Frequent Miler on the Air
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.
Which Hyatt Milestone Reward should I pick? | Coffee Break Ep113 | 7-7-26
Greg earned a 3-night Hyatt milestone reward, which means he's faced with a choice of what to pick. He's got 90 days to pick that reward, but he's whittled away a lot of that time and now just has a few weeks left to decide.
Which Hyatt Milestone Reward should I pick?
(01:22) - 30 Night milestone rewards
(02:10) - Pick One: 2K Next Stay Award
(03:30) - Club Access Awards (2)
(04:22) - $25 FIND Experience Credit
(06:14) - 2 Preferred Seat Coupons on American Airlines
(07:19) - What should Greg pick?
(10:23...
Do we book speculatively, hoping for a schedule change? | Question of the Week Ep8 | 7-5-26
Do we book speculatively, hoping for a schedule change? Reader "LR" sent us the following question:
"I was intrigued by a recent post about schedule changes in another group that I follow. This particular person noted that anytime United or AA makes a schedule change of any type, you can change your flight at no additional cost to your preferred route. Sometimes you may even have flexibility within several days of the original flight. So my question is, is this a tactic that you all use if you book flights far in advance? Pick the cheapest award price...12 things to know about Hyatt's devaluation | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep365 | 7-3-26
On today's episode, we'll see how the 5x airline card saga continues, Nick will give us more reasons to use the Southwest app, we'll hear some exciting news about Frontier, and we'll dive deep into Hyatt's devaluation.
Giant Mailbag
(01:06) - More comments about our comments about there being "No airline cards offer 5x or more"
Crazy Thing: Chase
(03:41) - Points Boost is sometimes different between Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card & Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ Card
Bonvoyed
(07:22) - Lifemiles+ eliminates free cancellation benefit for new subscribers
Awards, Poi...
Speculative Bilt transfer bonuses | Coffee Break Ep112 | 6-30-26
When it comes to transfer bonuses, conventional wisdom has been not to transfer unless there's specific use in mind. But sometimes the bonus is too good to ignore.
Speculative Bilt transfer bonuses
(00:16) - Conventional wisdom: don’t transfer without specific use in mind. But...
(01:19) - With Bilt 2.0, earning hundreds of thousands of Bilt points is not so difficult anymore
(04:11) - So which bonuses are worth doing for airline programs?
Transfer bonuses where Greg & Nick disagree (or both said maybe)
Southwest Airlines Rapid RewardsAir France-KLM Flying BlueBritish Airways AviosAvianca Li...How are you using AI for trip planning? | Question of the Week Ep7 | 6-27-26
How are you using AI for trip planning? Frequent Miler reader Jared wrote in:
I recently asked the Bilt Neighborhood Concierge AI which weekends a particular Bilt Home Away from Home hotel (Kimpton Journeyman) had availability between August and December. It gave a useful and seemingly accurate response. Have you recently found any other good uses of Bilt's or other AIs?We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in e...
Bilt Palladium Review: 6 month checkpoint | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep364 | 6-26-26
In today's episode, we'll talk about Qatar's crazy new rules if you want to redeem rewards for friends & family, how Wyndham is going to devalue (but it might not be so bad), and we'll take a look back at the first 6 months of Bilt 2.0: The good, the bad, and where things stand now.
Bilt Palladium Review: 6-month checkpoint
Giant Mailbag
(01:13) - Gary Leff has a couple of minor interesting notes on our recent ‘question of the week’ podcast episode
Find our recent Question of the Week episode here
Crazy Thin...
The best transferable points for multi-player households | Coffee Break Ep111 | 6-23-26
When you have multiple family members working together to earn travel rewards, it becomes more important to share and combine points. So which programs are best for this ability to share?
(02:07) - Why Transferable Points matter
(05:07) - Why transferable point sharing matters
(07:20) - Read more about Citi discontinuing points sharing here
And read about Wells Fargo's end to combining points here
(08:04) - Transferable points ranked from worst to best for points sharing
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Book airfare through credit card portal or direct? | Question of the Week Ep6 | 6-21-26
Book airfare through credit card portal or direct? Frequent Miler reader Mike wrote in with this question:
American Express Platinum cards give you 5x points for direct bookings to airline flights. However, most airlines give you 3x to 5x for using their own co-branded cards for those same flights. Direct bookings give you more options if things go sideways (e.g., flight cancelations that require a rebooking). Or would prefer 8x Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards multiplier? If you use Amex or Chase, you have to deal with an online travel agency to re-book replacement flights. Do you prefer...Wyndham's intriguing new card lineup | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep363 | 6-19-26
In today's podcast we see how Wells Fargo Attunes out, we'll talk about the PAZE craze (and why it pays to pay with PAZE), and Greg convinces Nick that a $395 Wyndham card is a good idea.
