CORRECTION NOTE:  We've got a correction to add to this episode! In this episode Greg says with the Hyatt Business card you can get back $100 per year on spend at Hyatt hotels: $50 in first 6 monhts and $50 in second 6 months, but we need to correct that! In truth, you can get up to $100 back per membership year, $50 at a time, but you don't have to wait 6 months: you could make two payments in rapid succession to get the full $100. Thanks for your patience with this correction!

Hyatt's elite program can be really valuable - for instance when you reach certain milestones you can get valuable perks, and there's multiple ways of reaching those milestones. In this episode, Greg and Nick debate the best way of getting there.  

(01:21) - Multiple readers (coincidentally named both forms of "John") chime in with feedback from recent podcast episodes...

(01:42) - Find podcast Ep269 Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines Wedding Planning here.

(04:21) - Find podcast Ep262 How to get great value from you Platinum card here.

(07:34) - Nick experiences a crazy Hilton resort fee for using the pool

(11:42) - Bilt's September 1 Rent Day promo. Should Greg transfer his points?

Read more about Bilt Rent Day promos here.

(20:58) - Bilt adds Walgreens FSA & point earning

Read more about Bilt rewards adding points-earning at Walgreens here.

(28:34) - Delta (probably gone) : US to Taipei on Delta One from 98,000 SkyMiles (83,300 for Delta cardholders)

Read more about finding this US to Taipei deal here.

(33:26) - Find our World of Hyatt Complete Guide here

(35:10) - Read Greg's post "Hyatt milestone spending -- what's my X?" here.

(36:59) - Read Nick's "Hyatt Milestone chasing: should we all mattress run to Globalist status?" here.

(39:49) - Hyatt Milestone Details: Earn valuable benefits after every 10 qualifying nights starting at 20 nights (but real value starts at 30)...

(47:20) - First let's talk about mattress running...

(52:54) - Credit card spend options...

(52:56) - Learn more about the World of Hyatt card here.

(53:43) - Learn more about the World of Hyatt Business card here.

(56:26) - Which is better - mattress running or credit card spend?

(1:07:33) - A reader just discovered you can redeem Cathay Pacific miles for hotels and wonders if we've heard of anyone doing this?

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are a valuable transferable points currency, and the Chase Ink Business Preferred card is a great card for earning this valuable currency. In this episode, we discuss what makes this a great card, and if it's a good card to keep year after year.

(00:30) - Learn more about the Chase Ink Business Preferred card here.

(00:34) - The Chase Ink Business Preferred card earns Ultimate Rewards points

(00:48) - Usually has great welcome bonus

(01:30) - Earning rate: 3X travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone, and advertising with social media sites (up to $150K spend per year)

(02:44) - Other noteworthy perks of the Chase Ink Business Preferred card

(04:34)- What are the approval rules for this card? (For example, what is the 5/24 rule and how does it apply here?)

(07:19) - Is this a keeper card?

 

On a previous podcast, we discussed the most rewarding card for groceries and dining, picking ~4 cards we thought were good for both of these categories. We got a lot of feedback with other suggestions for cards readers thought we should have included. Were they right? Let's discuss...

Find podcast episode 20 here: The most rewarding card for groceries & dining | Coffee Break Ep20 | 7-30-24 

(02:11) - Why did we leave out Citi Custom Cash?

Learn more about the Citi Custom Cash card here.

(3:06) - What about the Amex Everyday Preferred card?

Learn more about the Amex Everyday Preferred card here.

(03:54) - What about Bilt?
Learn more a out the Bilt card here: https://frequentmiler.com/bilt/

(04:34) - Why not include the Amex Hilton Surpass card?
Learn more about the Hilton Surpass Card here.

(06:42) - Should we have included the Wyndham Earner Plus Card?
Learn more about the Wyndham Earner Plus Card here.

(08:57) - Why doesn't the Chase Sapphire Preferred card come up in these discussions?
Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card here.

(13:31) - Why was the Aeroplan card not discussed?
Learn more about the Aeroplan Card here

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

We love points that are transferable because we love the optionality of transferring to different hotel and airline partners, but also because there are sometimes transfer bonuses that you can take advantage of to maximize that value - just another reason to love transferable points.

(01:33) - Conflicting reports on the ability to transfer IHG points for FREE

(01:39) - Find How to gift free hotel nights - Ep265 here

(09:20) - Huge Amex Membership Rewards offers

(10:25) - Read more about the Amex Business Gold card here

(11:07) - Read more about the Amex Platinum card here 

(11:19) - Read more about the Amex Gold card here

(13:40) - If you get the Amex refer-a-friend error message: try using a different browser

(15:43) - How do American Express Hilton credits work at SLH & AutoCamp?

(19:15) - New blog resource: How to maximize your Hilton cards (with upgrades and downgrades)

(19:47) - Chase Ink Business card 120K offer

See: How to apply for Chase Ink cards here

(21:04) - Bilt torpedoes Rent Day doubling, initially hiding the news in terms & conditions

(26:02) - Current notable transfer bonuses... 

(27:22) - Which current transfer bonuses are worth (many people) considering even without a plan?

Main Event: Growing Points via Transfer Bonuses

(32:00) - What makes transferable points great?

(35:08) - Transferring your points goes one direction so you can't transfer them back if you change your mind... so when is it an obvious idea, even if you don't have a known use in mind?

(42:26) - Things to consider before transferring your points (if it's not obvious because of known uses)

(47:21) - See expired transfer bonuses here

(56:33) - Which programs should you avoid transferring to if you don't already have a specific plan for how to use them?

(59:35) - Which programs are more or less safe to transfer to, even if you don't already have a plan for how to use them?

(1:05:23) - One reader got the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, then got denied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for being at max exposure, despite reducing the limit on the Freedom card. What can they do? This post again could be useful.

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, and a decent earning rate. This makes it a pretty easy card to justify keeping. In this episode of our brand new series "Card Talk", we'll highlight all the other notable elements of this card to help you determine if it's right for your wallet.

(00:00) - Read more about the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Card here.

(00:29) - What is the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Card earning rate?

(01:00) - The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Card has some temporary Uber benefits, through 11/14/24...

(01:45) - Best of all, you can move rewards to a miles-earning card like the Capital One Venture or VentureX cards...

Read more about the Capital One Venture card here and the Capital One VentureX card here.

(04:09) - Capital One can be tricky for new approvals...but product-changing a card you already have may be an option.

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

 

Everybody eats! So everyone can make use of earning opportunities at restaurants or grocery stores. In this episode, we'll talk about our 4 favorite credit cards for exactly this.

 

(01:31) - Amex Gold Card earns 4 points per dollar for US grocery stores (up to $25K in spend) and 4x for restaurant dining

Read more about the Amex Gold Card here.

(03:22) - Citi Strata Premier earns 3 points per dollar for grocery and 3 points per dollar for dining

Read more about the Citi Strata Premier Card here.

(05:11) - Capital One SavorOne gives 3% cash back for dining, grocery stores

Read more about the Capital One SavorOne card here.

(07:14) - Altitude Reserve card earns 3 points per dollar on travel and mobile wallet payments, which could apply to grocery and dining

Read more about the Altitude Reserve card here.

(12:26) - Which card is the best for earning points on grocery and dining spend?

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

(00:00) - Ever wanted to gift a free hotel night to someone else? In today's episode of Frequent Miler on the Air we'll discuss the ways you can do this! 

(01:18) - In response to Greg's post "Hilton Honors is winning me over, but I’d like one more enhancement…" one reader wonders, "Does Hilton pay influencers to do this?" (Read that post here: https://frequentmiler.com/hilton-honors-is-winning-me-over-but-id-like-one-more-enhancement/ (Mailbag) 

(03:55) - Updating Card Talk 

(05:40) - American Express Gold Card changes go live, including increased annual fee, new "white gold" option, Dunkin' and Resy credits, and more... (Card News)

Read more about the American Express Gold Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxGoldCard/

Catch our episode about the "rumored" Amex changes here: https://frequentmiler.com/podcast-rumored-amex-gold-card-changes-good-or-bad-coffee-break-ep19-7-23-24/

 (10:08) - Wells Fargo Attune gives 4% for Amazon.com purchases! (Card News)

(11:38) - "Southwest Airlines Redeye Flights Coming… Finally!" (Crazy Thing) 

(14:31) - Southwest will soon offer assigned & premium seating (Crazy Thing)

(17:04) - What is the "Vacations by Marriott Bonvoy" promo? Earn 25k bonus points on 4+ night packages Read more about this Marriott Bonvoy promo here: https://frequentmiler.com/vacations-by-marriott-bonvoy-promo-earn-25k-bonus-points-on-4-night-packages/ (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(23:51) - What are the Citi transfer bonuses through August 17th, 2024? (Award Talk) 

(27:53) - Find award space for incredible SLH properties like Calala Island and Grand Hotel Victoria Lake Como, using tools like Rooms.Aero or MaxMyPoint to set alerts (Award Talk) 

Read more about using these tools to find availability at properties like the Grand Hotel Victoria Lake Como here: https://frequentmiler.com/grand-hotel-victoria-lake-como-has-wide-open-availability/

(30:21) - Autoslash triggers Altitude Reserve's Real Time Mobile Rewards RTMR (Award Talk) Read more about Altitude Reserve's Real Time Mobile Rewards here: https://frequentmiler.com/us-bank-real-time-mobile-rewards-what-works-where/

 Main Event: How to gift free hotel nights

(32:51) - How to gift someone your free hotel night certificates or award nights Read more about gifting hotel nights here: https://frequentmiler.com/gift-hotel-points-free-night-certificates-and-award-nights-booked-with-points-rules-by-program/

(34:19) - Can you gift someone your hotel points? Which programs allow it and which programs don't? 

(39:39) - Can you book a hotel night for someone else, using your points? Which programs allow it and which programs don't?

(46:52) - Can you gift a hotel free night certificate to someone else? Which programs allow it and which programs don't? 

(52:17) - Which hotel rewards program is the best for gifting nights with someone else?

(55:44) - If someone hears something on the podcast they want more information about, where do they find more information? (Question of the Week) 

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

The Amex Gold Card is about to change. In this episode we'll review the current details for this card, the changes we predict to see, and whether those changes are good or bad.

