Nick's baller Bilt gamble | Coffee Break Ep02 | 2-27-24
Release Date: 02/27/2024
Loyalty Point Changing Fortunes | Coffee Break Ep49 | 3-18-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
(00:10) - In this episode we talk about the airline rewards programs and hotel rewards programs that seem to be changing in value. Some of them are going up in value and some are going down. (00:42) - Alaska Mileage Plan miles are going up in value (02:08) - Southwest points are going down Listen to our episode about these (02:45) - Avianca Lifemiles are going down (04:43) - Hilton points are going up (06:12) - Hyatt points are going down (10:36) - Which transferable points are going up or down? Visit to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t...
info_outline
Best uses for Bilt points | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep297 | 3-14-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
Bilt Rewards is a program that became famous for giving you rewards for your rent payments, but these days there are many ways to earn Bilt rewards. In this episode, we'll pay special attention to how you might want to use your Bilt points. (01:15) - John writes in with a correction for Nick's statement that there's a "zero percent chance" the tax payment won't count toward the bonus. (06:57) - Andrew writes in about applying for an Amex card by opening up a Private Browser and searching for the card there can bring up a higher offer. (08:49) - Bilt 5x offers (targeted after asking for credit...
info_outline
Best hotel programs, Alaska quirks, the EVA experience and more | Ask Us Anything Ep73 | 3-5-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
What do we think are the best hotel programs for outsized value? Have we noticed some of the same Alaska Airlines quirks that our listeners have? What have our experiences with the EVA Air program been (if any)? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on March 5th, 2025. 00:40 - What's the most meaningful miles and points trip you've had? 03:16 - Inspired by Nick’s “falling in love with Alaska” post… Let’s play a miles themed version of the old FMK game (the acronym will make sense in a moment, Carrie!) We’ll call it lust, marry, kill...
info_outline
Southwest takes the luv out of flying | Coffee Break Ep48 | 3-11-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
Starting May 28 of this year, Southwest will be making some major changes to the things we've known and loved. For example Most people will be losing free checked bags on Southwest starting May 28 of this year, they'll be introducing basic economy, flight credits will now expire (after 6-12 months depending on what type of fare you bought) and the value of points will become much more variable. (01:49) - Commenter Brad says: "I’m an accountant who completely understands the math of cutting expenses or raising revenues to increase profit... I don’t understand, though, what the business...
info_outline
The 5 Best Award Search Tools | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep296 | 3-7-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
In today's episode we'll talk about how American Airlines out-crazies Citi, Southwest out-bonvoys Marriott, and we'll talk about what we think are the 5 best award search tools that make it much easier to find those coveted awards. (01:25) - One reader shares their concerns about tax payments made by an American Express card not counting towards sign up bonus spending. (05:28) - Read more about and check out our (05:45) - Capital One Venture X Business cards have a Rideshare Protection benefit (which you can ) (08:00) - Hilton cards offer free night thru 4/29 (which you can ) (10:29) -...
info_outline
Predicting the Refreshed Platinum Card | Coffee Break Ep47 | 3-4-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
Word on the street is the Amex Platinum card is going to be "refreshed" which may mean new benefits, new cost, new rebates, and more. In this episode, we'll make some predictions about what we might see. (01:06) - Predicting the Refreshed Platinum Card annual fee (02:55) - Earning rate change? (04:04) - Coupon changes? (06:49) - Will the airline incidental fees credit change? (11:57) - Perk changes? Visit 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
info_outline
How we use our Hilton credit card perks | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep295 | 2-28-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
Hilton credit cards come loaded with perks that CAN BE worth more than the card's annual fee IF you use them well. On today's show, we discuss how we use these credits. (01:06) - Hilton points for the win that all starts with the Venture X credit card promo to enter into the special access raffle to buy Taylor Swift tickets. (06:24) - This person was trying to use up a $200 Hilton resort credit for themself and their player 2 account, booking on December 31st for a date beyond the expiration. (09:39) - Hilton has a bad habit of taking a substantial deposit (in this case, several hundred...
info_outline
How Greg uses his Delta Platinum credit card perks | Coffee Break Ep46 | 2-25-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
With a $350 annual fee, the Delta Platinum credit card is not cheap. But like most of these more expensive cards, it comes with perks and credits that help off-set that cost. Since Greg has this card, we'll find out how he makes use of these various perks and credits. Learn more about and (00:15) - $350 (00:55) - 15% off when using miles to book an award flight (Delta metal only) (02:22) - Annual $2,500 MQD Headstart (04:49) - Companion ticket each year upon card renewal Learn more about (07:36) - Delta Stays rebate (09:14) - $10/Month Rideshare (14:12) - $10/Month US Resy restaurants...
info_outline
How we use our Amex Platinum coupon book credits | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep294 | 2-21-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
On this week's episode, we talk about our Capital One mistake, how Uber has tried to "Bonvoy" us, and the many ways we use our Platinum credit card credits. (01:27) - OOPS: Capital One doesn't transfer to JetBlue like we implied (02:33) - BUT...then this week Capital One announced they ARE adding JetBlue as a transfer partner, (but at horrible rates) (05:24) - Hotel transfer bonuses, yay or nay? (10:29) - Uber adding 1.5% charge to rides abroad – here’s how to avoid overpaying Read more about (14:37) - How we use our Amex Platinum "coupon book" credits... (15:34) - (16:07) - Both...
info_outline
How we use our Amex Gold Card coupon credits | Coffee Break Ep45 | 2-14-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
The American Express Gold Card has a $325 annual fee, but it offers up to $424 of value in credits. Here we'll talk about how we make sure to put those credits to use. Read more about (01:07) - $325 annual fee Find out (01:19) - Category bonuses (01:42) - How do Greg and Nick use those category bonuses? (03:12) - Up to $424 in credits (or as we like to call them, "coupons"). (03:28) - Resy: $50 semi annually (08:59) - Uber: $10/month (12:12) - Dining partners: $10/month (Goldbelly, Wine.com, Five Guys, Seamless/Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory) (14:08) - Dunkin: $7/month Visit to...
info_outlineBack in January, Nick saw that Bilt was going to have a huge transfer bonus to Aeroplan (one of his favorite mileage programs)...but he didn't have a Bilt card yet. With luck on his side though, he suspected he could get the card and get over 100K Aeroplan miles in just a matter of days. Greg thought he was insane, but Nick's gamble paid off.
(02:48) - What is Bilt and why was Nick interested?
Learn more about the Bilt card here.
(03:16) - What was the Bilt bonus that finally got Nick's attention?
We published those transfer bonus details here.
(04:25) - Nick outlines the challenge in his timing, applying for the card ~6 days before the scheduled transfer bonus opportunity with lots of things to get done in that time.
(06:39) - Nick discovered he still needed to make 5 transactions on his new card, which he was able to do with the digital card he'd gotten upon approval.
(08:45) - Nick got lucky and the card arrived early (with one day to spare), and right around then he also got the email for a 5X offer...
(10:11) - The second dilemma: in order to maximize the 5X for 5 days of spend he'd need to spend $12,500, which was more than the card's credit limit.
To read Nick's more detailed account of this, make sure and read his "How Nick Built his own Bilt bonus" post here.
(12:42) - Nick breaks down his ~$18K in spend which landed him with 62K Bilt rewards which then became 124K Air Canada Aeroplan miles.
(15:02) - Nick remembers the points-pooling ability in Air Canada Aeroplan.
(16:06) - Greg and Nick talk about how gambles like this can play a significant role in this game.
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