Here's How to Save on Holiday Travel This Month Using Points and Miles

02.11.2023 - 21:39 / cntraveler.com

The holiday travel season is already here, and whether you’re going home or getting away from it all, these are some of the best points and miles deals for travel to take advantage of this fall. With access to these offers, you could wind up with some extra room in your budget for those holiday gifts.

Members of Leaders Club, the loyalty program for The Leading Hotels of the World, have a new way to earn points now that it has partnered with Citi ThankYou points. With more than 400 world-famous hotels like The Ritz Paris, Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome, and Acqualina Resort and Residences in Miami, adding points to your account could help save cash on your next trip. Points will transfer at a five-to-one ratio. This means you can exchange 1,000 Citi points for 200 Leaders Club points. (Redemptions start at around 4,000 points and are tied to the cash cost of a stay.)

You can check your balance and book your favorite hotels using Leaders Club’s newly launched mobile app. If you’re not yet a member, you can earn 500 bonus points by signing up and completing your profile; the bonus arrives via email once you sign up. Another new feature: You can also transfer points to another account or gift points—just in time for the holidays.

Looking for more Flying Blue miles? You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air France-KLM Flying Blue any time in November and receive a 25% bonus. Just log into your Chase account to swap points for miles. (Hot tip: Read below for a solid redemption deal.)

Air France-KLM has quietly lowered the cost of its one-way business class awards between North America and Europe. If you’re lucky enough to find one of the saver flight deals on its website, you could be traveling in the pointy end of the plane for a cool 50,000 Flying Blue miles each way. That’s one of the best deals out there; some airlines can charge almost twice that amount.

Act quickly to take advantage of the remaining days of the Delta-Instacart partnership, which is ending on November 10. Until the time comes when they part ways, you can continue to earn one SkyMile for each dollar you spend with the food delivery service.

If you’re giving tickets to concerts, sporting events, or theater shows as a holiday present, there’s great news: A new partnership between American Airlines and Ticketmaster will reward you with one mile for each dollar you spend, as well as one American AAdvantage Loyalty Point that helps to qualify for elite status with the airline. Delta has its own version that offers one SkyMile per dollar spent through the entertainment ticket platform.

American has a new “instant status match” program designed to earn new business from Delta and United top elite travelers. Provide details of your existing