Giant Mailbag
(01:37) - Deya has a success story about Chase price match
Find our Best Rate Guarantee coffee break episode here
Card News
(07:07) - Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card refresh is out
(08:48) - Read more about Resy credit changes
(14:33) - A new collectible is born: Wells Fargo Attune card no l...
Chase Travel℠ / The Edit: Best Rate Guarantee | Coffee Break Ep110 | 6-16-26
Chase has been slowly rolling out a Best Rate Guarantee for Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders who book hotels through Chase Travel℠. We'll talk about what that means in today's episode.
(00:51) - Chase Sapphire Reserve® Background
(03:07) - The basics of the Best Rate Guarantee
(07:25) - Nick's experience
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
Mentioned in this episode:
Check ou...
Chase's Hyatt gut punch & refreshed Sapphire Preferred® | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep362 | 6-12-26
In today's podcast episode, we'll talk about how the New Sapphire Preferred® card wows, but the new Chase to Hyatt transfer rate breaks our hearts.
Giant Mailbag
(01:18) - Read more about stacking Chase Instacart deals here or learning to love Instacart credits here
(04:33) - Elliot talks about getting into the Instacart game
(05:58) - Christine found a great Instacart stack
Crazy Thing
(07:47) - IHG Targeted offer: 0K points every 0 nights
Bonvoyed
(08:53) - Wells Fargo ends point sharing (Sep 25)
Read more about Wells F...
Wells Fargo's Premier version of the Autograph Journey | Coffee Break Ep109 | 6-9-26
In this episode, we'll discuss Wells Fargo's Premier version of the Autograph Journey card, only available to Wells Fargo Premier clients.
(01:04) - Almost identical to Autograph Journey, but this one is targeted to WF Premier customers
Learn more about the Wells Fargo Premier Autograph Visa Infinite card here
(02:09) - Advantages over the Autograph Journey
(05:52) - Only available to Wells Fargo Premier clients
(07:00) - Greg's experience
(09:33) - First impressions
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What’s the single best card for your "player two"? | Ask us Anything Ep87 | 6-3-26
How has SAS Eurobonus award availability been in the months since the Million Mile Madness challenge? What’s the single best card for your "player two"? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on June 3rd, 2026.
(00:38) - How many backup flights do you have booked at any one time, and how many fees does that incur?
(04:43) - Has Greg tried/considered applying for a Discover card as a way to get “in” with Capital One since he has been unable to get approved for Capital One cards in the...
Life after Citi | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep361 | 6-5-26
In today's episode, Greg shares the story of how Citi shut down his accounts and what's next for him. (What will he do without his beloved Prestige card?) Read more about Greg's situation with Cit here.
Giant Mailbag
(01:06) - Russel discusses how Barclays American Airlines card is not a way back to Citi
(02:57) - Flyguy talks about also being shutdown by Citi for paying the bill from multiple checking accounts in a single cycle
Bonvoyed
(04:53) - American Airlines blocking close-in domestic award availability to partners here
(07:58...
Citi cancels 5X earnings | Coffee Break Ep108 | 6-2-26
There have been some negative changes coming out of Citi that we'll be talking about in today's podcast episode.
(00:43) - Citi Custom Cash® Card discontinued for new applications, but it may still be possible to product-change to it
You can read more about this discontinuation here.
(01:16) - Citi Custom Cash® Card details
(04:23) - Citi had been on a roll...
(04:42) - Citi points have been declining in value
You can read about some of the negative Citi changes here
(05:16) - But still has excellent options
...
Should I split a points transfer into smaller buckets? | Question of the Week Ep5 | 5-31-26
Should I split a points transfer into smaller buckets? Frequent Miler reader Keith wrote in with this question:
I tried to transfer 560K points to Air France to snag a redemption. had previously transferred about 280k points from Amex to KLM, I thought for sure the points would have similarly come through with Chase. Sadly, the points took 4 days to transfer, and I missed my booking window. Looking back, should I have spread my point transfers across different currencies to lower the transfer risk? I could have also covered the transfer using Capital One or Amex points. How...Tips for finding impossible awards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep360 | 5-29-26
Today's episode will provide a whole grab bag of tips for how to find those impossible award bookings for your award travel goals.
