Frequent Miler on the Air

The year 2023 has seen our travels take us all over the world. This week, we look back and discuss our favorite award redemptions of the year 2023 and of all time.

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00:00 Intro

01:35 Giant Mailbag

04:10 Travel Talk

04:28 Alaska wants to buy Hawaiian Airlines

12:00 EU261 claim

14:33 Card Talk : Hawaiian Airlines credit cards

22:30 Award Talk: Avianca customer service might be better than its reputation suggests.

29:30 Main Event: Our favorite travel rewards of 2023

31:05 Special situation: Party of 5 (ANA First Class and LATAM Business Class)

35:34 Qatar QSuites (maybe)

37:06 British Airways Club World Suites

39:35 Air France business class

42:01 Turkish Airlines business class

47:24 Our all-time favorite flight awards

47:31 Etihad First Class Apartments

48:08 Old Singapore Suites / ANA First Class flight

50:29 Our favorite hotel redemptions of 2023

50:38 Eichert's Private Hotel in Queenstown, NZ (SLH via Hyatt)

52:11 Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio, Italy (on Lake Como) (SLH via Hyatt)

54:13 Kona Seaside Yacht Villa through Vacasa (Wyndham Rewards)

57:27 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida

1:00:57 Greg honorable mentions: VIlla Copenhagen; Kimpton Fitzroy; Ventana Big Sur, Inn at Bay Harbor

1:02:57 Comfort Hotel Bolivar in Rome, Hyatt Regency Nice

1:04:44 Our all-time favorite hotel awards

1:05:48 Necker Island

1:09:36 St Regis Bora Bora

1:13:14 Non-flight or hotel rewards

1:13:30 BLADE helicopter flight

1:15:45 Cruising for free thanks to casino status matching

1:20:11 Which cards are worth getting in the hopes that they get grandfathered?

Music credit: Annie Yoder

Get your pen and paper and get ready to play along and see if you can beat the blogger as Nick tries to score at least 75,000 points revealing 10 tricks for spending fewer points on your flight and hotel awards.

00:00 Intro

01:52 Giant Mailbag

04:05 Card Talk: Amex Platinum card changes

10:51 Mattress running the numbers: Stand Up to Cancer and earn 50x

https://frequentmiler.com/american-airlines-earn-up-to-50x-aadvantage-miles-with-cancer-research-donation/

14:15 Award Talk

14:20 IHG suite upgrades now apply on award stays

16:41 Finnair is joining Avios

https://frequentmiler.com/finnair-to-start-using-avios-in-early-2024/

19:49 Main Event: 10 tricks for spending fewer points for flights and hotels (gameshow edition)

21:19 How can a person get 1.5 cpp for travel booked directly with travel providers?

https://frequentmiler.com/us-bank-real-time-mobile-rewards-what-works-where/

23:52 How can you get 2 cents per point buying flights with Amex Membership Rewards points?

26:29 Describe two tricks that guarantee lower award prices by flying farther

https://frequentmiler.com/avianca-lifemiles-awesome-mixed-cabin-award-pricing-first-class-for-less/

https://frequentmiler.com/cathay-pacific-asia-miles-mixed-cabin-award-pricing-first-class-for-less/

28:59 Name three ways to incur lower surcharges when flying BA

https://frequentmiler.com/british-airways-adds-option-to-use-more-avios-less-money/

https://frequentmiler.com/business-class-to-london-for-less-with-this-asia-miles-hack/

33:59 How is it possible to fly within Europe for as few as 4,000 points one-way?

https://frequentmiler.com/air-france-klm-across-europe-for-less-sweet-spot-spotlight/

36:32 How can fly business class across the Atlantic Ocean for 55k United miles?

40:38 Name three ways to pay for a regular room award stay but confirm a suite instead

https://frequentmiler.com/incredible-hyatt-suites-bookable-with-points/

43:31 What type of lodging would cost me 67,500 points per night?

https://frequentmiler.com/wyndham-vacasa/

45:43 How could one pay avg of only 67.5 pct of the original award cost for a hotel? (32.5% off)

50:11 How could one pay 55% fewer points for a hotel award?

54:49 Bonus: What are Delta miles worth in SkyClub for premium drinks?

56:42 Question of the Week: What if any are the best ways to book Airbnbs or 2 hotel rooms with points at a reasonable rate?

Music credit: Annie Yoder

How would we use that 100K bonus, and which vacation home rental platform has the best value? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on May 7th, 2025.