(01:05) - Current card details

Learn more about the Amex Gold Card here

(02:13) - What's (allegedly) changing?

(04:50) - What might be good about these changes?

(07:51) - Is it still worth recommending?

(15:20) - Which card do we recommend instead for good rewards on grocery and dining?

Read more about the Capital One Savor One card here and the Citi Strata Premier here

(18:09) - But don't necessarily go out and cancel the card after you hear this...

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

There are a bunch of hotel credit card offers that are bigger than usual right now, some of them pretty surprising. That's what we'll discuss in this episode of Frequent Miler on the Air.

(01:20) - Booking Hilton stays with a mix of points and a free night award - just watch for a 3 night minimum. (Mail Bag)

(05:32) - Read how to find SLH hotels bookable with Hilton points and free night certificates using Rooms.aero here

(06:29) - At least TWO FM followers got the Wyndham Hotel Pass! (What Crazy Thing)

(09:48) - Marriott Bonvoy promotion for credit card holders (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(15:51) - Hertz hurts so good (Award Talk)

(19:52) - Virgin Atlantic points can't book Air France / KLM "due to a system issue" (Award Talk)

(22:22) - JetBlue to introduce Mini-Mint (regional first class). 2026 (Award Talk)

(24:45) - Cancelling SLH stays booked via Hyatt: You have to email (but even though they responded after the deadline, I had no penalty and got points back) (Award Talk)

(29:30) - RRVs (Award Talk)

(42:10) - Hotel Credit Card Big Offers

(46:19) - Sonesta - Read more about the Sonesta card here

(49:26) - IHG - Read more about the IHG One Rewards Premier card here

(56:07) - Bonvoy Bold - Read more about the Bonvoy Bold card here

(57:30) - Find our "Are you eligible for a new Marriott card" chart here

(1:00:20) - Hilton offers - Read more about the Hilton Surpass card here, and the fee free Hilton card here 

(1:08:13) - Choice - Read more about the Choice card here and the Choice Select card here 

(1: 12:06) - How to max amex multi referrals (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

(01:37) - Carrie saw Greg speak at Chicago Seminars in 2013 - the topic was Million Mile Madness.

(02:10) - The next summer (2014) Drew and Carrie were invited to the "Ann Arbor Art Fair Do". While in Ann Arbor, they met Greg for kayaking.

(05:02) - Over the next few years, Carrie periodically did freelance projects for Greg (including an infographic about Redbird, layout design for the card page, editing YouTube videos for Greg's Necker Island visit, etc.)

Read more about Greg and Carrie's Necker Island video partnership here: https://frequentmiler.com/necker-island-blogging-bloopers/ and read about how Greg booked Necker Island on points here: https://frequentmiler.com/how-to-book-a-free-week-on-necker-island/

(07:33) - After selling TIF in 2019, Carrie half-jokingly (but not joking at all), asked Greg if FM needed a web designer.

(09:12) - Greg decided he was actually interested, but by then Carrie had started a UX/UI course and was considering that. The indecision was brief - by early 2020 she was part of the team.

(10:17) - Here's a link to our Best Offers Page: https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/

(14:19) - Carrie's first impressions

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Hilton has brought on their partner Small Luxury Hotels of the World which has been a bit more exciting than we expected it would be. In today's Frequent Miler on the Air episode we'll discuss more.

(01:07) - a note about the alliteration in "pop-up prison" vs "pop-up jail" (Mail Bag)

(02:56) - IHG Premier 60K certs (Card Talk)

Read more about the IHG Premier 60K cert offer here: https://frequentmiler.com/chase-ihg-premier-card-best-ever-offer-5-60k-free-night-certificates/

(08:37) - Greg booked AA to fly to London and it didn't go very smoothly... (Crazy Thing) 

Read about Greg's recent AAdventures (or misadventures) here: https://frequentmiler.com/my-aadventures-aatempting-to-fly-aa-to-london/

(21:38) - Escape lounge on arrival (Award Talk)

(26:19) - Digging in to fare class info when booking via Chase (Award Talk)

Main Event: Hilton delivers luxury through SLH

(32:28) - Overview: ~400 SLH hotels bookable through Hilton

(38:09) - Some SLH hotels have suites defined as standard rooms

(39:30) - Gold and Diamond members: space-available room upgrades and continental breakfast for up to two guests.

(42:01) - Excellent Hilton point value possible through SLH

(44:19) - Free night certs & 5th Night Free awards apply to SLH

(47:21) - How to get points

(1:01:50) - How to get free night certs

Read more about the Hilton Aspire card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxHiltonAspire/

(1:04:25) - Read more about the Hilton Surpass card here: https://frequentmiler.com/hilton-honors-american-express-surpass-card/

(1:09:08) - How to find SLH award availability

(1:12:21) - Visit Rooms.aero here: https://rooms.aero/

(1:20:59) - Does the Chase Freedom Unlimited card double offer calculate even points that were transferred out?  (Question of the week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

In addition to our regular weekly podcast, we also host an Ask Us Anything Live on YouTube once a month where the Frequent Miler team answers listener questions about points, miles, rewards cards, and whatever else comes to mind. 

(01:25) - How do I know how much my points and miles are worth (and are all points and miles worth the same?)

(06:04) - I switched an upcoming trip to take a better flight the next day, which means I have to change Hilton/Hertz reservations. Both of them will re-price to higher costs than before. Any way to avoid? ​​

(08:07) - What’s your prediction for the next points devaluation? (10:33) - Thoughts on new turkish card?

(12:22) - ​​question for Nick I am product changing from my Marriott Boundless to Ritz carlton card. I receive my fna on August 3rd each year. when is the best time to product change? Hoping to get both certs.

(15:45) - If I rent a car with VentureX annual credit (at C1 portal), do I get the VX primary rental insurance on this rental?

(16:03) - When is good time to upgrade Hilton Surpass into Aspire in order to receive FNC from Surpass and then from Aspire?

​​(18:40) - Hi FM Team, which recent miles and points devaluation (Virgin Atlantic, Choice, etc.) has been the most disappointing for you? Happy Fourth of July!

(25:25) - ​​Are there any Hotel programs that combine Personal & Credit Card Nights together to get you Elite Status?

(28:05) - ​​Re: the new Schwab rule of only 1 million points cashed out at 1.1 and then .08 after. Are there good strategies for those who have high Rakuten spend turned into AmEx?

(30:36) - Most banks have been declining my credit card applications, mostly citing too many hard pulls on the credit report. What should my next move be to maximize points earnings?

(35:02) - how is Wells Fargo household sharing works? can I share between P2 cashback to P1 Autograph points?

(37:37) - How would you guys book business class award tickets from the US to Vietnam, I am on the east cost but happy to go to the west coast.

(40:50) - ​​a while back on the podcast a mailbag e-mail asked about a resource/deep dive on downgrading paths for cards. Any update on when that might be coming??

(42:08) - ​​I have Southwest companion pass and 170k points. Can you guys recommend me any good destination(s)?

(47:08) - ​​Nick, any tips for enjoying traveling with young kids? Our kids are 3 years and 3 months, and we feel like all travel outside family visits is on hold for at least a few years.

(52:37) - have you guys ever take a chance of ANA waitlist?

(54:02) - Flying Blue: can you reprice your flights if they go down in price due to promo rewards? can you add a free stopover on KLM operated flights as well?

(55:44) - ​​Any thoughts on the new Attune card from WF? There are some interesting categories, such as bookstores (Amazon), Sporting good stores (gun stores, ammo, shooting ranges), Barbers, nail salons, Ski...

(58:12) - Any recs for backpacks/luggage? Appreciate your tips and credit card advice!!

We know occasionally you may have to actually pay for a hotel night (instead of using your points and free night certificates.) In this episode we'll dissect how to even go about deciphering how rewarding your paid stays are.

(01:28) - How do we go about even calculating which hotel program is most rewarding on paid stays?

Read more about which hotel loyalty programs are most valuable here.

(03:17) - There are a few things our analysis did not consider...

(03:59) - Which programs are most rewarding when you're not using a hotel credit card and don't have elite status?

(06:11) - If you have top tier status, (but not necessarily a hotel credit card), which hotel program rewards you most for your paid stays?

Learn more about the Sonesta program here.

(08:56) - If you have both hotel status and the hotel branded credit card, which program is most rewarding for your paid stays.

(09:49) Learn more about the Wyndham Business Earner card here, and the Wyndham Earner Plus card here.

(10:51) - Lear more about the World of Hyatt card here.

(10:55) - Learn more about the Hilton Aspire card here.

(10:58) - Learn more about the IHG Premier card here, and the IHG Premier Business card here.

(11:54) - Learn more about the Bonvoy Brilliant card here.

(12:09) - Learn more about the  Hilton Surpass card here, and the Hilton Business card here.

(13:22) - Consider elite programs and promotions

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

The Amex Platinum card has had great welcome bonuses for a while now, but it's a very expensive card. Are there reasons to keep the card once the annual fee comes due? That's what we'll discuss in today's Frequent Miler on the Air episode.

(01:36) - Online chat for immediate Avios refunds? (Mailbag)

(05:26) - Wells Fargo Attune Card (Card Talk)

Read more about the Attune card here.

(17:49) - Hyatt promo: Earn 1k bonus points + double elite nights at 15 Florida properties (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(23:46) - Virgin kills Delta One deal (Award Talk)

(28:39) - Interesting notes about Spirit awards (Award Talk)

Read more about Nick's Spirit discoveries here.

Read more about the Amex Platinum card here.

(34:25) - Become elite

(37:01) - Enhance your travel experiences

(40:57) - Earn $200 back on prepaid hotel bookings each year

Read more about FHR credits here: https://frequentmiler.com/maxfhr-an-awesome-new-way-to-help-use-your-200-fine-hotels-resorts-credits/

(44:28) - Earn $200 in Airline Fee Credits each calendar year

(46:08) - Use $200 in Uber credits each calendar year

(48:53) - Get $20 per month back in rebates on select digital entertainment services

(51:27) - Earn up to $100 per year in rebates at Saks Fifth Avenue

(55:18) - Get Walmart+ for Free

(56:53) - Earn 5x for airfare and prepaid hotels

(57:21) - Refer friends

(1:05:37) - Hyatt dummy-booking offer... why is no one talking about this offer?