(02:32) - Here's a grab bag of techniques, and keep in mind it's often necessary to use multiple
(03:09) - Be flexible!
(06:48) - Look towards the end of the booking schedule: use points that can book farther out
(08:26) - Positioning flights
(20:59) - Programs that reserve more space for their own members
(22:22) - Programs that reserve more space for elite members/cardholders
(24:17) - Programs that...
First impressions of the new World of Hyatt order | Coffee Break Ep107 | 5-26-26
The World of Hyatt new award charts are live now, and we have thoughts! We'll give our first impressions in this episode, and you can read more about the new award charts here.
(00:25) - World of Hyatt's new award charts are live
(01:44) - Where it hurts the most
(04:05) - It's not all doom and gloom
Read more about our first impressions here.
(11:55) - Analysis
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Earn 8x or redeem with Chase Travel℠ Point Boosts? | Question of the Week Ep4 | 5-24-26
Earn 8x or redeem with Chase Travel℠ Points Boosts? Frequent Miler reader Bryant wrote in saying...
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card providing 8X points on travel and hotel, doesn’t it always make sense to book through Chase and get the multiplier? That being said, what then is the best way to utilize the points to maximize their value?We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Sun...
Will the points game survive? | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep359 | 5-22-26
As more and more people get into the points & miles game, we're seeing an acceleration of devaluations. Opportunities to earn points disappear. Point prices go up. Transfer ratios go down. Is this the beginning of the end?
Will the points game survive?
Giant Mailbag
(00:46) - Gil has a warning story about being Bonvoyed by Bonvoy... Boundless
Main Event: Will the points game survive?
(06:28) - Devaluations keep hitting
(14:14) - Positive trends that we're seeing at the time of this recording (May 1 2026).
(15:15) - Doing this for 15 years<...
Podcasting on the road: trials and tribulations | Coffee Break Ep106 | 5-18-26
Blogging on the road is pretty easy, but podcasting from the road is a different story. In this episode, we'll talk about how.
(01:12) - Internet issues
(05:39) - Microphone issues
(14:27) - Improvised laptop stands
(19:38) - Lighting issues (dark hotel rooms, cars, etc.)
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Che...
My credit card application was declined. Now what? | Question of the Week Ep03 | 5-17-26
My credit card application was declined. Now what?
We get this kind of question a lot. And the truth is, credit card application strategies may vary by bank.
For example, you can read our Complete Guide to credit card application rules (by bank) here. Let's say you have a letter that says there were too many new accounts, too much available credit, not enough usage of existing credit, etc. Then what? Don't forget that you can always call and ask for reconsideration...
We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the en...
Best $95 travel credit card combo | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep358 | 5-15-26
We talk a lot about the ultra-premium credit cards with expensive annual fees, but there are plenty of people interested in credit cards with more modest annual fees. Luckily, there are some great $95 credit cards that can be supplemented with fee-free cards for a great travel rewards strategy.
Giant Mailbag
(01:20) - Melissa writes in with a question about locking in Hyatt prices before May 20th
(04:48) - Jonathan writes in offering a few key data points to update our Hyatt points advance article, which you can find here
Card News
(08:48...
Is the Bilt Palladium card worth its $495 annual fee? | Coffee Break Ep105 | 5-12-26
With most ultra-premium cards it's possible to simply add up how much you value each perk and see if it meets or exceeds the annual fee, but this card is mostly valuable for its high earning rate from spend... It's definitely worth $495 in the first year due to the welcome bonus, but what about after that?
(01:38) - Palladium Card details
Learn more about the Bilt Palladium card here
(02:37) - Bilt Cash
(06:03) - Is the Palladium card worth $495 in exchange for...
(06:35) - Consider other cards
(07:14) - Our take<...
Should you have a hotel credit card even If you aren’t loyal to a hotel chain? | Ask Us Anything Ep86 | 5-6-26
Do any of the luxury hotel booking platforms (like Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®) allow booking for others? If you are hotel chain agnostic, should you have a hotel credit card? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on May 6th, 2026.
