🤫 Secret shortcut to elite status

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 15 seconds

Good morning and Happy Friday. Congratulations on making it to the end of the work week, folks.

To celebrate, let’s get some easy elite status and book some dirt-cheap flights:

• 🤫 Secret shortcut to elite status

• ✈️ 25% transfer bonus to Flying Blue

• 💳 Current Transfer Bonuses

🤫 Secret shortcut to elite status

If your summer plans include Marriott stays, there’s a secret way to turn that into Platinum Elite status without needing the usual 50 nights.

Enter: the Marriott Platinum Challenge. While it’s not advertised, it’s been around for years and is very real (I’ve even done it).

Here’s how it works:

• Call Marriott and ask to enroll in the Platinum Elite Status Challenge

• Stay 16 paid nights within 90 days

• If you succeed, you’ll be upgraded to Platinum Elite Status for the rest of the year and all of the following year

The only noteworthy fine print is that only paid cash nights count – not award nights, elite night credits from credit cards, or promo-based nights.

Why this matters: You can book cheap Marriott stays and turn them into serious perks, such as:

• Room upgrades (including suites when available)

• Free breakfast (or credit toward breakfast) and lounge access

• 4 p.m. late checkout

• 50% bonus points

For example, if you’re looking to hit up Las Vegas this summer, you could book some cheap nights at the MGM Grand for just $115 per night (including the egregious $50 resort fee).

Or find bargain Marriotts across Europe or Japan to knock out the challenge on the cheap.

There is one easier way…

If spending 16 nights at Marriott still sounds like a stretch, there’s one even simpler way to fast-track to Platinum.

This premium Marriott card comes with Platinum status as a perk.

While it does have a hefty annual fee, it also comes with an annual free night certificate and $300 of worldwide dining credits, so it could be worth it for the elite perks.

Anyway, here’s the bottom line:

The Marriott Platinum Challenge is one of the best-kept secrets in hotel loyalty. Don’t sleep on it (literally). 😉

✈️ 25% transfer bonus to Flying Blue

Earlier this week, I told you about Flying Blue’s new Promo Rewards for June, which are a great way to save money and points on travel to/from Europe this Summer and Fall.

Well, it brings me great pleasure to inform you that the deal is now even BETTER thanks to a shiny new 25% transfer bonus from MR points to Flying Blue.

The bonus is valid until June 30th, which is the exact same timeframe as the Promo Rewards booking window (yay).

Now, those economy awards that cost 18,750 Flying Blue miles will only cost 15,000 MR points.

That alone isn’t groundbreaking… but if you’re looking at a round-trip to Europe, it’s meaningful. If you’re bringing a plus one or family, it really adds up.

Plus, the most exciting deal this month is Premium Economy between Las Vegas and Europe for just 30,000 miles.

Now, you’ll only need to shell out 24,000 MR points to fly in comfort for like ten hours, which is awesome.

There are lots of other uses of Flying Blue miles

I use Flying Blue miles ALL the time.

In fact, I just used Flying Blue miles to book a few flights for a trip to Australia and New Zealand with my best friend next month.

One of Flying Blue’s interesting partners is Qantas, despite it not being part of the same airline alliance.

I used 9,000 Flying Blue miles to book this flight from Sydney to Queenstown, which would otherwise cost over $400.

With this transfer bonus, you could book this flight for just 7,200 MR points, yielding over 5 cents per point in value.

Use Flying Blue for Delta flights, too

As you know by now, Flying Blue is one of the best ways to book Delta flights – both domestic and international.

Short-haul domestic flights start at just 5,000 miles in economy, which is a great deal:

You could fly a family of four on a route like this for just 16,000 MR points, which is insane.

Delta business class to Europe

I found some sweet award space in Delta (both economy and business class) from New York to Ireland at the end of June.

And best of all, Flying Blue has the best pricing.

Economy will cost you 20,000 miles, and business is 60,000 miles:

With the transfer bonus, that’s Delta business class to Europe for 48,000 MR points.

Not too shabby, eh? 😉

By the way, if you’re interested in those flights, I’d scoop them up now. There’s still availability during the last week of June, but it’ll go fast.

The bottom line

Flying Blue is one of the best programs out there, no matter where your travel plans are taking you.

If Flying Blue miles can get you where you need to go, this is a great way to get more value from your MR points.

And if you need a card that earns MR points  – we’ve got ya covered with our favs listed right here.

That’s all for this week, folks! Have a great weekend and see you first thing Monday morning for more points and miles fun.

Cheers,

22.3193° N, 114.1694° E

With contributions by Sam Anthony and Katie Begnoche.