Announcing the 2024 Team Challenge | Ask Us Anything Ep67 | 5-8-24
Release Date: 05/14/2024
Frequent Miler origin story: Nick’s story | Coffee Break Ep16 | 6-25-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
On a previous Coffee Break episode, we talked about the . 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 (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...
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Best ways to get to Hawaii | Ep260 | 6-22-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
(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 -Card Details -What are points worth? (16:00) What crazy thing . . . did Marriott and Starbucks do this week? (19:51) Mattress running the numbers: Wyndham Rewards Hotel Pass (27:48) Award Talk (27:55) New Reasonable Redemption Value for Hotel Points (30:29) Aeroplan...
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Bilt is costing Wells Fargo dearly. Should you duck & run or double down? | Coffee Break Ep15 | 6-18-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
(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...
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Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep259 | 6-14-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
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 : https://youtu.be/bMt_NfuuINI?feature=shared Watch the : https://youtu.be/gyJPtTZN1EE?feature=shared Watch the : https://youtu.be/HTmEAicB3dw?feature=shared (34:15) - Curve overview (Card Talk) Find out more here: (37:56) - Hilton SLH integrated testing phase (Award Talk) (40:26) - Preferred Hotels /...
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Highlights and lowlights from the Last Minute Travel Challenge | Coffee Break Ep14 | 6-11-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
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/
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Catching up with the Last Minute Travel Challenge | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep 258 | 6-7-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
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...
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Our worst travel challenge moments | Coffee Break Ep13 | 6-4-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
(00:00) - You know that sinking feeling when you know things are going wrong? With , 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 . (03:09) - Greg: Train breaks. Bus breaks Read . (06:18) - Nick: Asleep on bus, can’t enter Bangkok, bike ride to nowhere Read about (11:20) - 3 Cards, 3 Continents Read more about the 2022 . (11:46) - Nick: Canyoneering (12:48) - Greg: Air Canada married segment problem, then wouldn’t let me check in Read more about . (16:22) - Party of 5 Read more...
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Learning to Love LifeMiles | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep257 | 5-31-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
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) (05:12) - Hilton cards with new welcome bonuses (Mattress Running the Numbers) Learn more about the And learn about the (12:27) - Southwest now on Google Flights (Award Talk) (16:09) - Finnair Avios now...
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World of Hyatt’s decline by a thousand cuts | Coffee Break Ep12 | 5-28-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
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...
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Best cards for grocery, dining, gas, travel, Costco, and more | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep256 | 5-24-24
Frequent Miler on the Air
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) ...
info_outlineIn 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?"
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Music Credit – “Into the Never” by Annie Yoder