Don't settle for mediocrity - get great value from your credit card points by utilizing some of our favorite techniques to save big on both economy and business class airfare and hotels ranging from simple to simply luxurious. 00:00 Intro 00:48 Giant Mailbag: Trouble with the Schwab debit card and a workaround 06:14 What crazy thing . . . did Bilt Rewards do this week? 14:29 Mattress running the numbers: Frontier's GoWild pass promotion 20:55 Award Talk 20:59 Nick's experience with a British Airways award via American Airlines 26:05 Greg gets the Bilt card 26:47 Alaska trick for saving miles 29:51 Southwest is adding free standby on all fares 33:32 Choice suites thanks to Radisson 34:32 Main Event: Chase Ultimate Rewards points: Best ways to get great value 34:48 Hyatt 40:00 Using Chase Ultimate Rewards points via airline programs 40:39 United Mileage Plus 43:23 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 55:38 Air France / KLM Flying Blue 1:03:40 Air Canada Aeroplan 1:09:48 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:11:37 Avios 1:16:01 Question of the Week: Which comes first -- the chicken or the egg? Do you book the flight or hotel first to maximize value? Music credit: Annie Yoder

Chase Ultimate Rewards points: Best ways to get great value | Ep216 | 8-19-23

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

Today's Coffee Break episode was inspired by a recent email we got asking... how did Frequent Miler get started? Since our Coffee Break episodes are 20 minutes or less, we started but telling Greg's side of the Frequent Miler origin story. (01:47) - in 2011 Greg first learned about this points and miles hobby when his current employer at the time issued a "no travel" decree... (04:22) - Greg started a blog for his friends...because it was easier then emailing everyone about what he'd learned. (05:29) - Greg almost immediately became intrigued with stacking opportunities. (07:06) - Greg was also very focused on increasing spend on his credit card which he later learned was called "manufactured spending." (08:17) - Before long, Randy of Boarding Area discovered Greg and invited him to join. (10:38) - Greg meets some other Boarding Area bloggers and learns how to monetize his blog. (14:15) - In early 2012 Greg's "real job" restructures and he gets laid off, inspiring him to set an earnings goal for the blog. (16:02) - Greg discovers Vanilla Reload cards...  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  

Frequent Miler origin story - Greg's story | Coffee Break Ep09 | 4-30-24

There are many ways to book luxury hotels (credit card points, hotel points, etc) and this can be a great way to stay in some amazing luxury accommodations you'd never justify paying cash for. We'll dive into this today. (01:43) - Please share an experience when a positioning flight had not gone to plan, perhaps share a "Positioning Flight From Hell" type of experience. (Mailbag)  Read about Greg's positioning flight mayhem here. (06:23) - On our Instagram post, @marriottbonvoy's account trolls Hyatt by saying "Fortunately for our guests, we don’t play games with welcome gifts, points, and awards at Luxury locations such as St. Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, and more but that’s just us." (Crazy Thing) See our post:  Marriott Platinum Elite Free Breakfast Simplified (12:12) - 30% transfer bonus Amex to Virgin (Mattress Running the Numbers) (15:17) - MaxFHR.com (Award Talk)  Read more about MaxFHR here. (17:09) - Equinox credit for massages (Award Talk) (21:10) - Bilt’s new Rent Day snoozer (24:27) - Bilt BLADE  Read more about the Bilt Blade partnership here.  Read Greg's Blade flight review here. (30:01) - Hyatt’s sad rollout of Mr & Mrs Smith Main Event: Luxury lodging... on points (41:52) - Find our  "Which is the most rewarding hotel loyalty program? | Ep193 | 3-11-23" here. (42:54) - Major hotel chain luxury brands (43:34) - Hyatt (45:53) - Hilton (47:55) - Marriott (54:03) - IHG (58:12) - Wyndham (59:10)  -  Read Nick's post about free cruise opportunities. (59:34) - Choice Privileges (1:01:36) - Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH): Book with Hilton points (coming soon). Read more about the  Hilton SLH partnership here. (1:05:49) - Preferred Hotels & Resorts (1:09:05) - Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) (1:11:23) - Fine Hotels & Resorts & The Hotel Collection (1:13:28) - What's the best way to start on the Marriott credit card journey? (Question of the Week) See our chart for figuring out which Marriott cards you're eligible for.    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

Luxury lodging... on points | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep252 | 4-26-24

Until recently, Hyatt had a relationship with Small Luxury Hotels (SLH), but it was recently announced that Hilton will now be the one integrating SLH hotels. We'll talk about what that looks like in this week's Coffee Break episode. (0:58) - Background: What is SLH? Read more about this SLH update here:  https://frequentmiler.com/fantastic-updates-about-hiltons-integration-of-slh/ (02:15) - Hilton’s approach to SLH (08:40) - Why Hilton 120K isn’t so different from Hyatt 40K (14:56) - Favorite SLH properties  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

Hilton Takes on Small Luxury Hotels (SLH) | Coffee Break Ep08 | 4-23-24

American Airlines status isn't as easy as it used to be, but there are some shortcuts for those who think they'll be flying American Airlines enough to really want it. We'll discuss those shortcuts in this episode of Frequent Miler on the Air. (00:58) - Reader, Matt has been frustrated by Bilt's customer service... (Mailbag) (07:16) - AAdvantage® Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard (Card Talk) Find out more about this card here: https://frequentmiler.com/AviatorRed/#Goto We covered these a year ago in the show: Amassing American Airlines Miles | Ep199 | 4-22-23, which you can find here: https://frequentmiler.com/amassing-american-airlines-miles/ (10:22) - AAdvantage® Aviator Silver World Elite MasterCard® (Card Talk) (19:01) - Capital One switches Venture card from Visa to MasterCard...but switches Venture X Biz from MasterCard to Visa (Crazy Thing) (22:03) - Transfer bonus from Citi to Accor (Mattress Running the Numbers) (26:26) - Strawberry Hotels (formerly Nordic Choice) Summer Pass (Mattress Running the Numbers) (33:42) - Etihad A380 first class apartment awards available New York to Abu Dhabi (Award Talk) (37:48) - Qatar cards from Cardless (Award Talk) (39:56) - Daily Getaways (Award Talk) Read more about the Daily Getaways here:  https://frequentmiler.com/daily-getaways-2024-complete-preview-of-all-the-deals/ Main Event: Shortcuts to AA elite status (45:26) - American Airlines Elite Overview (48:40) - Loyalty Point Rewards (50:42) - Shortcuts to American Airlines Elite Status (1:04:03) - What is the role of AI in the travel-hacking space? (Question of the Week) 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

Shortcuts to AA elite status | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep251 | 4-19-24

Tragically, United appears to to be blocking saver award space from Star Alliance partner bookings. In this coffee break episode we'll talk about what that means. (0:59) - Overview of United's recent changes Read more about these  United changes here.  (01:09) - Why it matters (07:11) - Research findings - what we've found out digging a little deeper... (09:50) - Are United miles now more valuable? (14:19) - Are United credit cards now more valuable? (extra award space)  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

Chase Ultimate Rewards points: Best ways to get great value | Ep216 | 8-19-23

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