(03:54) - ​​Hi! Q for Stephen: what’s your credit card strategy now that you’ve moved? For everyone: If you lived outside the US but could still have US credit cards, which cards would you keep?

(06:45) - ​​Last month, y'all outlined how many cards you open each year- often 12-20. How many do you close each year?

(10:23) - ​​I don’t know if I really want to know this answer (haha) but did anyone have luck with Atlantis after the Wyndham/Caesars status match deal went dead earlier this year?

(12:47) - Any news when we can book Philippine Airlines with Alaska miles? Any ideas to get more Alaska miles to book Philippine Airlines tickets?

(17:21) - Am going to book an Air France award ticket. Fees are $400+. If I use Amex Plat for this, will I get 5x? Will I get trip protection/insurance?

(18:38) - ​​What is the best use of the recent 100K Chase point offering in terms of Flights overseas? Read our Best Use of Chase Ultimate Rewards points resource here.

(30:32) - ​​Can you explain the expiration date reset if merging Avios from other programs with different expiration dates? Read our Avios expiration dates post here.

(32:14) - ​​I was just bumped from an SQ J ticket that was booked as part of my RTW itinerary. Do you guys know what kind of compensation to ask for? They offered $525 USD and a Garuda Flight

(34:18) - ​​Do authorized users of Ink Preferred or Sapphire be able to transfer points to their airline accounts?

(35:25) - ​​Is the option to get both personal Hawaiian cards now dead? (I have both, but P2 does not have both yet)

(36:16) - Would Chase allow me to hold multiple Ritz Carlton cards simultaneously? If yes, how?

(38:07) - ​​Which vacation home rental program do you recommend for its value?

(43:28) - ​​Anyone get/use the Mesa card?

(45:03) - Any hidden gems in Puerto Rico that you guys would recommend? I have a trip coming up later this year that I haven't planned much for

(46:26) - What's the most memorable reaction you've seen from someone experiencing miles and points who wasn't used to it

(47:17) - Which cards does Greg actually use for travel and dining as opposed to the one-off benefits?

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Music Credit – “swappin’ back n’ forth” by up @ night

Alaska Airlines is making some big changes in 2025! We'll talk about why we think these changes are exciting...(and will share an exciting announcement of our own!)

(01:20) - Greg was recently curious about if the Hawaiian Miles personal card would be getting elevated offers and one reader says the answer is yes! Check your emails for higher offers!

Listen to our episode about the Hawaiian / Alaska merger here: https://frequentmiler.com/podcast-alaska-hawaiian-airlines-wedding-planning-frequent-miler-on-the-air-ep269-8-23-24/

(03:25) - Fly 15 SkyTeam airlines (and credit to SAS or redeem SAS miles) by end of year and get 1 MILLION MILES... you all had ideas for us related to this challenge...

(05:29) - Greg's post "Catching up on 2 weeks of big miles & points news" (Read the post here: https://frequentmiler.com/catching-up-on-2-weeks-of-big-miles-points-news)

(07:04) - For the first time ever, the FM team will do 2nd challenge within 1 year...and we want you to participate!

Read more about our newest challenge here: https://frequentmiler.com/start-your-engines-for-frequent-miler-million-mile-madness/

(19:47) - Alaska / Hawaiian transfers live

(22:28) - Spirit Airlines adds free WiFi and ditches award fees for Free Spirit members.

(23:56) - Virgin Atlantic to go to dynamic award pricing - companion and upgrade vouchers may become more usable

(28:33) - Choice Privileges max award pricing for Preferred Hotels reduced from 118k to 87k. Only 9 out of 310 are currently priced 80K or higher. Meanwhile, 68 properties are priced 30K or lower.

(30:43) - Bilt adds Accor Live Limitless and TAP Air Portugal as transfer partners.

(36:18) - Marriott & Aeroplan launch reciprocal status match opportunity.

(42:42) - Huge mostly positive changes to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan coming 2025...

Read more about the changes to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan here: https://frequentmiler.com/alaska-mileage-plan-updates-earn-status-with-award-flights-credit-cards-shopping-portal-spend-more-other-changes/

(43:03) - Earning Elite Status with Alaska Airlines

(53:59) - Mileage Plan Milestones

(1:04:46) - Other changes

(1:13:11) - Some more negative changes

(1:15:14) - Summary of our assessments

(1:17:46) - Someone wrote in asking if the Alaska changes change our mind about whether it makes sense to earn Alaska miles when paying rent through Bilt