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Sonesta is a hotel chain with more than 1100 properties that we haven't paid much attention to until Tim wrote a recent post about the Sonesta Travel Pass, a program that sort of came out of nowhere. In this week's Coffee Break episode, we'll chat more about why you shouldn't siesta on Sonesta!

(01:24) - Sonesta Travel Pass Basics

(04:04) - Elite Status

(06:49) - Shortcuts to elite status

(11:22) - Points from paid stays

(13:08) - Sonesta Travel Pass credit card

Read more about the Sonesta card here.

(15:58) - Final thoughts... are we excited about this?

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Amex has long had rules against getting a new welcome bonus for a card you’ve had before.
Now, they’ve expanded those rules to include "families" of cards. In this episode we'll help you navigate this confusing and tedious concept.

(01:31) - With pointsyeah a reader found an interesting redemption for ANA first class... but found a great discount for “suffering” in economy to HND. (Mailbag)

Read more about Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing - First Class for less

(05:15) - Southwest Companion Pass with one business card (Card Talk)

Find out more about the Southwest Premier Business Card here

Find out more about the Southwest Performance Business card here

(18:14) - Bilt rent day promo (Award Talk)

(19:42) - Alaska Airlines transfer bonus, up to 100% (Award Talk)

Read more about the Alaska / Bilt transfer bonus here

(24:18) - Alaska Airlines status match (Award Talk)

(29:20) - Bilt Neighborhood dining (Award Talk)

(32:09) - Hilton adds more SLH properties (Award Talk)

(37:50) - Choice removes 35K cap on their points prices in the US (Award Talk)

(39:22) - We've updated some of our RRVs (Award Talk)

(44:46) - Use Virgin points to book AF/KLM (Award Talk)

(50:23) - Fiji airways to adopt AAdvantage miles (Award Talk)

(52:09) - Read more about Greg’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(54:55) - Read more about Nick’s predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(56:27) - Read more about Stephen’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(58:38) - Read more about Tim’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(1:01:27) - Read more about Carrie’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

Main Event: Navigating Amex’s Welcome Bonus Family Rules

(1:03:24) - About Amex's "Pop-Up Prison"

(1:06:58) - Family types

(1:09:08) - How to find the rules. Look for "Offer Terms"

(1:12:16) - Skirting the pop-up prison

(1:18:01) - What sites do you like the best, apart from your own? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

On a previous Coffee Break episode, we talked about the Frequent Miler origin story – Greg’s story. This week, we'll learn about Nick's origin story with the Frequent Miler team.

(00:47) -Super quick recap of next 5 years from the start of the blog

Greg posted a "Help Wanted" for full time employee, which you can read here

(02:21) - How Nick got into miles and points

(12:09) - Nick discovers Frequent Miler at an FTU

(13:58) - Greg and Nick meet in person at another FTU

(16:37) - Nick's wife convinces him to apply for the Frequent Miler position

(17:10) - More details about Greg's help wanted post and the hiring process

(20:42) - Greg was hoping to find someone who knew more about redemption than he did

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

(00:00) Intro: There are a multitude of ways to fly to Hawaii using miles and points (and even many ways to get a deal on cash tickets). On this week's show, we discuss ways to fly to Hawaii from around the US from as few as 10K or 13.5K points each way.

(01:06) New FM intro

(03:22) Card Talk: Sonesta World Mastercard

https://frequentmiler.com/sonesta/

 -Card Details

-What are points worth?

(16:00) What crazy thing . . . did Marriott and Starbucks do this week? https://frequentmiler.com/link-marriott-starbucks-accounts-to-occasionally-earn-double-stars-minimal-bonus-points/

(19:51) Mattress running the numbers: Wyndham Rewards Hotel Pass https://frequentmiler.com/wyndham-rewards-selling-30-night-hotel-pass/

(27:48) Award Talk

(27:55) New Reasonable Redemption Value for Hotel Points https://frequentmiler.com/what-are-hyatt-points-worth/

(30:29) Aeroplan promotion with Miles4Migrants) https://frequentmiler.com/earn-7500-aeroplan-points-with-a-100-miles4migrants-donation/

(34:19) 15% transfer bonus from Citi to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles https://frequentmiler.com/citi-thankyou-offering-15-transfer-bonus-to-cathay-pacific-asia-miles/

(27:03) Enterprise Rent-A-Car Status Match https://frequentmiler.com/enterprise-status-match-giving-status-through-february-2026-match-from-hotel-airline-car-rental-programs/

(30:29) Amex referral bonuses now as high as 45,000 points for targeted cardholders https://frequentmiler.com/amex-referral-bonuses-now-as-high-as-45000-points-per-referral-up-to-100k-per-year-per-card/

(42:44) Main Event: Best Ways to fly to Hawaii https://frequentmiler.com/best-ways-to-fly-to-hawaii-from-the-us-mainland/

(43:04) Cash deals

(43:30) Delta companion certificates

(44:55) Alaska Companion Fare

(46:13) Southwest Companion Pass

(47:32) Vacation packages

(49:15) Award deals: Economy

(49:24) United flights via Turkish Miles & Smiles for 10K each way

(50:48) Finnair Avios for American Airlines (15K) or Alaska Airlines (13.5K)

(52:52) Alaska Mileage Plan for Alaska from 15K

(53:35) Singapore Krisflyer for central/Western US to Hawaii (13-14K)

(54:33) Using Alaska miles to fly AA for 17.5K from Dallas and west coast

(55:32) Use United to fly United from 11.1K from the west coast

(56:42) Aeroplan for 12.5K from the west coast to Hawaii on United

(58:00) Qatar Avios for 13K one way from the west coast

(59:00) Flying Blue for Delta from 18K

(59:16) Virgin Atlantic for Hawaiian Airlines for 20K each way from the west coast

(1:00:16) JetBlue for Hawaiian Airlines for 20K each way from the west coast (1:00:48) American Airlines miles for AA from 20K each way

(1:01:39) Southwest Airlines when cash fares are cheap

(1:02:00) "First class" flights to Hawaii with miles

(1:02:57) Turkish miles for United: 15K miles each way

(1:05:35) Finnair Avios for American Airlines" 38K miles each way

(1:07:00) Alaska Miles for Alaska from 40K miles each way

(1:07:21) Hawaiian miles to fly Hawaiian: 40K one way or upgrade from 25K. Possibly more availability with status or as a cardholder.

(1:09:25) Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Hawaiian: 40K one way from the west coast

(1:09:48) Alaska Mileage Plan for American Airlines: 35K one-way from as far east as Dallas

(1:10:10) Air Canada Aeroplan for United for 25K from the west coast

(1:10:50) Qatar Airways Avios for American or Alaska for 38,750 Avios from the west coast

(1:11:50) Example for how to find award availability

(1:19:33) Question of the Week: Is reselling a good low-energy way to generate points?

Music credit: Annie Yoder

(00:00) The Wall Street Journal reported friction in the relationship between Wells Fargo & Bilt. What was reported and what do we make of the details? Find out in this episode of Coffee Break.

(01:16) What the Wall Street Journal Article says

(02:01) Digging into article details a bit about the Bilt / Wells Fargo relationship (06:34) Fraud and Money Laundering Concerns

(09:44) The Wells Fargo and Bilt response

(10:34) WSJ article key points quick summary

(11:12) Our take about what this all means

Visit frequentmiler.com/subscribe to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media..

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Greg and Nick have been consumed with last-minute travel the last week and a half so it's great timing for them to summarize 10 important tips for last-minute award travel.

(01:17) - Standing ovation for the annual challenge! (Mailbag)

(06:43) - Annual Challenge recap and overview

Watch the Stage 1 recap video here: https://youtu.be/bMt_NfuuINI?feature=shared

Watch the Stage 2 recap video here: https://youtu.be/gyJPtTZN1EE?feature=shared

Watch the Stage 3 recap video here: https://youtu.be/HTmEAicB3dw?feature=shared

(34:15) - Curve overview (Card Talk)

Find out more here: https://www.curve.com/en-us

(37:56) - Hilton SLH integrated testing phase (Award Talk)

(40:26) - Preferred Hotels / Choice devaluation (55K to 87K) (Award Talk)

(42:34) - Aero plan credit card & elite members status match to iPrefer Titanium (before June 28) (Award Talk)

(44:18) - Book Oman Air w/ Flying Blue miles (Award Talk)

(44:30) - Book El Al with Virgin points (Award Talk)

(44:51) - Points Path adds support for Air Canada & Alaska Airlines (Award Talk)

Main Event: Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel

(47:00) - General advice

(52:38) - Great awards often open last minute (ex: Lufthansa first)

(57:16) - Diversify. Having different types of points and miles helps.

(58:28) - Become adept at award search tools. Huge time saver.

(1:00:26) - Don’t rely entirely on award search tools. They don’t catch everything (no Virgin Atlantic on a couple, no BA / QR Avios, didn’t see LifeMiles for my redemption, etc)

(1:03:41) - Consider keeping stashes in programs you use often. This only applies if you have a lot of points and miles, but it could help avoid a failed transfer.

(1:05:27) - Watch out for transfer times

(1:08:10) - Get a good VPN. I wonder if some of my problems could have been averted if I’d used one all along.

(1:11:22) - Know that Aeroplan’s contact center isn’t 24/7. This can be a big pain when you’re overseas.

(1:12:37) - Beware the phantom menace. Tons of Swiss space that isn’t real.

(1:17:02) - Have some tricks up your sleeve. This could alternatively be called "persistence pays off". Don’t give up right away. Examples include searching Avianca’s site multiple ways, forcing a stopover with Aeroplan to get a flight to show up, booking a refundable something as a backup, etc.

(1:20:10) - How do you go about finding activities while you travel? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Greg and Nick are busy returning home from a jam-packed week competing in our 2024 annual team challenge "Flying by the Seat of our Points". For this coffee break episode, we've highlighted a portion of the final livestream from Kuala Lumpur where the team reflects on the highlights (and lowlights) of their individual journeys.

You can find out all kinds of details about this challenge here: https://frequentmiler.com/2024-annual-challenge/

This episode is a little different because Greg and Nick are busy competing with eachother for the Flying by the Seat of our Points Challenge!

