonstop SEA-MEX availability in economy class for 50k miles R/T for travel in August. There was also PDX-HNL in economy starting at 40k and going up to 47k for travel in August. 

Alaska Air also has an extensive catalog of partner airlines. From which you can use AA.com and DL.com to search their award availability and AS will match. 

So there are last minute summer travel opportunities if you take this deal. It is not the biggest bonus but you can book with partners fairly easily who may have more flights. Those who would benefit most should already have some Alaska Mileage Plan saved up.

The Curious Case of Dell and AAdavantage Miles

This past March, when traveling through Argentina, my Lenovo R500 contracted the blue screen of death.  It was clear Argentina would be its last trip and I would search for a new laptop when I got stateside.
After an exhaustive search for the best computer/bonus combo, I decided to buy a Dell  through the AAdvantage program. I chose a Dell because  I loved their had recently re-designed XPS 15 laptop line (formerly Studio) and from what I remembered with my previous Dell, they had responsive Tech Support.

AA has two unrelated Dell offers, one with the AAdvantage eshopping portal and another on their aa.com "earn miles" page. The AAdvantage eshopping portal was similar to those offered through DL and  UA ; 2 miles/$, 1 mile/$ and 1.75 mile/$ respectively. The XPS 15 was $1500 before tax earning, 2*1500= 3000 AA miles. This is not the greatest value, so lets check out the 2nd promo...

In the "earn miles" offer you can earn up to 6,000 points for a top rated computer AND save up to 30% off. For the same configuration that I chose in the first offer I earned 6,000 miles for $1,230 before taxes. Not only did I get almost 5 miles/$, I also saved $269. Valuing 1 mile = 1.2 cents you can extract; $269/.012= 22k miles. Deciding to go with the second deal netted me 28k AA miles instead of only 3,000 miles in the first deal, a 25k mile difference. I recommend the 2nd offer but YMMV.

This purchase also helped me reach my $1500 spend requirement for my 100k BA Chase offer. After one purchase I am 130k oneworld miles richer! Now you see how this can be addictive.

50% Buy Miles Bonus for Delta SkyMiles

With the weekend approaching, and being stuck in the city  I can't help but look at getting away for a summer excursion. I found a good start with Delta's 50% Buy Miles Bonus which ends next Thursday, 6/30. This expiring bonus makes buying mileage feel less like a robbery and more like just misplacing money, haha.

Delta's usual rate of ¢2.8 per mile is one of the more expensive prices for directly purchasing airline mileage. The 50% bonus drops the cost to ¢1.8 per mile and this may be the closest this program ever comes to matching the common ¢1.2 per mile valuation often assigned by frequent flyers.

Not the greatest deal but if you are like me and the summer winds are rekindling your romance with flying, this might help you get where you want to go.