Since 1995, the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party has been the event of the year for Hollywood’s elite, with an after-party rivaled only by Vanity Fair’s. In years past, attendees have included Halle Berry, Kevin Costner, Lady Gaga, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and, of course, Sir Elton John himself. If you’re not a Hollywood A-lister, attending such a prestigious event seems unattainable—but it’s not. In fact, in my best black-tie attire, on March 10, 2024, I walked the red carpet behind Heidi Klum, dined across from Donatella Versace, swooned over a spontaneous performance of “Are You Ready for Love,” and danced the night away alongside musician Orville Peck (plus several Oscar winners). I wasn’t nominated for an award that night (I wish!); I was simply an AAdvantage® Mastercard cardholder, who seized the opportunity to party like a rock star—literally—during and after the Oscars, through an American Airlines mileage donation.
That’s right, Elton John’s Oscars bash is one of 30-plus events exclusive to AAdvantage® Mastercard holders through synergies between Mastercard Priceless experiences and American Airlines. By creating a money-can’t-buy experience such as this one, American Airlines is positioning its AAdvantage miles as the ultimate currency for epic endeavors.
However, AA isn’t the only one embarking on this path; the loyalty programs of other airlines, hotels, and credit cards are doing the same. Earlier this year, for example, Marriott Bonvoy members were able to redeem 500,000 points for a stylish Taylor Swift–fueled weekend package in Miami, including two primo tickets to the Eras Tour in Miami for October 2024, a two-night stay at W Miami South Beach, a 90-minute massage for two, and more. Meanwhile, Hilton Honors members were able to bid their Hilton Honors points for a chance to play football with the superstar Kansas City Chiefs tight end (and Swift’s partner) Travis Kelce.
Here’s how to find out about the once-in-a-lifetime possibilities through top loyalty programs and how to redeem your points and miles for them.
Scouting out the experiences
Nowadays, almost every big-ticket event, festival, sports team, stadium—you name it—has the backing of a major airline, hotel, or credit card company. As part of these sponsorships or partnerships, companies have created dedicated opportunities to build customer loyalty, demonstrate value in their loyalty programs, and one-up their competitors. While this often plays out as exclusive access to VIP events and presales with credit card companies, airlines and hotels like to flex their loyalty muscles through experiences that money can’t buy—but points and miles can.
The easiest place to discover these experiences is the landing pages of select loyalty programs promoting your best life using points and miles:
These platforms display past, current, and upcoming opportunities for using miles to do things you may have never imagined possible, big and small. (While the Oscars party runs a cool 500,000 AAdvantage miles for two tickets, there are also opportunities such as United MileagePlus Exclusives’ flight attendant training for a day, which runs just 20,000 United miles per person.) In almost all cases, quantities are very limited, so it’s best to note when the experiences will become available to book so you can try to grab tickets as soon as you can.
Redeeming your points
Most programs allow you to redeem your points and miles for experiences in two ways: fixed-price redemptions or auction-style bidding. Those with an American Airlines AAdvantage® Mastercard can anticipate fixed pricing for all experiences. Hilton and Delta use online auctions for all their redemptions while Marriott Bonvoy Moments and United Mileage Plus Exclusives offer both, depending on the experience.
Fixed-price redemptions are easy and straightforward. Add your desired experience to the cart and check out. After checkout, you’re set: The experience is yours!
Auction-style bidding requires constant attention to ensure a win. It’s a personal choice as to how many points or miles are too many. In May 2024, bidding for the Ultimate Kelce Jam Experience with Travis Kelce, which entailed joining the NFL superstar at his annual music festival, tossing a football with him, and taking home signed merch aplenty, began and ended at 200,000 Hilton Honors Points through Hilton Honors Experiences. On the other hand, Marriott Bonvoy Moments’ points auction to meet Lewis Hamilton and attend the Dutch Grand Prix (inclusive of a five-night stay at W Amsterdam) began at 2,500 Bonvoy Points on June 26, 2024, and ended at 1.25 million points on July 10, 2024.
Rules to know about
Each program has its own set of rules when it comes to cashing out points and miles for experiences, so it’s important to become familiar with them if you plan on scoring several of these money-can’t-buy experiences. For example, some United MileagePlus Exclusives are reserved solely for those with United elite status, others for those with United cobranded cards, and even others for all United Mileage Plus members, while American Airlines’ experiences are just for those with an AAdvantage® Mastercard—so being an AAdvantage member but not a cardholder isn’t enough. Moreover, Marriott Bonvoy members may only redeem for a total of up to five experiences per calendar year within the Marriott Bonvoy Moments program (to include up to two packages per event).
VIP access through credit card companies
Note that while the airline and hotel experience platforms unlock access to larger-than-life experiences using points and miles, premium cards from Capital One, American Express, and Chase can also get you into many VIP events throughout the year—often with cash, but sometimes with points. The Platinum Card® from American Express offers a Premium Events Collection for its cardholders, promising VIP experiences in entertainment, sports, dining, arts, and culture, which vary from year to year. At press time, these include exclusive access to the 2025 BNP Paribas Open, top sideline seats at Wimbledon 2025, and a September 2024 AmEx-exclusive private tour of the Armory Show in New York, away from the public. You must pay for the Premium Events Collection with your AmEx card.
Chase and Capital One, on the other hand, may offer the option of paying for their cardholder exclusives with either money or points. For the iHeartRadio Music Festival Presented by Capital One in September 2024, Capital One cardholders have access to packages that include a preconcert Capital One Soundcheck Party with New Kids on the Block (with light fare and tipples). Such packages, and all Capital One cardholder exclusives, can be paid for using money or points on the Capital One Entertainment platform. Meanwhile, Chase cardholders can pay for select Chase exclusives using points through the Ultimate Rewards platform.