If unfamiliar, every year we put together a team travel challenge designed to force us to reach challenging and entertaining goals with our points and miles, and showcase what can be done with these tools. It's a fun way to stretch the limits of points and miles and show you all what that actually looks like.

For this year's annual challenge, Stephen and I have given Greg, Nick, and Tim surprise destination assignments for a travel challenge testing our team's last-minute travel booking skills. The first "domestic convergence" destination was revealed on Monday night during a live checkin on YouTube where the contestants learned of a domestic location they'd need to reach by Wednesday 6pm local time, when we had another live checkin to reveal another series of surprise destinations. By the time this challenge wraps up, we'll have had 4 live checkins.

For this podcast episode you'll watch and listen to a summary of the first two checkins, the Monday night reveal of our domestic launch point, and the Wednesday night reveal of each contestant's individual international assignments. You'll also hear our contestants review the booking decisions they made to meet their first assignment, and you'll hear stephen and i break down our scoring decisions. This recap will bring you up to speed so you can head over to our YouTube and catch the third live checkin which will have just wrapped up by the time this podcast goes live, and will tell our contestans of their final destination assignment. 

Check out this link for more! https://frequentmiler.com/2024-annual-challenge/

 

(00:00) - You know that sinking feeling when you know things are going wrong? With a brand new travel challenge just launched last night, we've got our past travel challenge snafus in mind.

Coffee Break: Our worst travel challenge moments

(02:53) - 40K to Far Away

Learn more about the 2019 40K to Far Away Challenge here.

(03:09) - Greg: Train breaks. Bus breaks

Read Greg's story about his South African misadventures here.

(06:18) - Nick: Asleep on bus, can’t enter Bangkok, bike ride to nowhere

Read about Nick's misadventures during 40K to Far Away here.

(11:20) - 3 Cards, 3 Continents

Read more about the 2022 3 Cards, 3 Continents Challenge here.

(11:46) - Nick: Canyoneering

(12:48) - Greg: Air Canada married segment problem, then wouldn’t let me check in

Read more about Greg's married segment problem here.

(16:22) - Party of 5

Read more about the Party of 5 Challenge here.

(16:52) -Greg (and Nick): Santiago, arriving at the Ritz w/out a backpack

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Late 2023, Alaska Airlines announced that it planned to acquire Hawaiian Airlines and just last week, the DOJ allowed the merger to move ahead. Today, we'll talk about how to prepare for this "wedding" between programs.

(01:12) - The value of my Life miles just disappeared into Finn Air

Listen to Ask Us Anything Ep69 here.
Listen to Frequent Miler on the Air Ep268 "Best Uses for Virgin Points" here.

(02:25) - Dell no longer selling many 3rd party items (headphones, etc)

(03:59) - Amex Business Platinum card credits for Dell, Adobe, and Indeed are ending 12/31/24

Read more about the Amex Business Platinum card here.

(06:48) - Which hotel award search tool is best?

Read Greg's post about which hotel award search tool is best here.

(10:17) - Radisson Rewards instant status (Read more about Radisson Rewards instant status here)

(11:50) - Marriott just sent Greg a $50 promo gift card for continued loyalty

Main Event: Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines Wedding Planning

(13:24) - Late 2023, Alaska Airlines announced that it planned to acquire Hawaiian Airlines...

(15:44) - Backing up... Let's talk about the pre-merger situation with both airlines...

(16:29) - Alaska Airlines recently joined oneworld alliance, recently overhauled award charts, and pledged to offer mixed partner awards by late 2024

(17:50) - What we like about Alaska Airlines...

(21:29) - Alaska miles are hard to get in huge quantities...

(23:12) - Alaska credit cards...

Learn more about the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card here.

Learn more about the Alaska Airlines Visa Business card here.

(24:41) - Currently, very few great uses for Hawaiian Airlines miles

(25:21) - Hawaiian Airlines has wide body jets with lie-flat business class seats, and international destinations: South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Cook Islands

(26:31) - Getting Hawaiian Airline miles...

Learn more about the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard by Barclays here.

Learn more about the Hawaiian Airlines Business card here.

(29:07) - What we know about the merger so far...

(30:30) - What we don't know yet...

(36:21) - Amex Membership Rewards 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian through 8/31/24

(46:34) - One reader booked a one way partner flight through Flying Blue, then it was revoked at the Copa counter without notice or explanation. Is this common and what should you do in this kind if situation?

Subscribe and Follow

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Nick has loved LifeMiles for a long time but Greg has traditionally been less convinced. Recent changes make Greg curious to hear more about Nick's long-time love of LifeMiles. Can Nick convince Greg to become a fan?

(01:33) - On Ep 255: Strategizing Hilton cards, credits, and free nights,
Greg’s podcasted plan left people with questions about family language for Hilton cards (Mailbag)

Find episode 255 here.

(05:12) - Hilton cards with new welcome bonuses (Mattress Running the Numbers)

Learn more about the Hilton fee free card here.

And learn about the Hilton Surpass card here.

(12:27) - Southwest now on Google Flights (Award Talk)

(16:09) - Finnair Avios now combinable (Award Talk)

(18:20) - AA NOT eliminating mile & loyalty point earnings through OTAs (Award Talk)

(19:22) - Cardless Avianca LifeMiles Cards (Card Talk)

Read more about the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card Here.

Read more about the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card here.

(28:33) - Easy miles to get

(31:51) - LifeMiles+ subscriptions

(49:30) - Using LifeMiles, standard pricing

(53:43) - Hidden sweet-spots

(59:30) - Mixed cabin pricing

Read Greg's post "Aviance Miles - First Class for Less" here.

(1:04:47) - How to search for complicated awards

(1:11:14) - How to search for awards (less complicated)

(1:22:10) - Downsides...

(1:25:32) - Pop Quiz for Greg about quadruple dip opportunities for a Hilton Curio Collection hotel

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

You know we're fans of Hyatt...but some of their recent behavior has been downright painful! That's what we'll discuss in today's Coffee Break episode.

(01:28) - Hyatt introduced Category 8, claiming it would only be for SLH

(03:05) - Introduced peak pricing

(04:26) - As feared, they moved Hyatt properties into that Category 8

(04:43) - Introduced a separate (way more expensive) award chart for all-inclusive properties

(05:35) - Created Homes & Hideaways at poor value...then later moved a number of "Destination Residences" properties to Homes & Hideaways

(07:53) - Ended MGM partnership

(08:34) - Ended SLH partnership

(09:54) - Introduced Mr & Mrs Smith dynamic pricing

Still plenty to love:

(13:03) - Best-in-class top tier status benefits (you know you’ll get breakfast / lounge, free parking on award stays, meaningful upgrades, etc).

(14:17) - Best milestone rewards (confirmable suite upgrades, Guest of Honor awards, valuable free night certificates)

(16:04) - Lots of sharing options: share free nights, upgrade certs, globalist status (via GOH awards), points, etc.

(17:09) - Ability to supplement elite earning with credit card spend

(18:08) - Generally very good value for points for properties that adhere to an award chart

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Everybody loves a one-size-fits-all answer, but today we're discussing which cards are best for which kinds of purchases: grocery, dining, gas, travel, Costco... Sure you can just keep one card in your wallet and earn on that card exclusively, but many of us switch it up depending on what we're purchasing. That's what we'll discuss in today's episode.

(01:45) - Datapoints about AA companion certificates (Mail Bag)

(05:32) - Hertz charging people to refill Tesla gas tanks (Crazy Thing)

(12:07) - Frontier and Spirit eliminate change fees (Award Talk)

(13:41) - Cool Alaska trick (Award Talk)

Read more here: https://thriftytraveler.com/news/airlines/book-business-class-less-alaska-miles/

(17:31) - Current Kimpton Hotel Secret Password May 24, 2024, to September 2, 2024. (Award Talk)

Main Event: Best cards for grocery, dining, gas, travel, Costco, and more

(18:54) - Best cards for grocery, dining, gas, travel, Costco, and more

(19:45) - Big box stores including Costco, Sams Club, Target, etc

Read more about the US Bank Altitude Reserve here: https://frequentmiler.com/USBAR/

(22:55) - Grocery Stores

Read more about the Citi Custom Cash here: https://frequentmiler.com/CustomCash/

(23:44) - Read more about Amex Gold here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxGoldCard/

(24:49) - Read more about the Citi Strata Premier here: https://frequentmiler.com/TYpremier/

Read more about the Capital One Savor card here (https://frequentmiler.com/C1SV/) and the  SavorOne here (https://frequentmiler.com/C1SVO/)

(25:28) - Read more about the Aeroplan card here: https://frequentmiler.com/Aeroplan/

(26:18) - Dining / Food Delivery

(27:38) - Read more about the Amex Business Gold card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxGoldBiz/

(29:13) - Read more about the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card here: https://frequentmiler.com/boaCR/

(31:06) - Gas

Read more about the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/WyndhamEarnerBiz/

(33:36) - Read more about the Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/WyndhamEarnerPlus/

(38:38) - Travel: Many cards offer enhanced rewards for travel booked through bank portal

(39:03) - General Travel

(39:50) - Read more about the Chase Sapphire Reserve here: https://frequentmiler.com/CSR/

Read more about the Chase Ink Business Preferred here: https://frequentmiler.com/CIBP/

(39:58) - Read more about the Amex Green Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxGreen/

(40:00) - Read more about the Wells Fargo Autograph card here: https://frequentmiler.com/WellsFargoAutograph/

(41:37) - Airfare

Read more about the Amex Platinum card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxPlat/

(43:33) - Hotels

(43:44) - Read more about the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card here: https://frequentmiler.com/WellsFargoAutographJourney/

(45:44) - Read what Greg keeps in his wallet here (https://frequentmiler.com/whats-in-gregs-wallet-2024-edition/) and what Nick keeps in his wallet here (https://frequentmiler.com/whats-in-nicks-wallet-2024-edition/)

(46:07) - See our Best Category Bonuses resource here: https://frequentmiler.com/best-category-bonuses/

(46:54) - Other notable category bonuses

(47:08) - Read more about the Ink Business Cash card here: https://frequentmiler.com/CIC/

(47:58) - Read more about the Chase Freedom Flex card here (https://frequentmiler.com/CFF/) and the Freedom Unlimited here (https://frequentmiler.com/CFU/)

(50:35) - One of our readers is interested in becoming a content creator and has questions about things to consider. If we were starting out today, what would we do differently? (Question of the Week)

(54:20) - Check out our Coffee Break episode on the origin story of Frequent Miler here: https://listen.frequentmiler.com/coffee09

Sometimes points and miles wag the points-collector dog... which is to say, sometimes the hobby changes your travel behavior. In episode 11 of Coffee Break, we'll talk about how.