(00:16) - I have 14999 Delta Sky Miles and need one more lousy point to be able to book an award ticket. I can transfer 1000 points from Amex, but that seems like a waste. I tried to convince Delta support to comp me a point, but they were seemingly unable to h...
Transferable Points Changing Fortunes | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep357 | 5-8-26
In today's episode, Nick owns up to his mistake: Yes, you can lock in Hyatt prices with Points Advance. Then we'll talk about paying rent with the Alaska Atmos Summit card, and which points programs are trending up or down.
Mea culpa
(01:23) - Oops: Nick made a mistake about Hyatt Points Advance in the originally published version of our Question of the Week
Find the (now edited) Question of the Week here: https://frequentmiler.com/can-i-save-points-on-a-hyatt-award-with-a-date-change-trick-question-of-the-week-ep2-5-4-26/
Learn more about Hyatt Points Advance here: https://frequentmiler.com/hyatt-points-advance/
<...Amex Gold gets a slight touch-up | Coffee Break Ep104 | 5-5-26
Amex has been refreshing its credit cards lately, but the American Express® Gold Card changes are more like a slight touch up.
(00:37) - What's changed?
(04:02) - What's the same?
(05:25) - What do we think?
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 – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
Mentioned in this episode:
Frequent Miler's Best Offers Page
https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-offers/
Che...
Can I save points on a Hyatt award with a date change trick? | Question of the Week Ep2 | 5-4-26
CORRECTION NOTICE: On 5/5/26 this episode was corrected to remove incorrect information about Points Advance bookings. Originally we'd incorrectly stated Points Advance bookings don't lock in a booking's price, when in fact they do.
Can I save points on a Hyatt award with a date change trick? Frequent Miler reader Matt wrote:
I recently succeeded in changing a Hyatt award stay to avoid cancelling and forfeiting the Hyatt points. I'm wondering if that could be a strategy to leap past the upcoming changes to the World of Hyatt program. For example, I would create a reservation using...Best Bonuses for Huge Spend | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep356 | 5-1-26
In today's episode, we'll talk about how Chase Point Boost is going bust, how Avianca sucks some life out of LifeMiles, and rewards for spending BIG.
Giant Mailbag
(01:16) - Mike says "I have a subscription to Award Wallet Plus, and it has a “Merchant Category Lookup Tool,” where you can enter a merchant name and it will give the related merchant category name..."
Find our Wells Fargo Journeys Forward episode 354 here
(05:50) - Visit frequentmiler.com/awardwallet here
Upgrade to AwardWallet Plus for 6 months (one time upgrade only): Click the down...
Searching for good news in Hyatt's devaluation | Coffee Break Ep103 | 4-28-26
Hyatt is changing their award charts on May 20th, 2026, and it's pretty devastating with a new 5-tier pricing system and huge increases in prices. Today, we'll see if there's some good news in all of this.
(00:12) - New 5-level award charts: lowest, low, moderate, upper, top (prev: off-peak, standard, peak)
(02:08) - Is there any good news?
(06:59) - Some good news about premium suites
(11:49) - Thoughts and analysis
Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like an...
Does product changing ruin trip protections? | Question of the Week Ep1 | 4-27-26
Does product changing ruin trip protections? Frequent Miler reader Jay P wrote in saying:
"I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to book a flight and hotel for a future trip. Now, I would like to product change my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card before that trip. Are there any negative impacts if I product change before travel?"We've been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Starting this week, we're turning the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Mo...
Cruising for free | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep355 | 4-23-26
In today's episode, we'll talk about Amex Platinum shutting down paths for earning Delta airline fee credits, Google Hotels adding price drop alerts, and all the many paths that still exist for free cruises in 2026.
Main Event: Cruising for free
Giant Mailbag
(01:07) - Greg gets corrected about Bilt point accelerator vs Rent Day...
Crazy Thing: Capital One Shopping
(03:27) - Capital One brings Gmail to a crawl
Read more about the unfortunate Capital One slow gmail issue here
Bonvoyed: Amex Airline Fee Reimbursements
(08:48...
How to avoid airline surcharges | Coffee Break Ep102 | 4-21-26
Airline fuel surcharges are going up! We've recently seen Air France KLM Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic increase surcharges on their awards and it's looking like a trend. In this podcast episode, we'll talk about the different ways you can avoid them.
