Would you pay more for fully refundable rewards? What do you do with pets when you travel? These questions and more | Ask Us Anything, Live Ep72 | 2-5-25
Release Date: 02/11/2025
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_outlineWould 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 our podcast episode about 2-player strategies here.
(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 on how to do this but I can’t find it now.
Find our credit card application rules by bank here.
(24:02) - are you guys surprised at how many people completed the challenge?
(25:00) - I know Greg went big with Alaska transfer, I'm curious how big the rest of the team has gone? And do any of you think the merger and Amex transfer will cause a devaluation soon?
(28:32) - Any word yet on Chase’s 1 million point giveaway winners (that ended last week)?
(29:13) - any thoughts on aeroplan 25 status match from Marriott Titanium? could be interesting for booking economy award tickets for upgrades on long haul flights?
(30:47) - Marriott & Hilton appear out of favor with you these days. Hyatt remains your favorite but If you don't or can't stay at Hyatt, what is now your hotel chain of choice between IHG, Choice, Wyndham or?
(33:34) - new SW companion pass promo (personal card, 4K spend in 3 months): is this just through end of 2025? Seems like a great opportunity to try.I can make that spend in a week!
(34:32) - have any of you ever had to transfer airports in Taipei. i have a 4-hr layover during which i have to travel between airports with a carry-on. is that even possible?
(36:24) - What are the best opportunities for long haul business class availability for 4 "when schedule opens?" With 4 travelers and bound by school schedules I want to book ahead but it's getting very hard.
(38:37) - Thoughts on the recent update to Citi’s T&Cs on welcome bonuses for their strata premier when product changing. Seems like it’s a blow against churning
(40:26) - How much more are you willing to pay for award ticket that is fully refundable? I find myself going for AA or United flights even though UA may be cheaper on LifeMiles for example
(45:23) - really curious... do any of you have pets? what do you do with them when traveling?
(51:48) - How often do you folks buy points? I recently started buying IHG, Hilton, Avianca, and Avios points when they are on sale, and find it a great alternative for folks with low spend.
(53:36) - any awesome hotel redemptions coming up for you guys?
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Music Credit - "swappin' back n' forth" by up @ night