CHASE INK STUFF: If you haven’t heard this from 100 other blogs by now: there’s a 70,000 point offer for the Chase Ink Plus. If you already have this card and know somebody who wants it, check your email and hopefully Chase will have sent you an offer to refer up to five people for this card at 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points per friend. If you don’t have this card and want it, and you don’t know anybody else who has it, and you like me more than all those other mean ol’ bloggers out there, get in touch with me and I’ll send you a referral code which will get me 10,000 UR points and get you a whole bunch of gratitude.

In other Chase Ink news: Dan’s Deals says that the Ink Bold–the charge card version of the Ink Plus–is going away. Apparently it’s no longer available in branch but remains available online.

DINER’S CLUB FOLLOW-UP: Following up on the Diner’s Club card introduction, Frequent Miler notes that you can go Diner’s Club –> Amtrak –> Choice Hotels to get 9 Choice Hotels points per dollar of restaurant spending. He also points out that you can get 10 Choice points per dollar at office supply stores using the Chase Ink Bold or Ink Plus via the UR –> Amtrak –> Choice route. Though do note that converting Amtrak points to Choice points requires Amtrak Elite status, plus Choice makes you reserve 30 days in advance, and I think the points expire after two years, so make sure you have your act together if you’re thinking about doing this.

I currently have 0 Choice points and things will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Though there are good values to be had, especially in Europe. For example, see Ric Garrido’s recent post on $6,000 worth of Norwegian hotels using Choice points. I think there’s a decent hotel or two in Venice as well.

HILTON HHONORS CCHHANGES: Ric also has a rundown on Hilton category changes if you’re curious.

IHG POINTBREAKS: Don’t forget that IHG Pointbreaks are now bookable for just 5,000 points per night. This remains one of the better deals in hotel loyalty programs. If you’re interested in Pointbreaks and don’t have the IHG credit card, please don’t forget that the top-secret 80,000-point offer is found here. Here’s the relevant Flyertalk thread for some more background on that credit card offer.

ADVANCED ROCKET SCIENCE STUFF: Some people are out there trying innovative stuff and are nice enough to share their results even if they fail. See, for example, the balance transfer attempt by Milenomics.