- 1 hour 22 minutesTurn hotel status into airline status | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep367 | 7-17-26
In today's episode, we'll talk about how Wells Fargo shut down Greg's checking account, we'll ask "Did Marriott devalue again?", and we'll look at the many ways to turn hotel status into airline status.
Giant Mailbag
(01:12) - Rick shares a note about Bilt Cash at Walgreens
Card News
(04:25) - Chase Freedom Flex® dropping foreign transaction fees, but also losing cell protection
Crazy Thing
(06:22) - Capital One Shopping: 95% back at Instacart (new members)
Awards, Points, and More
(12:05) - Rove adds Qantas
Read more about Rove adding Qantas as a transfer partner here
(13:30) - Choice points on sale through July 20
(14:21) - Greg's Wells Fargo shutdown
Learn more about Greg's Wells Fargo shutdown here
(24:58) - Nick's Sapphire Reserve® Exclusive Tables Blunders
(31:07) - FHR Las Vegas observances
(35:10) - Marriott devaluation... or not?
Read Stephen's thoughts about the supposed devaluation here
(37:43) - How to apply Marriott free night certs to upgraded rooms
Learn more about this here
Main Event: Turn hotel status into airline status
(42:29) - First up: New Airline + Hotel partnerships
(42:58) - Read more about the Hyatt / Aeroplan partnership here
(53:00) - Read more about Marriott and Japan Airlines here: https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-japan-airlines-launch-deeper-partnership-earn-bonus-points-get-status-match-earn-status-points-more/
(1:01:00) - Key hotel/airline match-ups (and other hotel/airline tie-ups)...
(1:16:35) - Special topic: Airline hotel portals
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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17 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 20 minutes 12 secondsMarriott Bonvoy pros and cons | Coffee Break Ep114 | 7-14-26
Bonvoy is the program we love... to hate. Having said that, we'd be lying if we said there were no redeeming features of this program. In this episode, we'll talk about the pros and cons of the Marriott Bonvoy program.
(00:58) - Pros
(06:53) - Cons
(11:50) - See our resource (or "matrix") for determining which Marriott card you may be eligible for here
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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Visit FrequentMiler.com
Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free.
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Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
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14 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 1 hour 8 minutes"It's a credit card and it works" | Ask Us Anything Ep88 | 7-8-26
What are our favorite USA destinations? If you go for the AA elite status as your Hyatt milestone benefit, when does the AA status expire? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on June 3rd, 2026.
(00:43) - Why does BILT still have “Coming Soon” for Blacklane and Blade BILT Cash redemptions after nearly 6 months? Sure feels like many of us are gonna have a glut of expiring, unusable BILT Cash at year’s end… *sigh*
(03:04) - What do you guys do for internet access on your phones when traveling abroad…pay for international service through your carrier, purchase a VPN, something else I maybe don’t know about? Haha
See our GigSky posts here: https://frequentmiler.com/tag/gigsky/
(11:41) - Curious what each of you would say are your top favorite Hyatt stays? I want to book a couple hotels for next year before Hyatt continues their devaluation rollout.
(17:44) - A question on credit card travel protections. If you use different credit cards for different parts of your trip (e.g., one for flights, another one for hotels, maybe a third for car rentals)
(19:04) - I’m now at 4/24, so I want to apply for the 100K Chase Sapphire Preferred card for myself. Is being an authorized user on the card you want to apply for have any negative consequences?
(20:25) - How does the Hyatt Milestone (100+ nights) reward for AA Platinum status for a year work? Does it give you LP to top you up to Platinum status? What’s the process after that to earn Platinum Pro?
(21:13) - Sorry if this has been asked before…..is there going to be another live podcast?? I really want to go if there will be another one! My vote is Omaha ;) Center of the country and not too far for anyone
(22:10) - Do you have any advice for upgrading from Club World to First class on British Airways? Can it be done with Avios, or cash? You guys are the best!!! Thanks for all you do.
(24:08) - On your latest coffee break, if you go for the AA elite status on your Hyatt milestone, when does the AA expire?
(27:08) - Do you have any tips for how to get a Business card NLL offer from Amex?
(31:40) - Then my question would be what are your favorite USA destinations? Wouldn’t that be a fantastic podcast?
See Stephen's post about underrated US destinations here: https://frequentmiler.com/6-underrated-states-to-visit-for-a-domestic-vacation/
(36:30) - What’s the summer /2026 challenge ? Can we get India involved as a destination/layover /Stopover?
(36:52) - For Stephen and Tim — looking for their thoughts on the BILT ecosystem currently and how they use the new 2.0 cards
(43:46) - Have any of you personally interacted with EES yet? How long was the delay leaving the eu? Is it less when leaving a smaller airport on a direct flight to a US destination?
(46:13) - Would love to hear the teams experience with the Atmos Summit card and reaching status.
(50:00) - Greg, what's the update for the Citi saga?
(51:29) - Do you use any app to manage and monitor all the credit cards and their benefits or just use excel sheet?