(01:40) - Rent day date nights (Greg)

(03:32) - Going to baseball games / event tickets (Nick)

(06:54) - Helicopter into NY (Greg)

(09:15) - Vacationing where the award space is (Nick)

(13:37) - "Forced" to travel due to expiring free nights (Greg)

Read about the Kimpton Seafire here: https://frequentmiler.com/kimpton-seafire-grand-cayman-bottom-line-review/

Read about the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Tucson here: https://frequentmiler.com/ritz-carlton-dove-mountain-tucson-bottom-line-review/

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Hilton's SLH partnership is stirring up some excitement over Hilton, even for people like Greg who haven't bothered with Hilton cards for awhile, so this week we're discussing Hilton credit cards, credits, and free nights.

(02:07) - We forgot about Qpoints last week... (Mail Bag)

(05:10) - Citi Strata Premier (Card Talk)

(10:33) - Citi accidentally made Strata Premier details public (Crazy Thing)

(11:56) - Citi accidentally published FAQ showing that it may be possible to upgrade to Prestige card (Crazy Thing)

(14:10) - Earn Delta MQDs on hotel bookings & car rentals (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(16:58) - AutoCamp now bookable with Hilton points

Main Event: Strategizing Hilton credit cards

(20:40) - Hilton is the only major hotel program with easy to get, uncapped free night certificates

(28:28) - Read about the Hilton Honors American Express Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxHilton/#Goto

(28:40) - Read about the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxHiltonBiz/#Goto

(29:19) - Read about the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/hilton-honors-american-express-surpass-card/#Goto

(30:00) - Read about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AmxHiltonAspire/#Goto

(31:18) - Earning free nights

(43:51) - Earning rebates to keep cards net free

(51:22) - Greg's strategy

(1:01:00) - Nick's thoughts

(1:05:01) - Is booking anything better than booking nothing? (Question of the week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

In addition to our regular weekly podcast, we also host an Ask Us Anything Live on YouTube once a month where the Frequent Miler team answers listener questions about points, miles, rewards cards, and whatever else comes to mind. This special episode (67) was streamed live on May 8, 2024 and introduces our 2024 annual team challenge!

(06:10) - Hi FM Team, now that we are approaching Summer, what you are most looking forward to this Summer?

(13:35) - how do you plan on handling the requirement for onward travel that many countries have in this challenge?

(15:37) - What's the "budget" for the contestants in this challenge?

(18:09) - Scoring? (And) Will the judges share their scoring criteria in advance?

(19:06) - Will there be any opportunity for reader/viewer engagement at the convergence points?

(24:00) - I hope you plan to document via Instagram stories this time! That's been my favorite way to watch along with the previous challenges in real time

(28:48) - Can you guess where you're each getting sent?

(32:17) - What is a place you are hoping you aren’t sent to?

(35:39) - Thoughts on the strata? And the strata elite? Do you think there will be family language?

(37:40) - Do you think that citi rebranding the premier signals a much better chance of a prestige replacement/csr comp coming in the next year or so?

(40:30) - Thanks for all the awesome content! Citi has denied P2 and I premier 3 times in the last 2 years, should I product change my DC to Premier since it’s going away or try for Strata Elite?

(42:13) - hi team! what's going on with transfers to Virgin? are points getting stuck in transit lately? would you advise holding off on transfers to virgin?

(44:11) - Can you speak on the capital one VX business priority pass rumors? My newly issued card is a visa and I’ve read on other blogs that the visas won’t have restaurant access. Is this true?

(46:46) - FHR Points question please - My Platinum AU is getting a points cost 33% higher than I get for the same stay, ideas on the reason?

(49:29) - Question: what are the most rewarding ways to get 529 gift of college gift cards?

(51:21) - Name your 6 must hit destinations if you were booking an ABA around the world trip

(55:39) - Is it worth to move 100k out of Fidelity to Meryl to get platinum honors ? Did FM team saw any inconvenience on maintaining 100k in Meryl

(58:36) - hi. I was recently informed by an Air France representative that it's permissible to forgo the first leg of a reward ticket and still utilize the second leg. Can you confirm this?"

Visit this link to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – “Into the Never” by Annie Yoder

Some credit cards offer extra perks or progress toward elite status for big spenders. On this week's episode, we talk about which of those bonuses might be worth the spend. But before we get into that, this episode is full of news you can use and tips to keep in mind in regular segments like Card Talk and Mattress Running the Numbers.

(00:00) Intro

(01:26) A tip we neglected to mention regarding positioning flights (Giant Mailbag)

(05:33) Card Talk

(05:46) Venture X Business card losing Priority Pass restaurant access for new Visa cards (Card Talk)

(08:57) Qatar Airways Cardless Cards (Card Talk)

(15:16) What crazy thing . . . did Cardless do this week? 

https://frequentmiler.com/cardless-appears-to-have-a-1-card-restriction/

(19:32) Mattress running the numbers: Is it worth spending to Qatar Airways elite status?

Note: The Qatar Club Infinite card also comes with bonus Qpoints in the first year, which reduce the path to renewing status for your second year. The spend we discussed regarding renewal of status really applies to status for year 3 and beyond.

(28:17) Award Talk

(28:20) Flying by the Seat of our Points: Frequent Miler's 2024 challenge

https://frequentmiler.com/flying-by-the-seat-of-our-points-last-minute-travel-challenge/

(31:33) You can now use JetBlue points to book Etihad and vice versa

https://frequentmiler.com/earn-redeem-between-jetblue-and-etihad/

(35:30) Bilt adds a new transfer partner....Hilton Honors

https://frequentmiler.com/bilt-adding-hilton-as-newest-transfer-partner-but-transfer-ratio-is-poor/

(37:32) Use Finnair Avios to book Nordic & Scandinavian hotels for great value

https://frequentmiler.com/use-finnair-avios-to-book-scandinavian-hotels-at-2c-per-point-or-better/

(40:30) Amex Travel positive experience honoring a fare

(46:04) Our favorite big spend bonuses

(46:45) Alaska Airlines companion certificates

https://frequentmiler.com/as/

https://frequentmiler.com/asbiz/

(48:16) Hilton Surpass card free night certificate

https://frequentmiler.com/amxhiltonbiz/

(49:14) Hyatt consumer & business cards

https://frequentmiler.com/woh/

https://frequentmiler.com/wohbiz/

(57:39) IHG Premier & Premier Business cards

https://frequentmiler.com/ihgprem/

https://frequentmiler.com/ihgbusiness/

(1:01:47) Barclays Aviator Silver Loyalty Point bonuses & companion certificate

https://frequentmiler.com/aviatorsilver/

(1:06:20) Aeroplan 

https://frequentmiler.com/aeroplan/

(1:09:25) Question of the Week: How did Greg build up capacity for his player 3?

Music credit: Annie Yoder

Nick just came back from a weekend in Toronto at the Toronto Travel Summit. In today's Coffee Break episode, he'll share 4 cool things he learned there.

 

(2:00) - Air France is working on upgrades using miles that sounds like it might be very reasonable.

(07:30) - Aeroplan intends to bring back family pooling the same as it was.

(09:17) - Aeroplan is actually working on getting partner space back up and running.

(12:56) - Hotels could be a good use of Finnair Avios

(18:08) - Networking at these things continues to be great! Lots of interested / interesting people & creators with different angles.

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. 

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Sometimes you book an award ticket that requires you to do some positioning in order to catch that flight - for instance if the flight doesn't depart from your home airport. There are a few best practices to keep in mind when booking these "positioning flights", which we'll discuss in today's Frequent Miler on the Air episode.

(01:08) - One reader writes in: "If you have Platinum Honors, I would rank the BofA Premium Rewards Elite card the highest for Priority Access by far. The airline credit offset is very easy to use and you get them all at once so there's no obnoxious coupon book"... (Mail Bag)

(03:20) - BOA Premium Rewards (not elite) card (Card Talk)

Learn more about this card: https://frequentmiler.com/boaPR/#Goto

Revisit Frequent Miler on the Air Episode 204 here: https://frequentmiler.com/how-would-we-spend-1-million-dollars/

(04:57) - Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card (Card Talk)

Learn more about this card: https://frequentmiler.com/BOAPremiumRewardsElite/#Goto

(11:17) - Cardless launching two Avianca LifeMiles cards (Card Talk)

(12:35) - Marriott Homes & Villas 50K (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(16:12) - Transfer bonuses (Award Talk)

(21:29) - United increases prices on partner biz class awards within Europe & Asia (Award Talk)

(24:06) - Nick: able to change Aeroplan award (Award Talk)

(29:50) - Daily Getaways (Award Talk)

Main Event: Tips for booking Positioning Flights

(32:26) - Award discovery tools like PointsYeah DayDream Explorer tool and Seats.Aero make it easy to find awards such as "business class for 4 from "North America" to "Europe"

(36:22) - Avoid checking bags!

(37:37) - Departure positioning tips: what NOT to do

Read Greg’s mad dash story (What NOT to do) here: https://frequentmiler.com/my-award-alert-flight-change-and-a-risky-layover/

(40:33) - Day before is best

(41:36) - Non-stop is best (less chance of delay)

(41:56) - If not night before.... book primary positioning flight with long airport layover

(43:15) - Useful to have lounge access for layover

(46:02) - Book freely cancelable alternate positioning flight

(49:20) - If back-up positioning flight isn’t an option, consider booking back-up for entire one-way trip

(50:18) - Best options for free last-minute cancelations

(56:48) - Back to Greg’s story. How he somewhat protected myself:

(1:08:29) - Are there any certificates (like companion certificates) that disappear when you cancel the card? (Question of the Week)

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Today's Coffee Break episode was inspired by a recent email we got asking... how did Frequent Miler get started? Since our Coffee Break episodes are 20 minutes or less, we started but telling Greg's side of the Frequent Miler origin story.