How to avoid airline surcharges
(02:02) - Booking with an alliance partner that doesn't pass along surcharges
(02:15) - Air France KLM Flying Blue booked with Virgin Atlantic or Japan Airline Mileage Bank miles
Learn more about going to Europe starting on Air France or KLM Business Class using Virgin Atlantic...
Wells Fargo journeys forward | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep354 | 4-17-26
In today's podcast episode, we'll watch as Capital One ventures into business, we'll discuss the best of the best award search tools, and we'll talk about how Wells Fargo is on the upswing.
Giant Mailbag
(01:00) - Nate has a tip to add to our Free checked bags via credit cards podcast Ep353
Card News
(04:41) - Capital One Spark Miles rebranded to Venture Business
Learn more about the Capital One Spark Miles rebranding to Venture Business here
Crazy Thing: Choice Privileges
(09:42) - Choice doubled points to...
JetBlue Polishes its Premium Premier Mastercard | Coffee Break Ep101 | 4-14-26
JetBlue has announced some big changes to its Premier Mastercard, which was previously a real bummer of a card. So when these changes come in "the spring", will they make the card better, and worth that $499 annual fee?
JetBlue Polishes its Premium Premier Mastercard
(01:00) - New benefits coming to this card
Read more about the card changes here: https://frequentmiler.com/the-jetblue-premier-card-might-finally-become-worth-applying-for/
(06:00) - Nick & Greg talk through a few questions like: Is this a good card or does it just seem like it compared to the old stinker? Is the new...
What are the worst airline websites? | Ask Us Anything Ep85 | 4-8-26
What are some unusual cards you find yourself using? What are your least favorite airline websites? Which dead cards do you miss the most? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on April 8th, 2026.
(01:10) - What are some unusual cards you find yourself using?
(08:27) - Did the FM team partake in the British Airways shopping portal promotion for 250x Avios at Kate Spade? I think it’s a runner for deal of the year.
(11:28) - What’s your favorite and least favorite airline loyalty website to u...
Free checked bags via credit cards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep353 | 4-10-26
In this podcast episode, we'll talk about how Rakuten doubles select credit card signup bonuses, JetBlue polishes its previously lackluster Premier card, and how to avoid paying those increasing checked bag fees.
Giant Mailbag
(00:58) - Rick asks about EU regulation 261
Read our post, "$700 richer: My easy UK261 claim experience with United Airlines" here
Card News
(04:09) - JetBlue Premier Mastercard ($499)
Read more about the JetBlue Premiere Mastercard here
Awards, Points, and More
(07:04) - Rakuten offering bonuses on select Bank of America cards
...
Best miles for each airline alliance | Coffee Break Ep100 | 4-7-26
Airlines partner up into alliances (oneworld, Star Alliance, and Sky Team), which usually means you can use the miles from one program to book with one of its partners. We'll talk about the best programs within each alliance.
Coffee Break: Best miles for each airline alliance
(01:12) - Star Alliance
(01:24) - United MileagePlus pros and cons
(03:28) - Air Canada Aeroplan pros and cons
(06:54) - Avianca LifeMiles pros and cons
(11:36) - oneworld
(11:44) - American Airlines AAdvantage pros and cons
(14:08) - Alaska Atmos pros and cons
(17:07) - Sky Team
(17:20) - Delta SkyMiles pros and cons
(19:52...
Credit Card Collectibles | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep352 | 4-3-26
In this episode, we'll talk about how United credit cards make United miles more valuable, how Southwest discount codes make Southwest points more valuable, and we'll take you on a ride through a classic card show discussing credit card "collectibles".
Giant Mailbag
(01:34) - Justin: I was annoyed to discover I couldn't change the frequent flyer number on my upcoming award booking from my Atmos number to my AAdvantage number, which would have made me and my girlfriend eligible for Oneworld Emerald perks...
Learn more about Alaska not allowing frequent flyer number changes on award tickets here
Card News
(05:33) - United cards now unlock better earning...
Citi might nerf the Strata Premier | Coffee Break Ep99 | 3-31-26
A recent survey sent out by Citi has us speculating about changes Citi might be considering for the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card. This would include an increased annual fee and increased complexity.
Citi might nerf the Strata Premier
Read more about the Citi Strata Premiere refresh rumors here
(02:55) - Current version vs potential version
(09:44) - Why we're not a fan...
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 – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
Mentioned in this episode:
V...