(56:00) - Stephen did you try the clam pizza?
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 – “swappin’ back n’ forth” by up @ night
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Visit FrequentMiler.com
Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free.
https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
12 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 52 minutes 49 secondsThe best credit card travel credits | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep366 | 7-10-26
On today's podcast episode, if you couldn't get enough of Basic Economy, don't worry! Delta has introduced Basic Business. We'll share a potential trick for getting 25,000 AA miles for free, and talk about Credit card Travel Credits: which are worthwhile and which are worthless.
Giant Mailbag
(01:10) - Joaquin says, "One thing I haven’t considered before listening to you was to monitor the price of a hotel or flight after booking to cancel and rebook it if the price drops."
Bonvoyed
(07:40) - Delta introduces Basic Business (and Premium Select, and First)
Awards, Points, and More
(13:54) - Delta Stays is better than Greg thought
Read more about Delta Stays here
(17:23) - Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card OpenTables
(20:38) - Hilton expands partnership with Explora Journeys (luxury cruises)
The best credit card travel credits
(23:27) - Many premium cards come with travel credits to justify their annual fees.
We rank them...
(24:31) - General travel credits
(26:16) - Airfare & Airline Fee credits
(32:03) - Hotel credits
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Frequent Miler Beginner's Guide
10 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 19 minutes 3 secondsWhich 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) - Which Hyatt milestone rewards are best at each milestone?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
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7 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 9 minutes 47 secondsDo 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 from one city to another, and then hope for a schedule change in order to change it to your preferred route? And then on an even more complicated note- have any of you had success following a schedule change, of changing from a flight in “first class (non-lay-flat seats)” to a different flight on “Delta One” or AA’s “flagship business” or United Polaris (etc, all of which have lay-flat seats)? I assume these are considered different classes and would require a fee upgrade. I’m trying to book flights home from Hawaii next March, and I’m wondering if this kind of tactic may work."
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 Sunday at 5pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to [email protected].
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
5 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 52 minutes 35 seconds12 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, Points, and More
(11:35) - Alaska Wallet funds can now be used for AS companion fares again
(12:20) - Rove adds Frontier as a transfer partner
Read more about Frontier being added as a Rove transfer partner here
(15:30) - Nick's Southwest notes
Main Event: 12 things to know about Hyatt's devaluation
(21:18) - Hyatt recently introduced new award charts. We dug into the numbers...
Read more about the changed value of Hyatt points here
(22:20) - 1. Median point value dropped ~10%
(23:10) - 2. Cherry-picked value dropped <10%
(24:34) - 3. It could have been much worse
(26:31) - 4. It will probably be much worse next year
(27:46) - 5. Points more valuable with certain brands
(30:37) - 6. Points less valuable with certain brands
(32:14) - 7. Points are less valuable at high end
(34:27) - 8. Points are more valuable at low end
(35:54) - 9. Many cities offer excellent value
(39:45) - 10. Singapore offers surprisingly poor value: 1.0
(40:47) - 11. Worst and best values barely budged
(41:52) - 12. Mr & Mrs Smith not as bad as we thought
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit FrequentMiler.com
Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free.
https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
3 July 2026, 9:00 pm - 31 minutes 33 secondsSpeculative 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 Rewards
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways Avios
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Cathay Pacific Cathay
- Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Transfer bonuses Greg & Nick would NOT do
- Etihad Guest
- Emirates Skywards
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
(26:15) - So which bonuses are worth doing for hotel programs?
Transfer bonuses Greg & Nick would definitely do
- Hyatt
- Accor
Transfer bonuses where Greg & Nick disagree (or both said maybe)
- I Prefer
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Frequent Miler Beginner's Guide
30 June 2026, 9:00 pm - 19 minutes 28 secondsHow 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 every Sunday at 5pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to [email protected].
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
28 June 2026, 9:00 pm - 1 hour 27 minutesBilt 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 Thing: Qatar Airways Privilege Club
(07:51) - Want to use Qatar Avios to book flights for friends or family? Good luck!
Read more about this Qatar Avios restriction here
Bonvoyed by Wyndham
(15:36) - Learn more about Wyndham Rewards new award pricing here
Awards, Points, and More
(19:43) - Learn about Bilt adding I Prefer 1:2 here
(23:24) - Learn more about the Hyatt / Under Canvas Promo: 15% points rebate on award stays here
(28:59) - Necker Island has new award pricing: 250K per night for 2 adults
(35:08) - Random tips from Nick
Main Event: Bilt Palladium Review: 6 month checkpoint
(41:16) - Background: Bilt changed card issuers and moved from 1 card to 3
(51:39) - Palladium card details
(54:10) - Bilt Elite Status details
(55:41) - Bilt Cash details
(1:01:48) - Nick's Review
(1:10:49) - Greg's Review
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
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26 June 2026, 9:00 pm - 23 minutes 36 secondsThe 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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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Frequent Miler's Best Offers Page
23 June 2026, 9:00 pm - More Episodes? Get the App