(01:47) - in 2011 Greg first learned about this points and miles hobby when his current employer at the time issued a "no travel" decree...

(04:22) - Greg started a blog for his friends...because it was easier then emailing everyone about what he'd learned.

(05:29) - Greg almost immediately became intrigued with stacking opportunities.

(07:06) - Greg was also very focused on increasing spend on his credit card which he later learned was called "manufactured spending."

(08:17) - Before long, Randy of Boarding Area discovered Greg and invited him to join.

(10:38) - Greg meets some other Boarding Area bloggers and learns how to monetize his blog.

(14:15) - In early 2012 Greg's "real job" restructures and he gets laid off, inspiring him to set an earnings goal for the blog.

(16:02) - Greg discovers Vanilla Reload cards...

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

 

The Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard is a new card that's coming out soon to replace the old Bank of America Virgin Atlantic Flying Club credit card. In this episode, we'll discuss more about this upcoming credit card.

(00:10) - The Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard replaces the old Virgin Atlantic Flying Club credit card

Learn more about the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard here.

(02:10) - Earning rate: 3X Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels and Virgin Voyages ✦ 2X dining, at grocery stores, on select streaming services and for EV charging ✦ 1X everywhere else

(03:03) - Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard Perks

(05:46) - Is this card worth it?

Visit frequentmiler.com/subscribe to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

There are many ways to book luxury hotels (credit card points, hotel points, etc) and this can be a great way to stay in some amazing luxury accommodations you'd never justify paying cash for. We'll dive into this today.

(01:43) - Please share an experience when a positioning flight had not gone to plan, perhaps share a "Positioning Flight From Hell" type of experience. (Mailbag)

Read about Greg's positioning flight mayhem here.

(06:23) - On our Instagram post, @marriottbonvoy's account trolls Hyatt by saying "Fortunately for our guests, we don’t play games with welcome gifts, points, and awards at Luxury locations such as St. Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, and more but that’s just us." (Crazy Thing)

See our post: Marriott Platinum Elite Free Breakfast Simplified

(12:12) - 30% transfer bonus Amex to Virgin (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(15:17) - MaxFHR.com (Award Talk)

Read more about MaxFHR here.

(17:09) - Equinox credit for massages (Award Talk)

(21:10) - Bilt’s new Rent Day snoozer

(24:27) - Bilt BLADE

Read more about the Bilt Blade partnership here. 

Read Greg's Blade flight review here.

(30:01) - Hyatt’s sad rollout of Mr & Mrs Smith

Main Event: Luxury lodging... on points

(41:52) - Find our "Which is the most rewarding hotel loyalty program? | Ep193 | 3-11-23" here.

(42:54) - Major hotel chain luxury brands

(43:34) - Hyatt

(45:53) - Hilton

(47:55) - Marriott

(54:03) - IHG

(58:12) - Wyndham

(59:10)  - Read Nick's post about free cruise opportunities.

(59:34) - Choice Privileges

(1:01:36) - Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH): Book with Hilton points (coming soon).

Read more about the Hilton SLH partnership here.

(1:05:49) - Preferred Hotels & Resorts

(1:09:05) - Leading Hotels of the World (LHW)

(1:11:23) - Fine Hotels & Resorts & The Hotel Collection

(1:13:28) - What's the best way to start on the Marriott credit card journey? (Question of the Week)

See our chart for figuring out which Marriott cards you're eligible for.

 

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Until recently, Hyatt had a relationship with Small Luxury Hotels (SLH), but it was recently announced that Hilton will now be the one integrating SLH hotels. We'll talk about what that looks like in this week's Coffee Break episode.

(0:58) - Background: What is SLH?

Read more about this SLH update here: https://frequentmiler.com/fantastic-updates-about-hiltons-integration-of-slh/

(02:15) - Hilton’s approach to SLH

(08:40) - Why Hilton 120K isn’t so different from Hyatt 40K

(14:56) - Favorite SLH properties

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

American Airlines status isn't as easy as it used to be, but there are some shortcuts for those who think they'll be flying American Airlines enough to really want it. We'll discuss those shortcuts in this episode of Frequent Miler on the Air.

(00:58) - Reader, Matt has been frustrated by Bilt's customer service... (Mailbag)

(07:16) - AAdvantage® Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard (Card Talk)

Find out more about this card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AviatorRed/#Goto

We covered these a year ago in the show: Amassing American Airlines Miles | Ep199 | 4-22-23, which you can find here: https://frequentmiler.com/amassing-american-airlines-miles/

(10:22) - AAdvantage® Aviator Silver World Elite MasterCard® (Card Talk)

(19:01) - Capital One switches Venture card from Visa to MasterCard...but switches Venture X Biz from MasterCard to Visa (Crazy Thing)

(22:03) - Transfer bonus from Citi to Accor (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(26:26) - Strawberry Hotels (formerly Nordic Choice) Summer Pass (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(33:42) - Etihad A380 first class apartment awards available New York to Abu Dhabi (Award Talk)

(37:48) - Qatar cards from Cardless (Award Talk)

(39:56) - Daily Getaways (Award Talk)

Read more about the Daily Getaways here: https://frequentmiler.com/daily-getaways-2024-complete-preview-of-all-the-deals/

Main Event: Shortcuts to AA elite status

(45:26) - American Airlines Elite Overview

(48:40) - Loyalty Point Rewards

(50:42) - Shortcuts to American Airlines Elite Status

(1:04:03) - What is the role of AI in the travel-hacking space? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit - "Ocean Deep" by Annie Yoder

Tragically, United appears to to be blocking saver award space from Star Alliance partner bookings. In this coffee break episode we'll talk about what that means.

(0:59) - Overview of United's recent changes

Read more about these United changes here. 

(01:09) - Why it matters

(07:11) - Research findings - what we've found out digging a little deeper...

(09:50) - Are United miles now more valuable?

(14:19) - Are United credit cards now more valuable? (extra award space)

Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media. You'll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit - Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

We don't talk about IHG One Rewards program much, but it may be a more valuable program than you think, especially if you keep our 10 tips in mind. Listen for more! 

You can find Greg's interview on the All the Hacks podcast here: https://www.allthehacks.com/greg-frequent-miler-flight-award-tools/

(03:42) - Reader Jeff (featured on last week's giant mailbag) answered questions about how he booked Delta One to Tokyo for 85K and how he visited Delta lounges in Atlanta and Denver...(Mail Bag)

(10:42) - IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (Card Talk)

You can listen to our discussion about IHG premier cards on Ep193 of the Frequent Miler on the Air Podcast here: https://frequentmiler.com/which-is-the-most-rewarding-hotel-loyalty-program/

(14:23) - Bilt sent emails to cardholders with membership shut-down alerts...but then quickly reversed it with an apology. (Crazy Thing)

(19:32) - Book Hawaiian Airlines w/ JetBlue points: updated award chart (Award Talk)

Read our JetBlue guide here: https://frequentmiler.com/jetblue-trueblue-guide/

(25:19) - Planning for Wynn status match for free Holland America cruise (Award Talk)

Read our post on getting free cruises from status matches: https://frequentmiler.com/how-to-get-free-cruises-by-gaming-casino-status-matches/

(32:05) - MaxMyPoint to help find a standard room (Award Talk)

Read more about tools like MaxMyPoint here: https://frequentmiler.com/tools-for-finding-impossible-hotel-awards/

Main Event: 10 Tips for Rocking IHG One Rewards

(34:51) - IHG One Rewards Overview

(41:13) - IHG Credit cards

You can listen to our discussion about IHG premier cards on Ep193 of the Frequent Miler on the Air Podcast here: https://frequentmiler.com/which-is-the-most-rewarding-hotel-loyalty-program/

(42:05) - 10 Tips for rocking IHG One Rewards

(01:12:18) - How can I do Disney effectively with credit cards? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.

Incidental Music - "Hard Rock Music" by LiteSaturation

Music Credit - "Ocean Deep" by Annie Yoder

In addition to our regular weekly podcast, we also host an Ask Us Anything Live on YouTube once a month where the Frequent Miler team answers listener questions about points, miles, rewards cards, and whatever else comes to mind. This episode (66) was streamed live on April 3, 2024 and can be viewed in full here: Frequent Miler Live: Ask Us Anything

Here are all the questions asked during this episode (with timestamps)

(00:30) - Read more about how to find Qatar QSuites award space here.

(07:12) - Hey Greg, Did you notice that there were some QR flights that were available thru jetblue but NOT british airways?

(08:17) - Do any of you use the app Flighty? If yes, any improvements you want them to make?

(10:19) - Hello! Is there a reason so many credit cards are dropping Priority Pass?

(12:45) - what program do you have the strongest love/hate relationship with?

(17:20) - Which ways of booking business/premium econ domestic flights have the best availability at a reasonable cost? I'm trying to make longer positioning flights more comfortable for 2-5 people

(18:55) - what's the best way to pay for my 28 day Marriott stay, CSR, Ritz, or Hyatt for getting Globalist status? thanks

Read Stephen's post about long-term hotel stays in states where you may not have to pay taxes: https://frequentmiler.com/staying-30-nights-in-a-hotel-you-might-not-have-to-pay-the-taxes/

(21:12) - Nick, on a podcast you said you were going to pick-up the Brilliant even without the SUB. Would you not consider temporarily product changing your Ritz card(s) to be eligible for the SUB?

(22:55) - Any favorite resources for finding interesting things to do in a country? I have several destinations that I want to visit for 1-2 things I know about, but would need more to fill the trip

(27:07) - I earned a bunch of Capital One points hoping to use them one day on Turkish, but with the devaluation what do you think some other good uses are?

Read our Capital One Complete Guide 

Read our Capital One Sweet Spots post

(30:26) - I have a question how can I book Swiss rail Pass? I’ve tried everywhere and I just can’t find it. Is there a way to use any airline points or just pay cash for that?

(32:19) - Several Airlines use Avios and they may have different expiration policy. Can I transfer from one to the other to avoid expiration? Thanks!

(35:09) - can the amex 10+ referral multiplier stack? 

