Strategizing Hilton cards, credits, and free nights | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep255 | 5-17-24
Release Date: 05/17/2024
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_outlineHilton'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)
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder