The margin between the most and least rewarding hotel loyalty programs is probably smaller than you expect -- and which one is best for you often depends on variables like your status or which card you use. This week, we discuss which programs offer you the most bang for your buck. 00:00 Intro 00:45 Giant Mailbag: Inking success 05:45 Card Talk: IHG Premier and IHG Premier Business cards https://frequentmiler.com/ihgprem/ https://frequentmiler.com/IHGBusiness/ 12:35 Award Talk 12:37 ANA First class awards via Virgin Atlantic devalued  https://frequentmiler.com/ana-first-class-virgin-atlantic-devaluation/ 17:11 Etihad First Class apartments booked  https://frequentmiler.com/etihad-first-apartment-review-simply-awesome/ 22:35 What crazy thing....did Amex do this week? The Points Parade marches on  https://frequentmiler.com/now-150k-200-or-90k-200-awesome-offers-out-on-platinum-and-gold-cards/ https://frequentmiler.com/amex-membership-rewards-sweet-spots/ https://frequentmiler.com/cross-brand-amex-referrals-possible/

Which is the most rewarding hotel loyalty program? | Ep193 | 3-11-23

Earn miles without flying.  Frequent Miler is all about getting the most out of the loyalty game.  You can easily earn hundreds of thousands of points and miles without traveling, then learn how to use those points towards luxury travel.

In this podcast, Frequent Miler founder Greg, and senior author Nick debate current topics in the points & miles world.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Aviation

Games & Hobbies

Leisure

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 Stage 1 recap video here: https://youtu.be/bMt_NfuuINI?feature=shared Watch the Stage 2 recap video here: https://youtu.be/gyJPtTZN1EE?feature=shared Watch the Stage 3 recap video here: https://youtu.be/HTmEAicB3dw?feature=shared (34:15) - Curve overview (Card Talk) Find out more here: https://www.curve.com/en-us (37:56) - Hilton SLH integrated testing phase (Award Talk) (40:26) - Preferred Hotels / Choice devaluation (55K to 87K) (Award Talk) (42:34) - Aero plan credit card & elite members status match to iPrefer Titanium (before June 28) (Award Talk) (44:18) - Book Oman Air w/ Flying Blue miles (Award Talk) (44:30) - Book El Al with Virgin points (Award Talk) (44:51) - Points Path adds support for Air Canada & Alaska Airlines (Award Talk) Main Event: Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel (47:00) - General advice (52:38) - Great awards often open last minute (ex: Lufthansa first) (57:16) - Diversify. Having different types of points and miles helps. (58:28) - Become adept at award search tools. Huge time saver. (1:00:26) - Don’t rely entirely on award search tools. They don’t catch everything (no Virgin Atlantic on a couple, no BA / QR Avios, didn’t see LifeMiles for my redemption, etc) (1:03:41) - Consider keeping stashes in programs you use often. This only applies if you have a lot of points and miles, but it could help avoid a failed transfer. (1:05:27) - Watch out for transfer times (1:08:10) - Get a good VPN. I wonder if some of my problems could have been averted if I’d used one all along. (1:11:22) - Know that Aeroplan’s contact center isn’t 24/7. This can be a big pain when you’re overseas. (1:12:37) - Beware the phantom menace. Tons of Swiss space that isn’t real. (1:17:02) - Have some tricks up your sleeve. This could alternatively be called "persistence pays off". Don’t give up right away. Examples include searching Avianca’s site multiple ways, forcing a stopover with Aeroplan to get a flight to show up, booking a refundable something as a backup, etc. (1:20:10) - How do you go about finding activities while you travel? (Question of the Week) 

Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep259 | 6-14-24

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/

Highlights and lowlights from the Last Minute Travel Challenge | Coffee Break Ep14 | 6-11-24

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 team's last-minute travel booking skills. The first "domestic convergence" destination was revealed on Monday night during a live checkin on YouTube where the contestants learned of a domestic location they'd need to reach by Wednesday 6pm local time, when we had another live checkin to reveal another series of surprise destinations. By the time this challenge wraps up, we'll have had 4 live checkins. For this podcast episode you'll watch and listen to a summary of the first two checkins, the Monday night reveal of our domestic launch point, and the Wednesday night reveal of each contestant's individual international assignments. You'll also hear our contestants review the booking decisions they made to meet their first assignment, and you'll hear stephen and i break down our scoring decisions. This recap will bring you up to speed so you can head over to our YouTube and catch the third live checkin which will have just wrapped up by the time this podcast goes live, and will tell our contestans of their final destination assignment.  Check out this link for more! https://frequentmiler.com/2024-annual-challenge/  

Catching up with the Last Minute Travel Challenge | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep 258 | 6-7-24

(00:00) - You know that sinking feeling when you know things are going wrong? With a brand new travel challenge just launched last night, 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 40K to Far Away Challenge here. (03:09) - Greg: Train breaks. Bus breaks Read  Greg's story about his South African misadventures here. (06:18) - Nick: Asleep on bus, can’t enter Bangkok, bike ride to nowhere Read about  Nick's misadventures during 40K to Far Away here. (11:20) - 3 Cards, 3 Continents Read more about the 2022  3 Cards, 3 Continents Challenge here. (11:46) - Nick: Canyoneering (12:48) - Greg: Air Canada married segment problem, then wouldn’t let me check in Read more about  Greg's married segment problem here. (16:22) - Party of 5 Read more about the  Party of 5 Challenge here. (16:52) -Greg (and Nick): Santiago, arriving at the Ritz w/out a backpack  Visit here to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media. You’ll find all other Frequent Miler on the Air episodes here. Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Our worst travel challenge moments | Coffee Break Ep13 | 6-4-24

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)  Find episode 255 here. (05:12) - Hilton cards with new welcome bonuses (Mattress Running the Numbers) Learn more about the Hilton fee free card here. And learn about the  Hilton Surpass card here. (12:27) - Southwest now on Google Flights (Award Talk) (16:09) - Finnair Avios now combinable (Award Talk) (18:20) - AA NOT eliminating mile & loyalty point earnings through OTAs (Award Talk) (19:22) - Cardless Avianca LifeMiles Cards (Card Talk) Read more about the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Card Here. Read more about the Avianca LifeMiles American Express® Elite Card here. (28:33) - Easy miles to get (31:51) - LifeMiles+ subscriptions (49:30) - Using LifeMiles, standard pricing (53:43) - Hidden sweet-spots (59:30) - Mixed cabin pricing Read  Greg's post "Aviance Miles - First Class for Less" here. (1:04:47) - How to search for complicated awards (1:11:14) - How to search for awards (less complicated) (1:22:10) - Downsides... (1:25:32) - Pop Quiz for Greg about quadruple dip opportunities for a Hilton Curio Collection hotel 

Which is the most rewarding hotel loyalty program? | Ep193 | 3-11-23

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