Airline Elite Status via Hotel Stays | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep289 | 1-10-25
Release Date: 01/10/2025
Complete Guide to United's Couponized Cards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep299 | 3-28-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
A few years ago American Express introduced this kind of model for their Platinum card where they increased their annual fee, but attempted to make up for it by offering a whole collection of credits and rebates that could be valuable if you did the work to make use of them and happened to have natural needs for them. In other words, these new benefits felt a lot like coupons, thus introducing the nickname for these kinds of card benefits. Now, United seems to be taking a page from American Express' book by "couponizing" their credit cards. (02:02) - Denbigh writes in about our...
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Wyndham's Excellent Point Sale | Coffee Break Ep50 | 3-25-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
Wyndham is having an excellent point sale that lasts until April 15th (2025). Read or listen to this episode for details. (01:15) - Wyndham point sale: Through April 15th, if you buy 3,000 or more points, you get up to an 80% bonus. (01:47) - Simultaneously, all 3 Wyndham Earner cards have increased welcome bonuses Learn more about the increased bonuses for (02:55) - Vacasa Vacation Rental Learn about (05:55) - Wyndham Grand 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...
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Getting started with points & miles | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep298 | 3-21-25
Frequent Miler on the Air
Winning the game doesn't have to be hard. Points & miles is like complicated board game -- seems overwhelming at first. But the rewards for winning are incredible. In today's main event we'll show you how to get started. (02:09) - Tyler writes in about success with Chase travel insurance Read more about (03:58) - Bilt rent payment method is changing - (07:27) - Chase biz cards: Pre-approved offers showing when logged in - (09:43) - Wyndham launches debit card, (12:24) - Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Mastercard increased to 40k points, (14:17) - Citi Rewards+ card may be discontinued...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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) -...
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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
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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_outlineThere are a few ways now where you can earn elite status on airlines entirely through hotel stays! This is sort of a new development that we're excited to discuss in today's podcast.
(01:32) - Whoops: Forgot United offers elite earnings on award tickets (UA flights only)
(04:09) - IHG Choice Benefit annual lounge membership trick worked this year
(05:58) - One reader finds a way to get an offer to upgrade back to Amex Platinum for 50K bonus points after 2K spend.
(08:03) - Alaska Biz Card 70K offer is back: 70K miles and Companion Fare™
Learn more about the Alaska Business card here.
(09:27) - Costco card goes up to 5% at Costco Gas on 1/19/25. All other gas/EV will stay at 4%
(12:32) - US Bank Altitude Go: beginning on April 15, 2025, cardholders will be limited to earning 4x on the first $2,000 in dining, takeout and restaurant delivery purchases each quarter.
Learn more about that update here
(13:45) - Sonesta credit card taking a siesta
Learn more about the Sonesta siesta here
(15:34) - Pay1040 fees up, down, all around
(21:42) - Hyatt promo: Earn double elite night credits for stays at Under Canvas properties
Read more about that Hyatt promo here
(28:21) - Marriott Choice Benefit 40K expiry
(33:30) - BA goes revenue-based (Read more about that change here
(34:45) - Daily Getaways Dead: The program has been discontinued
(36:29) - Marriott ->> United Premier Silver AND Air Canada Aeroplan 25K
Read more about that here
(40:59) - Hyatt ->> American Airlines
Read more about this option here
(50:49) - Hyatt Explorist/Globalist elite members can trade Hyatt points for status for a day
(53:33) - Not as many shortcuts with Hyatt as with Marriott
Read more about this here
(1:03:00) - Should I mattress run with Advantage Hotels the rest of my way to AA Executive Platinum status?
(1:06:14) - How do you value your time, for example when an hour of effort will save you a small chunk of change?
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