Chicago to Scandinavia $303+ Round Trip Departures Thru Early May 2019

This is cheaper than flying to *Florida* for spring break!

• March/April 2019 flights are wide open from Chicago to Oslo Norway (OSL) and Copenhagen Denmark (CPH).  Other European cities also available for slightly more $
• Prices on Google Flights, with links to book directly with the airlines, are as low as $327.
• Searching on Momondo and booking with smaller online travel agencies, the prices can be as low as $303 to CPH and $310 to OSL.
• Cheapest flights are on Star Alliance carriers - Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).  Some of the fares are even nonstop.
• SkyTeam alliance airlines (e.g. Delta, Air France, KLM) and OneWorld alliance airlines (e.g. American, British Airways) also have fares under $400 as well, with 1 or 2 stops each way.
• At these low prices, many of the flights are basic economy (typically:  checked bags not included, no advance seat assignment, elite status flyers not eligible for complimentary upgrades, etc).
• Regular economy unfortunately costs a LOT more on many of these flights - approx $180 more on SkyTeam.  One of the flights on American Airlines was $260 more in regular economy than basic economy!

How to Get the Deal

Search on Google Flights to find cheap flights based on preferred dates, trip duration, etc.

If you are feeling adventurous, search on Momondo.com and book thru an OTA to save $30-70 vs. booking directly with an airline.

Book now, think later!  You have 24 hours to cancel with no penalty.

Secret Flying reported these deals yesterday, and prices seem to have dropped after they posted, so the cheap seats will be selling out very fast.

Background Information

• Chicago to Oslo Norway from $310 roundtrip
• Chicago to Copenhagen Denmark from $303 roundtrip
• Prices increase to mid $400s after May 8 departures, but the cheap flights are widely available in March and April.  January and February are much more scattered availability at the cheapest prices.

Sample Searches

Google Flights - ORD to OSL/CPH Mon April 1 - Mon April 8

Google Flights - ORD to OSL/CPH Mon Mar 25 - Thurs April 4

Google Flights Price Calendar - 7 day trip

[FARE GONE]Detroit/Atlanta/Houston to Honolulu $364+ Roundtrip Ends Today

This fare sale has expired.

Sale ends today 7/26.

Details

• American Airlines has very low fares from Detroit/Atlanta/Houston (hub cities for Delta or United)
• Travel mostly Mondays thru Thursdays
• Found some cheap fares with weekend travel
• Convenient 1-stop flights available with short layovers which is very nice
• As low as $364 from Detroit
• Late August thru early November 2018
• Grand Rapids flights on United available on some of these same dates for $604

Background

• Fare Deal Alert - Detroit/Atlanta article.  Houston article.
• They say Mon thru Thurs only, but I found cheap fares on the weekends

Sample Flights

DTW>HNL Labor Day trip Mon Aug 27 - Mon Sep 3 $364

DTW>HNL Sun Oct 28 - Sun Nov 11 $404 (long layover on return flight)

DTW>HNL Thurs Oct 25 - Sun Nov 4 $394

DTW>HNL Sun Oct 21 - Weds Oct 31 $388

[Expired] Mainland US to Hawaii from $296 Round Trip

This fare sale has expired

no time to get into all the details, but search from your desired departure cities.  Many large cities - particularly Delta hubs such as Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City - have the best fares.

Most of the sale flights are to Honolulu (HNL) but some good fares also seem to be available to other airports in Hawaii including OGG and LIH.

Spring break (first week in April) and summe are EXCLUDED from this sale.

FYI - Toronto (YYZ) has sub-$500 Hawaii flights almost all the time, so check there if you are within reasonable driving distance.

MSP and SLC are cheapest, from $296.  DTW from $515.  Delta fares are basic economy, so add $70 if you want to get an advance seat selection, upgrade eligible, etc.  American's fare is a standard economy.

From GRR, could possibly book separate flights to and from MSP and combine with the $300-310 round trip fares.  Or drive to Detroit.

American, United, and Delta are all participating in this fare war.

Deal popped up earlier today and could expire at any moment.

Advice
Recommend booking flights right away - *even if you are not sure you can go.*  Get the ticket booked and take the 24 hours afterward to figure out if you can keep the reservation or if you need to cancel.

Background articles
Note that prices are cheaper than stated from certain cities mentioned in these articles.

http://faredealalert.com/2018/02/08/united-starting-318-las-vegas-orlando-kansas-city-maui-kona-honolulu-kauai-hawaii-and-vice-versa-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

http://www.secretflying.com/posts/many-us-cities-hawaii-vice-versa-395-roundtrip/

Sample Searches
April 4 - 16 DTW from $515

May 9 - 17 MSP from $306

SPG Amex Credit Card - 35,000 Starpoint sign-up bonus after $5k spend; highest bonus ever

American Express is offering a 35,000 point bonus for the SPG Amex personal credit card.  This is the highest bonus offer ever offered on this card.

MUST APPLY BY APRIL 5.

Breakdown

• 35k Starpoints is the highest sign-up bonus ever offered on the SPG Amex personal card.  The same bonus level was offered almost a year ago, but typically the bonus on this card is 25k Starpoints.

How Good is This Deal?

• Very good...the 40,000 points you'd have after making the $5k minimum spend and earning the sign-up bonus are worth around $1,000 of hotel stays or $700-$1,000 or more of airfare
• It is feasible to get 8-12 free hotel nights from the 40k Starpoints
• How about TWO ROUNDTRIP TICKETS TO HAWAII?!  Yes, if you can find the cheap award flights you can fly Delta from anywhere in the U.S. to Hawaii, two people, for 50,000 miles total.  (You must transfer 40k Starpoints into 50k Korean Air miles, then use those miles to book the flights on a Delta plane; booking the same flight using Delta miles will cost you more miles because Korean Air has a cheaper award chart than Delta.  I'd be happy to explain this over a root beer sometime...)

What are Starpoints?

• Starpoints is the name of the hotel points currency for Starwood's loyalty program, which is called Starwood Preferred Guest, or SPG.
• Starwood properties include several brands such as St Regis, Westin, W, Sheraton, and Four Points by Sheraton.

What are Starpoints Good For?

• Free nights OR free flights
• Starpoints can be used to book free nights ('award nights') at Starwood hotels.  Free nights start as low as 2,000 points per night.  Many fairly nice properties cost only 5,000-7,000 points per night.  (In comparison, decent Hilton hotels cost 20,000-50,000 points per night.  1 Starpoint is easily worth 5x more than 1 Hilton point.)
• Free nights at Marriott hotels.  Marriott recently bought Starwood, and customers can freely and instantly transfer between Starpoints and Marriott points (you must set up an SPG and a Marriott account).  Transfer rate is 1 Starpoint :3 Marriott points
• Starpoints also can be transferred from the SPG program into airline miles with 30+ partner airlines such as Delta, American, British Airways, Flying Blue, and Korean Air
• Transfer rate to most airlines is 1:1
• 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 Starpoints transferred!  Transfer in 20k increments, get 25k miles for each 20k Starpoints, i.e. 1:1.25 ratio
• Point-for-point, Starpoints are one of the most valuable currencies in the miles and points world.

Get the Deal

• Send me an email if you are interested!
• If you allow me to send you a sign-up offer via email, I'll earn 5,000 Starpoints after you are approved for the card.  The bonus is the same - 35,000 Starpoints - whether you are referred or can sign up for the offer directly from Amex, so I'd definitely appreciate the chance to refer you!
• You cannot get this bonus if you have ever gotten a bonus on the SPG Amex personal card product.  Amex bonuses are once per person, lifetime, for each different card product they offer.

Details

• Apply by April 5, 2017
• 35,000 bonus Starpoints after $5,000 purchases in first 6 months:  Earn 25,000 bonus Starpoints after making $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months plus 10,000 bonus Starpoints after an additional $2,000 in purchases within the first 6 months
• No annual fee first year, $95 per year thereafter
• There is a Business version of this card, which is a separate product so you could get the same 35k bonus twice - once on each card.  However, the SPG Amex Business card requires $8,000 spend to earn the bonus, vs. $5,000 for the Personal card

Is this Card Worth Keeping Long-term?

• It's worth considering.  The best way to look at this card is that it earns 1.25 airline miles per dollar on all spending.
• This can be a great card to use for any and all spending on which you aren't eligible for category bonuses.
• There are no category bonuses on SPG Amex card purchases, so you may want to use other cards for restaurant, gas, grocery, or other purchases where a different card gives you 2, 3, or more points per dollar.
• The $95 annual fee is somewhat steep, but the card has decent travel-related benefits.