Frequent Miler on the Air

By: Frequent Miler
  • Summary

  • 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.
    © Frequent Miler
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Episodes
  • Best hotel programs, Alaska quirks, the EVA experience and more | Ask Us Anything Ep73 | 3-5-25
    Mar 12 2025
    What do we think are the best hotel programs for outsized value? Have we noticed some of the same Alaska Airlines quirks that our listeners have? What have our experiences with the EVA Air program been (if any)? We answered these questions and more on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on YouTube on March 5th, 2025. 00:40 - What's the most meaningful miles and points trip you've had? 03:16 - Inspired by Nick’s “falling in love with Alaska” post… Let’s play a miles themed version of the old FMK game (the acronym will make sense in a moment, Carrie!) We’ll call it lust, marry, kill rather than the original name. Between Alaska, Aeroplan, and Avios, which is your torrid love affair, which would you settle down with, which ends up left behind? 05:47 - What’s the teams thoughts on how long this Amex to Hawaii to Alaska gravy train will last? 10:56 - Were any of the frequent milers effected by the recent Amex shutdowns? 12:55 - Any tips to reduce/avoid parking fees at airports? I live far enough away that Uber or shuttles are just as much(or more), so is there anything I'm not thinking of? 17:15 - ​​Which airlines offer lie flat seats from the eastern half of the USA to Hawaii with at least some availability via points at a reasonable cost? 19:21 - ​​I don't have any business spend so I'm hesitant to apply for business cards and use it for personal expenses. Is it legal/allowed to put personal spend on business cards? 21:28 ​​Is the 15% Delta Amex discount a real discount or Delta increased the redemption rate before the discount is applied. Their miles seem to be $.012/mile after the 15%. Is their miles really that bad? 24:01 - hey everyone! have any of you ever booked an award flight with EVA? so many quirks to that program but 75-80k to Asia is a good deal. Would love to hear any if your experiences if you have. Thanks! 28:29 - what's up with Alaska's phantom award availability? I've noticed this especially with AA, award space will show in Alaska, sometimes other partners, then Alaska won't ticket. And on Alaska - have you noticed Alaska semi-dynamically pricing AA routes? IE award chart says route should be 7.5k but all routes instead price at 10k or 12.5k? 33:50 - ​​if I took a retention offer to keep amex gold. Will amex take back points if I take an upgrade to platinum offer? 34:31 - ​​I received an offer for the Caesars no annual fee card. with 5000 spend in three months giving me diamond status. Am I crazy for wanting to get it for the free parking, no resorts fee, and food credit 37:45 - When checking if a layover will offer enough time, how can I know in advance if I may be forced to pickup + recheck my bags? Either with a single or multiple carriers? 38:56 - I'm trying to potentially book a Maldives trip with Hilton FNC but I'd like to connect there in style on Qatar and/or Emirates. Considering free night certificates only last a year and flights often are best booked a year out, how would you navigate a trip where flights and hotels might both be high demand options or timelines 44:25 - Which hotel rewards program would you say lately offers the highest probability for outside value? To me, it’s not close I believe Hilton shines in this respect. 51:45 - Have you ever gotten weird looks from the clerk while buying gift cards? 55:03 - ​​I found lots of availability at a SLH thru Hilton. Four nights bookable, but when I went to 5 nights, availability vanished. Is the hotel playing games to avoid 5th night free? Any workaround ideas
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    1 hr
  • Southwest takes the luv out of flying | Coffee Break Ep48 | 3-11-25
    Mar 11 2025

    Starting May 28 of this year, Southwest will be making some major changes to the things we've known and loved. For example Most people will be losing free checked bags on Southwest starting May 28 of this year, they'll be introducing basic economy, flight credits will now expire (after 6-12 months depending on what type of fare you bought) and the value of points will become much more variable.

    (01:49) - Commenter Brad says: "I’m an accountant who completely understands the math of cutting expenses or raising revenues to increase profit... I don’t understand, though, what the business strategy is here. Building a strategy that revolves around hoping customers won’t notice you’re charging them more for a worse product doesn’t seem like the kind of pitch that would get you an A in an MBA strategy class."

    Read the original post where this comment appeared here.

    (03:38) - 2 Bags No longer Fly Free for Most (pricing not yet disclosed)

    (05:58) - Basic economy fares

    (06:33) - Flight credits will expire (From May 28, 2025)

    (08:29) - Variable redemption rates

    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

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    16 mins
  • The 5 Best Award Search Tools | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep296 | 3-7-25
    Mar 7 2025

    In today's episode we'll talk about how American Airlines out-crazies Citi, Southwest out-bonvoys Marriott, and we'll talk about what we think are the 5 best award search tools that make it much easier to find those coveted awards.

    (01:25) - One reader shares their concerns about tax payments made by an American Express card not counting towards sign up bonus spending.

    (05:28) - Read more about paying taxes with a credit card here and check out our podcast Episode239 about paying taxes to earn rewards.

    (05:45) - Capital One Venture X Business cards have a Rideshare Protection benefit (which you can read more about here.)

    (08:00) - Hilton cards offer free night thru 4/29 (which you can read more about here.)

    (10:29) - Wyndham Earner cards big bonuses

    Read more about these Wyndham Earner bonuses here.

    (13:39) - Citi: accidentally credited a client’s account with $81 trillion when it meant to send only $280 (Read more about this here.)

    (15:22) - American Airlines made a huge blunder which you can read about here.

    (19:25) - Marriott StudioRes

    (26:00) - Southwest for the win

    Read more about Southwest slashing points earning on Wanna Get Away fares here.

    (29:52) - Alaska starting to roll out mixed partner awards

    Read more about this here.

    (32:23) - Aeroplan Family Points Sharing Returns

    Read more here.

    (35:20) - Hilton adds more and more SLH properties

    (38:06) - Find current transfer bonuses here.

    (41:14) - Read our post about award search tools here.

    (42:47) - Live Searches vs. Cached Discovery

    (47:23) - Alerts are KEY

    (50:25) - Flexible Live Search is very important

    (51:59) - Which is Best?

    (54:57) - Runner up

    (59:07) - Best for Beginners

    (1:02:28) - Best for advanced people

    (1:05:10) - Best add on (to use in addition to these other tools)

    (1:08:15) - Worth mentioning

    (1:12:17) - Discounts available in our post about which award search tool is best here.

    (1:12:28) - What should you do with your Capital One miles?

    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

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    1 hr and 19 mins

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