(36:12) - When applying for a second Ink card, is it similar to the initial application or you have to explain to Chase that the new card is for a different business? 

(37:15) - Greg and Nick both said they would prefer Alaska miles over AA miles. I heard their reasons why but can you all name any sweet spots with Alaska? after the last two devaluation great deals are missing

Read the post about Alaska Award Chart, Winners, Losers, and Sweet Spots here

(40:16) - About to apply for the Venture X & I’m curious if u know anything about the black box that is their approval algorithm. Specific DPs?

(41:24) - can you reiterate some best practices to limit the risk Amex not treating tax payments as eligible spend for the signup bonus?

(44:30) - With the Robinhood card, and the USBAR, wouldn’t it make more sense to buy points vs getting points on a card?

(45:40) - Cruise questions. It seems that Caesars status alone is no longer enough for cruise matches and they ask for other offers so trip to AC is a must? I that correct? If so, better to wait until July 1st?

(50:42) - As someone who just started the point game. Am I too late with all the devaluation going on? I started with Amex and working on the Amex points game now.

(54:08) - Is there a way to avoid an airline in google flights explore tab? There’s an option to toggle in the regular flights tab but not in the explore tab.

(54:50): Which one of these humans is the frequent miler?

(56:26) - How can I keep my Hawaiian Points from expiring? I recently cancel my Hawaiian credit card

(56:59) - Who has flown the most miles?

Visit this link to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media. You'll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here.

Music Credit - "Into the Never" by Annie Yoder

What is the best Capital One Miles card?

(01:35) - Pop quiz for Nick about filling in the gaps of a reader's trip report (Giant Mailbag)

(13:32) - Jetblue’s Peak and off-Peak pricing... for checked bags (Crazy Thing)

Read more about Jetblue's peak and off-peak baggage pricing here: https://frequentmiler.com/jetblue-increasing-checked-baggage-fees-will-now-have-peak-off-peak-pricing/

(17:55) - Alaska Airlines offering up to 50% off award sale to Maldives, Tahiti & more (Award Talk)

Read more about this Alaska Airlines award sale here: https://frequentmiler.com/alaska-airlines-offering-economy-premium-economy-award-sale-to-maldives-tahiti-more/

(19:40) - Read our post on the best time to visit any country here: https://frequentmiler.com/the-best-time-of-year-to-go-to-every-country-in-the-world-in-one-table/

(19:54) - Qatar business class award availability find

Main Event: Which is the best Capital One Miles card?

(24:48) - Why Capital One Miles matter.

(31:55) - Capital One Miles cards

(37:32) - So which is the best Miles card?

Check out the Capital One Venture X card here (https://frequentmiler.com/VentureX/#Goto), or the Capital One Venture X Business card here (https://frequentmiler.com/VentureXBiz/#Goto)

(41:23) - But Cash Back cards matter too!

(44:26) - Cash Back cards

(47:05) - So which is the best cash back card Check out the SaverOne card here: https://frequentmiler.com/C1SVO/#Goto

(50:46) - But what's the best card combo?

Read more about the Venture One card here: https://frequentmiler.com/C1V1/#Goto

Read more about the Venture card here: https://frequentmiler.com/C1VR/#Goto

Check out other Capital One credit cards here: https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/#CapOne

(56:28) - Which issuers allow you to have more than one of the same card? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder https://open.spotify.com/artist/6zAQHcu57q9QmYEKaDBpEU?si=JylqRM-FRhuVsWSE5oCIvA

 

Recently Nick wrote about a new credit card from Robinhood that will apparently offer a flat 3% back on most purchases. On this coffee break episode, we speculate as to whether or not this is too good to last.

(0:30) - Robinhood Gold Card (and Gold membership)

(02:37) - Read more about Robinhood Gold, the Robinhood Gold card, and the promo here: https://frequentmiler.com/robinhood-gold-card-to-offer-3-back-everywhere/

(04:21) - IRA match

(06:57) - Amazing referral deal: actual 36c 10K Gold credit card or $1,100 with 10 referrals who sign up for Robinhood Gold and pay at least their first monthly or annual subscription fee.

(11:57) - What about the whole Gamestop thing?

(14:50) - Is Robinhood safe to keep money in?

(15:50) - Is this too good to last?

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. 

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

A number of high end credit cards give you Priority Pass membership. Full Priority Pass offers access to airport lounges, restaurants, and experiences (e.g. Be Relax Spa, Minute suites, Game Space etc), which can be pretty useful. But which of the current pathways to this membership is the best, (especially if you'd still like access to those restaurants)?

(01:52) - More feedback on the pronunciation of Qatar. (Mail Bag)

(03:45) - Hilton Honors Business Card, which will be increasing its annual fee from $95 to $195, along with some other changes. (Card Talk)

(14:03) - United Pooling appeared Friday, then disappeared hours later, then re-appeared (Crazy Thing)

(19:19) - You can't use pooled United miles for partner redemptions, only United & United Express (Crazy Thing)

(25:55) - National Car Rental double credit for registered users' weekend rentals between April 4 through June 8, 2024 (Mattress Running the Numbers)

Read more about this National Car Rental deal here.

(29:36) - Regional first class awards for 12.5K, 16.5K, 22K points thanks to Qatar Avios (Award Talk)

(32:00) - Read more about this regional sweet spot here.

(35:58) - Preferred Hotels bookable online

Check out the Preferred Hotels Coffee Break episode here.

(40:31) - Choice Privileges Experiences might be worth a look

Main Event: The Best Path to Priority Pass

(45:08) - Full Priority Pass offers access to airport lounges, restaurants, and experiences (e.g. Be Relax Spa, Minute suites, Game Space etc.)

(47:43) - Chase Sapphire Reserve & Ritz lose restaurants

(49:06) - Check out our Card Talk segment of last week's podcast episode 247 where we talked about the Ritz Card and its access to Priority Pass.

(51:38) - Wack-a-mole Alternatives to still get restaurant access with your Priority Pass

(52:48) - Venture X Biz (Read more about the Venture X Business card here.

(53:55) - US Bank Altitude Reserve (8 visits) (Read more about the US Bank Altitude Reserve card here.)

(55:43) - Business Altitude Connect (4 visits) (Read more about the Business Altitude Connect card here.)

(56:16) - Bank Of America Premium Rewards Elite (4 memberships) (Read more about the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card here.)

(1:00:15) - UBS Visa Infinite Business (Read more about the UBS Visa Infinite Business card here.)

(1:00:54) - UBS Visa Infinite (Read more about the UBS Visa Infinite card here.)

(1:01:25) - Citi Prestige (no longer available if you don't already have it)

(1:02:09) - Barclays Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard (Read more about the Barclays Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard here.)

(1:07:06) -  Deciding between two hotels, one with cash (and therefore a Hilton points-earning opportunity) or paying Hyatt points. How do you make the choice? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Choice Privileges has made it easier to book their Preferred hotel partners, finally providing a way to book these online with your Choice points! 

(02:41) - Overview of Preferred Hotels bookable online with Choice Points Read about how to Preferred Hotels are now bookable online with Choice Points: https://frequentmiler.com/preferred-hotels-now-bookable-online-with-choice-points/

(04:22) - What's the best ways to get Choice points?

(07:43) - Read about buying points with a (sometimes available) cash and points trick: https://frequentmiler.com/a-sweet-spot-hotel-and-a-rookie-mistake/#Choice_Privileges_Cash_Points_The_cheap_way_to_buy_Choice_points

(10:08) - Particularly exciting hotels in the Preferred Hotels collection (bookable online with Choice Points)

(10:58) - U.S. options...

(13:23) - International options...

(14:18) - iPrefer (Preferred Hotel’s rewards program)

(17:11) - Pros... (here's why you may want to do this)

(18:34) - Cons... (here's what to watch out for!)

(19:46) - Closing thoughts...does this change our approach to looking for hotels or earning points?

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here: https://frequentmiler.com/frequent-miler-on-the-air/

Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

In addition to our regular weekly podcast, we also host an Ask Us Anything Live on YouTube once a month where the Frequent Miler team answers listener questions about points, miles, rewards cards, and whatever else comes to mind. This episode originally aired on August 14, 2024. 

(10:19) - Does Cathay Pacific still do multi-cabin award pricing? I tried both as a one-way and multi-city routing and the price remains the same online and speaking to a rep on phone. 

(10:59) - How often can I upgrade - downgrade Surpass to Aspire and vice versa? 

(13:22) - You educate us with helpful info. Do you ever have the chance to talk to banks, airlines or hotel programs to influence them? 

(15:45) - ​​I have the Wyndham earner biz card and did the AC status match in Feb 2023. I’ve heard you can rematch at Oceans casino after 18 months. Does Hard Rock have any restrictions on rematching 

(17:28) - ​​I have the Wyndham earner biz card and did the AC status match in Feb 2023. I’ve heard you can rematch at Oceans casino after 18 months. Does Hard Rock have any restrictions on rematching 

(18:50) - When you all fly from the US in the evening and arrive in Europe in the mornings, do you typically book another night at the hotel or try and check in early? How do you handle that gap before checkin? 

(25:02) - ​​I have about $15k of previously unexpected spend in the next few months, in five chunks of around $3k. What current credit cards offers would y’all pick to parlay that into lounges/status/etc? Thanks! 

(27:25) - ​​Probably a question for Greg - is there a way to add a non-AF/KLM frequent flier # to a Flying Blue award? I recently matched to ITA Executive status and want to add to an AF award. 

(28:36) - ​​I’m Hyatt globalist. Status match to American Airlines. How do I find the status challenge back with Hyatt? 

(35:25) - Hi! I was curious about the timing for the cruises. When you receive the offer, is there a time you have to book, or is the offer for a specific cruise? I'm trying to figure out how to time it. 

(38:40) - What is one sweet spot you hope to do in the near future? Either because you're afraid it will disappear soon, or because you just haven't done it yet? 

(45:57) - ​​Question about Cap One lounges. I have a regular Cap One Venture card and 2 passes. Can I use the 2 passes on one visit, or do they only work for cardholders? 

(46:24) - ​​What did you guys end up doing with your Amex Gold? Keep or cancel? 

(50:10) - I don't have any travel plan for next 8 months, but i was targeted for 0.5 cents per point, (Hilton) - do you recommend to buy preemptive or should i wait and hoping that same offer will be back? 

(51:21) - I plan to downgrade my Ritz to apply for BONVOY Brilliant. How long do I need to wait after the downgrade from Ritz to get approved? 

(54:15) - ​​Is it possible to book an Aeroplan stopover with multiple stops? 

(58:01) - Do you have a video that talks about American System-wide upgrades? Just used AA SWU from Tokyo to Japan for 3 people. Paid $1,800 total for $33,000 (website costs) for business class

In some ways Marriott can be the Frankenstein’s monster of rewards programs. There's lots of good stuff about the program...and lots of bad stuff too, all sloppily sewn together.

(01:36) - More advice about how to pronounce "Qatar"! (Mailbag)

Read our post on how to pronounce "Qatar": https://frequentmiler.com/how-to-pronounce-qatar/

(08:46) - Ritz Carlton Card (Card Talk)

Read more about the Ritz Carlton card here: https://frequentmiler.com/yes-the-ritz-card-is-now-the-best-value-marriott-card/

(21:41) - Alaska wants you to pay to see ads (Crazy Thing)

(25:00) - Buy Choice points with 50% bonus (0.69c per point) (Mattress Running the Numbers)

Read more about the Choice points discount here: https://frequentmiler.com/buy-choice-points-with-30-discount-0-69cpp/

 (33:20) - United to offer family mileage pooling (Award Talk)

(37:45) - Chilean airline JetSmart to adopt American’s AAdvantage loyalty program later this year (Award Talk)

(40:47) - Finnair points are now Avios (but there doesn’t yet appear to be a way to move them to BA, Iberia, etc.) (Award Talk)

(43:59) - JetBlue is cancelling routes (Award Talk)

(46:56) - Wells Fargo autograph journey now live 1 to 2 choice (Award Talk)

Main Event: Mastering Marriott’s Madness

(48:39) - Huge number of hotels worldwide (nearly 9,000)

This post can help you find out if you're eligible for the various Marriott cards: https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-card-eligible/

(52:36) - Bonvoy Basics Read our complete guide to Marriott Bonvoy here: https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-bonvoy-complete-guide/

(1:04:25) - Earning points See the best credit card offers here: https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-sign-up-offers/

(01:09:42) - Earning free night certificates

(01:10:30) - Earning elite status Listen to our Easy Marriott elite status episode here: https://frequentmiler.com/easy-marriott-elite-status/

Read: Shortcuts to Marriott Elite status https://frequentmiler.com/shortcuts-to-marriott-platinum-elite-status/

 (01:14:57) - Questions about paying for rent with the Alaska card via Bilt... with high rent of $3600/mo, which card should I use...Alaska with the fee or Bilt without the fee? (Question of the Week)

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit - "Ocean Deep" by Annie Yoder

Bilt is gaining Alaska as a transfer partner...but it's losing American Airlines as a partner in June. This has Greg and Nick asking...which miles are better?

We love talking about points and miles all day, every day. That's why we've decided - in addition to our full-length Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episodes, we're going to share a little something to enjoy during your Tuesday coffee break too. Not a full hour of discussion and analysis like you'll find on the full episodes, but a mini version with a single topic of focus.

(00:33) - Bilt has gained Alaska Airlines as a transfer partner, but will lose AA as a transfer partner in June

(01:42) - AA and Alaska have a few things in common...

(03:34) - Greg argues why American Airline miles are better 

(06:07) - Nick argues why Alaska Airlines are better

(10:10) - Final Answer... Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media. You'll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here: https://frequentmiler.com/frequent-miler-on-the-air/ 

Music Credit - Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

In today's episode of Frequent Miler on the Air, we'll talk about different "hidden" opportunities to find great award availability when you otherwise strike out trying to find international lie-flat awards, for example.    (01:13) - Advantage shopping portal vs AAdvantageHotels...when do these bookings' miles post...check in date or purchase date? (Mailbag)   (05:36) - I noticed that you are not doing the mattress running the numbers segment - any particular reason? (Mailbag)   (08:00) - Amex Platinum consumer card is dropping SiriusXM from digital entertainment May 8 (Card Talk)   Learn more about this Amex Platinum change here: https://frequentmiler.com/siriusxm-to-be-removed-from-eligible-services-for-amex-digital-entertainment-credit/   (11:50) - The American Express Business Platinum card 250K offer is still available in a roundabout way. (Card Talk)   Read more about the steps for finding that offer here: https://frequentmiler.com/incredible-250k-welcome-offer-for-the-amex-business-platinum-targeted-link/   (16:14) - United triggers a flight as "supposed to be a paper ticket" upon check in... (Crazy Thing)   (22:33) - Hyatt will be losing SLH partnership on May 15 (Award Talk)   Learn more about the Hyatt/SLH partnership ending here: https://frequentmiler.com/hyatt-slh-partnership-ending-5-15-24-important-things-to-know/   (25:12) - New Alaska award chart slowly going live and expected to be complete by 3/31/24. (Award Talk)   Read more about the Alaska award chart slowly going live here: https://frequentmiler.com/huge-alaska-announces-unified-award-charts/   (29:14) - Bilt adds Alaska as a partner (Award Talk)   (30:00) - Bilt loses AA as a partner in June (Award Talk)   Read more about Bilt's loss of AA as a partner here: https://frequentmiler.com/bilt-losing-american-airlines-as-transfer-partner-in-june/   (35:09) - Ritz upgrade success (again!) (Award Talk)   (36:33) - Delta’s new companion certificates really work as advertised (Award Talk)   Read more about Delta's enhanced companion certificates here: https://frequentmiler.com/delta-companion-certificates/   (38:17) - Delta: update about extending elite status with MQM rollovers (Award Talk)   Read more about the last ever Delta MQM rollover here: https://frequentmiler.com/the-last-ever-delta-mqm-rollover/   (40:45) - Award search tool comparisons, including award discovery tools (Award Talk)   Read more about award exploration tools here: https://frequentmiler.com/a-new-breed-of-award-discovery-tools/   Main Event: Where to Find Hidden Award Flights   (45:17) - Opportunities to find great award availability when you otherwise strike out trying to book international lie-flat awards...   (46:20) - Aeroplan has better award space for Singapore Airlines than Singapore itself   (48:05) - JetBlue Mint, book with Qatar Avios   See our video about how to find and book JetBlue Mint flights to the Caribbean using Qatar Avios: https://frequentmiler.com/jetblue-mint-to-the-caribbean-for-26000-avios-where-and-how-to-find-it/   (50:12) - ITA booked with Virgin Atlantic miles (widely available as of the last time Nick looked...)   (52:04) - Hawaiian Air has very good award space to Asia   (54:00) - Emirates: Book lower class of service and upgrade with points at airport   (55:32) - Flying Blue: Don't trust the calendar   (57:57) - AA, Flying Blue: often get much better pricing by flying to/from smaller airports   (01:01:18) - Many airlines (Eva Air, Qatar, Etihad, Lufthansa, BA, Virgin, Turkish, etc) offer better award availability to their own members   (01:10:33) - Book good-enough refundable flights and wait until close-in to find great flights.   (01:14:04) - Sometimes cash (or pay with points) is best option   (01:19:39) - Read our post about how to find great deals with Google Flights: https://frequentmiler.com/how-to-find-incredible-flight-deals-with-google-flights/   (01:19:56) - We review a unique case study where verification details delayed a credit card so long that a new application was required...but in that time, the bonus increased... (Question of the week)   Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit - "Ocean Deep" by Annie Yoder

In addition to our regular weekly podcast, we also host an Ask Us Anything Live on YouTube once a month where the Frequent Miler team answers listener questions about points, miles, rewards cards, and whatever else comes to mind. This episode (65) was streamed live on March 6, 2024 and can be viewed in full here.

Here are all the questions asked during this episode (with timestamps):

(05:03) - Have you noticed that Emirates charges insane fuel surcharges out of countries that ban/restrict them?

​(06:19) - When you book Rio Las Vegas with Hyatt points do you not have to pay resort fee and get elite benefits like late checkout?

(08:55) - ​​Would you recommend closing the Chase Marriott business credit card, waiting 30 days, then applying for the AMEX Marriott business credit card? I will keep my JPM Ritz Carlton credit card open.

(11:24) - Can you have more than one Ritz card per person?

(12:46) - As the SLH-Hyatt partnership starts to wind down, I wanted to ask each of you if you might give us ideas/favorites to try and book?

(19:20) - ​Any tips on how to help avoid jetlag for my kids?

(20:15) - ​​I appreciate your “current point transfer bonuses” page. Any plans to create a current buying points and miles list?

(21:01) - ​​Which app is better for managing Flying Blue points, KLM or Air France?

(21:40) - ​​I have to book a Latam flight. What's my best option?

(23:20) - ​​Getting ready for the Beyonce at the Sphere announcement, as soon as those dates leak it's going to be a race to book something before the algorithm sends hotel rates sky high. Any tips or tricks?

(25:35) - ​​There’s a few Marriott sign up bonuses going around. How would you choose between: 5 free nights (up to 50k each; up to 250k total), vs ~185k straight up points?

(29:57) - ​​Any tools to use for planning a road trip in other countries? So many possibilities (i.e. which order to visit things in, transit times, etc) makes my planning spiral out of control.

(35:40) - ​​What is the best airline to credit miles to for each alliance? It's easy enough to understand the value of the miles, but harder to evaluate all the earning rates.

(39:20) - ​​Chase 5/24 question, should I tempt fate and try to apply for the Marriott Boundless 5 free night offer while currently at 5/24? (12 months left) 

(41:55) - ​​Any tips for booking one of the rarer hotel points redemptions? If I book the hotel, I probably won't be able to find biz class flights for those dates. And vice versa if I book the flights first.

(47:52) - ​​Despite the usual recommendation not to speculatively transfer, are there levels of earning (100s of 1000s, millions) and levels of spending that make it worthwhile?

(54:53) - ​​What are your thoughts on the new Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card?

(58:36) - ​​How do we manage Amex cards beyond year one to maintain good standing with Amex? For example when would it be ok to close, downgrade, apply for cards, how many months apart, etc?

Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.

Music Credit - "Into the Never" by Annie Yoder