Deal of the Year 2024 | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep287 | 12-27-24
Release Date: 12/27/2024
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...
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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...
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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) -...
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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
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Would you pay more for fully refundable rewards? What do you do with pets when you travel? These questions and more came up in our Ask Us Anything, Live Ep72, originally broadcast live on 2-5-25. (04:31) - Who were our most-helpful followers for the Million Mile Madness challenge? These followers will be eligible for prizes for their help! (13:31) - How would you structure your credit card strategy with a P2? See (17:45) - Frequent Miler is by far my favorite travel blog. What blogs do you follow and why? (19:47) - Any tricks to apply for 2 cards in 1 day? I feel like I read a post...
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On today's episode the fellas chat about how to get the Southwest Companion Pass with just one card, whether or not your Marriott points just became more valuable, and how to get great value out of Capital One miles. (01:17) - One of our younger readers talks about a huge award booking success, all achieved without pro award booking tools. (05:40) - Quick overview of the Million Mile Madness challenge Watch our Rewatch the entire (10:27) - Get Southwest Companion Pass through 2/28/26 Learn (13:25) - Frontier Platinum status fast track: Earn 20k Elite Status Points by 4/30/25 Learn (18:46)...
info_outlineWhat are the best miles and points deals we've seen in 2024, and which deals came out above the rest? In today's episode of Frequent Miler on the Air, we'll decide what we think the best miles and points deal of 2024 was.
(01:05) - Feedback about Greg's "Frequent Miler’s 2024 State of the Business Report"
Read Greg's "Frequent Miler’s 2024 State of the Business Report" here.
(08:12) - Additional datapoints regarding possible Atlantis stays for after February 1st
(12:14) - Greg's Marriott Mattress Run
(20:48) - Capital One Offers
(26:18) - Easily extend National Free Day
(28:41) - Catch our "Bonvoyed of the Year" episode from last week to see which loyalty snafus we thought were the worst in 2024.
(29:11) - Buy Aeroplan miles for 1.14cpp: Read more about buying Aeroplan miles here.
(30:41) - Big payouts via Capital One Shopping
(36:35) - Virgin goes dynamic & lowers surcharges
Read more about Virgin's dynamic pricing here.
(40:00) - Bilt transfer bonus up to 150% to Flying Blue, Virgin Points, and IHG One Rewards (Jan 1)
(42:19) - Bilt transfer bonus up to 100% to Alaska (July 1)
(44:05) - Amex +10x restaurants referral offer
Read more about this Amex referral offer here.
(47:11) - 120K Ink Business Preferred offer + 40K referral
(48:27) - Hilton SLH
(53:20) - Alaska's awesome shorthaul AA pricing
Read more about the Alaksa award chart winners and losers here.
(57:41) - SAS Eurobonus Millionaire
Read more about the SAS Eurobonus Millionaire challenge here: https://frequentmiler.com/sas-eurobonus-millionaire-promo-frequently-asked-questions-million-mile-madness-2024/
(1:00:02) - Which did we actually take advantage of? (Or which didn't we?)
(1:01:59) - So...which was the best?
(1:13:17) - Can you swap a cash seat you've already purchased with Southwest with a companion seat with your companion pass instead?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder