Stay ConnectedEarn 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.
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Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Edit by Chase Travel℠ are hotel programs offered by American Express and Chase, which offer a similar array of perks. But that doesn't mean there aren't significant differences. Greg discusses a recent stay where he used both of these back-to-back.
(00:40) - Read more here
(00:55) - On paper, Fine Hotels + Resorts® is better in most ways
(02:20) - Except...
(04:28) - Greg's Experience Fine Hotels + Resorts® vs The Edit by Chase Travel℠: Pendry Chicago
(02:06) - Commonalities
(06:55) - Differences
(12:02) - Confusing points
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
In today's podcast, we'll talk about why you might not want to toss out that United credit card mailer, how Bilt has led us to coin a new term, and how Calala Island wants to pay you to book with points!
(01:21) - Vijay: Using BOA Premier $100 airline fee credit
Read more about Amex Airline fee reimbursements here
(05:18) - Fast track to United Silver status with targeted new card offers
Read more about the fast track to United Silver status here
(07:20) - Marriott Earn 2,500 bonus points per stay + 1 bonus elite night per brand
Read more about the new Marriott promo here
Learn some shortcuts to Marriott elite status here
(12:33) - TBD about denied mortgage payments
Read more about various Bilt issues here
(18:14) - Should we introduce the term "Biltvoyed"?
(21:42) - Nick's EU261 compensation claim
(25:38) - Instacart and United team up (Read more here: https://frequentmiler.com/earn-up-to-10-5k-united-miles-when-shopping-with-instacart/)
(30:00) - Calala Island: Private island with only 6 villas. All inclusive. "Barefoot luxury" "Ultra-all-inclusive"
(37:00) - Two Big Buts...
(38:53) - Read about getting to Calala Island here: https://onemileatatime.com/how-to-get-to-calala-island/
(43:03) - Derrick Dye at Travel on Points: Read a review about this property here: https://travel-on-points.com/review-calala-island-a-nicaribbean-luxury-property/
(47:09) - Is Calala Island worth it?
(52:54) - Are we going to visit?
(57:41) - Is this a luxury hotel point farms?
(1:09:02) - A question about travel insurance: what do I need on the front end (especially in terms of documentation) to prepare for contingencies?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Today we're going to look at the details of the new Disney® Inspire Visa® Card, and we'll talk about whether or not it's worth considering.
(00:25) - New Disney® Inspire Visa® Card
Learn more about this card here
(02:23) - Is this worth getting for someone planning an upcoming Disney trip?
(04:07) - Is this worth getting for a regular Disney fan to keep long-term, specifically for Disney spend?
(10:27) - Is this worth getting for a Disney fan to keep long-term for all spend?
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
Do we undervalue Delta card welcome offers? How do you guys maximize SkyTeam? We answered these and many other questions on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on February 4th of 2026.
(00:39) - Given the amount of travel and exposure to different cultures that the whole frequent miler team has had over the years, what experiences have changed how you live day to day back home? For example, after a trip to Italy, I became very interested in espresso to the point where I bought myself an espresso machine that I now use every morning. Has something similar happened for you all?
(07:42) - Greg and Nick laugh at the idea of “things we do to keep the banks happy,” but only after they spent the Main Event discussing how they spend extraordinary amounts on credit cards – which surely keeps the banks happy! I appreciate Nick mentioning that his habit of keeping Amex cards >1 year might make Amex happy, but it’d be nice to keep some perspective given that most listeners/readers/watchers aren’t spending nearly the same amount as you two. So it’s logical that we might think more about “keeping the bank happy”.
(13:23) - Should I open frequent flyer accounts at EVERY possible airline? Is there any downside?
(14:57) - Has anyone here applied for the Disney Inspire card?
(19:08) - What would you pay for a subscription to a benefit? How do you value the Alaska Atmos 100K companion fare?
(23:06) - For issuers other than Amex, are there any pitfalls to be aware of when buying merchant-branded gift cards online to hit minimum spend for SUBs, from obvious gift card websites like DoorDash Gift Cards?
(27:13) - I'm overwhelmed. Do you use a flowchart on how to make decisions on how something is booked? For Loyalty points, using points, using cash, using a portal, which portal...
(32:55) - Do you think we undervalue Delta card welcome offers? The 15% discount gives you more award flight buying power. 90k miles gives you the buying power of 103,500. Is that a bad way to frame it?
(35:20) - Do you think of Citi transfers to AA as the best transfer option, similar to Chase and Hyatt?
(40:26) - What are your thoughts about the revised BofA Air France/KLM Visa card? I have thought that that card is a acutally better for SkyTeam than any Delta Airlines related card. AF/KLM vs. Delta cards?
(42:25) - Is it possible to change which airline is credited to a flight after your bags are checked but before the flight departs? I'd like to get my free AA bags but have the flight credited to Alaska
(46:13) - Best use of Wyndham now that Vacasa is gone and no Caesar match in Vegas? Any other options like Vacasa?
(48:40) - My friend wants to transfer 100,000 Citi points to me. I know that’s the yearly limit, and they expire in 90 days. My question is, if I get them then transfer them, do my ThankYou Points transfer first or the gifted ThankYou points
(49:30) - Since Delta is crazily underwhelming, how do you guys maximize SkyTeam?
(51:55) - Do any of the FM team ever get denied for credit cards? Has anyone ever been in pop-up prison? How do you avoid denials?
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Music Credit – “swappin’ back n’ forth” by up @ night
In this episode, we'll take Hyatt on a mattress run, we'll answer "Is Tyler crazy for liking the Bilt Paladium card?", and Nick disagrees with our entire main event!
(01:07) - Tyler disagrees with all the negative feedback that the Bilt program is getting
(06:01) - Read more about Greg's thoughts on Bilt changes here
(08:18) - Atmos Ascent ($95 card) offer
Learn more about the Atmos Ascent card here
(10:24) - Southwest consumer card offers: Companion Pass + bonus points
Learn more about the Southwest consumer card offers here
(13:08) - Hyatt's overlapping promos
Learn more about the Hyatt Bonus Journeys here
Learn more about the Hyatt House / Hyatt Studios promo here
(21:00) - Chase makes it harder to track Ink Business Cash® 5x spending
Learn more about this here
(22:09) - Capital One: 30% transfer bonus to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
Learn more about the transfer bonus here: https://frequentmiler.com/30-transfer-bonus-from-capital-one-miles-to-japan-airlines-mileage-bank/
(25:26) - Citi is still allowing product changes between AAdvantage and ThankYou point cards
(29:03) - Rove "Built Better" promo
(32:40:09) - Comparing $350 airline cards: AA, Delta, United (and Alaska)
(35:33) - Earnings on spend
(40:25) - All offer standard airline card perks such as free checked bags, priority boarding, Global Entry/PreCheck
(41:57) - Lounge access
(42:55) - Elite status-related things
(48:12) - Companion tickets & flight discounts
(52:38) - Coupons and other stuff
(56:11) - Which "pays for itself" best without requiring much spend?
(59:52) - Which offers the best elite accelerators?
(1:01:08) - Which offers the best companion ticket?
(1:01:38) - Which is best for solo fliers?
(1:02:26) - Which offers the best earnings on spend
(1:04:44) - Which is the best of the best?
(1:11:53) - Do you need to have 5 employees before you transfer miles with the Citi business AAdvantage card?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
If you have an American Airlines card issued by Barclays, it won't be a Barclays card for much longer, as AA cards will transition to Citi instead. So what does that mean for you? We'll answer some common questions about this transition in today's podcast episode.
Read more about the Barclays to Citi transition here.
(01:03) - April 24, 2026, the bank that issues your AAdvantage® credit card is changing from Barclays Bank Delaware to Citibank, N.A. (Citi)
(02:15) - $99 cards
(02:45) - Silver to Globe
See our episode about the Globe card here.
(03:24) - Barclays vs Citi Companion Certs
(11:45) - Should we cancel our Barclays cards before the changeover?
(16:38) - Disadvantages to cancelling BEFORE
(23:07) - Should we apply for Citi AA cards before the changeover?
(24:25) - What are Nick and Greg going to do?
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
In today's episode, we discover that not all heroes have capes, some redeem rewards! We learn a trick for extending Southwest flight credits, and we tell all: how we increase our credit card spend.
(01:06) - See our podcast episode 197, "13 ways to increase credit card spend" here
(01:37) - Mike: We can be heroes...just for one day
Listen to our episode about sharing miles and points here
(03:58) - Brent: Charitable giving
Listen to our podcast about rewards from giving here
(09:15) - Bilt quietly removed eBay & Facebook Marketplace as exclusions
Read more about this here
(10:39) - Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus to Accor
(19:21) - Southwest credits are valid for 60 months in some situations
(23:22) - JetBlue 25for25 stats
(29:16) - Capital One Shopping Home Page Bonus Offers
Read more about Capital One Shopping home page bonus offers here
(32:55) - See our podcast episode 197, "13 ways to increase credit card spend" here
(33:57) - Today, we'll describe the ways we (Nick and I) increase spend in real life
(34:15) - About paying fees
(37:43) - Pay taxes
Read about paying taxes via credit card here
(45:23) - Use a service to pay bills that don’t ordinarily accept a credit card, like Plastiq
Learn more about Plastiq here
(52:07) - Melio
Learn more about Melio here
(53:49) - Fund college savings or pay student loans
Learn about miles for college here
(1:01:12) - Make loans through Kiva
Learn about Kiva here
(1:03:40) - Pay bills for friends or family
(1:07:10) - Fund new bank accounts
Learn more about funding a bank account with a credit card here
(1:11:52) - Buy and sell merchandise
Learn about buying groups here
(1:13:13) - Buy and sell gift cards
Learn about buying and selling gift cards here
(1:16:09) - Donate to charity
Learn about earning rewards for charitable giving here
Or listen to our podcast about rewards from giving here
(1:18:14) - Cruise ship spend
(1:23:03) - SUMMARY
(1:24:02) - How do you decide when to downgrade vs when to cancel, and how do you keep the banks happy?
See our episode about discarding cards here
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
With Bilt 2.0, Bilt introduced a complicated new rewards currency called "Bilt Cash". We're going to try to dissect that today.
(00:11) - Bilt 2.0: 3 new cards, 2 complicated ways to earn points on housing payments; and 1 complicated new rewards currency... Bilt Cash
Read more about it here: https://frequentmiler.com/bilt-cash-how-to-use/
(00:57) - Earning Bilt Cash
(02:12) - December 31 Bilt Cash Gets Trashed Day
(02:45) - Using Bilt Cash
(10:41) - Evaluating Bilt Cash uses
(16:45) - Coupons
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
In today's episode, we'll talk about a trick for getting great value with Delta miles, which has returned, how flying Emirates first with points has gotten harder, and the hard truth about how we have too many cards (and what to do about it).
(01:52) - Using AAdvantage miles to book JetSmart and other tips for South America travel
(04:10) - Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Read more about Air France KLM flying blue here
(15:38) - Capital One Venture Rewards: 75K + $250 travel after $4K spend
(18:35) - Bilt Cash details revealed
Catch up on how Bilt bungled the rollout here
(21:06) - Qantas Nerfs Emirates First Class Awards
Read more about this here
(23:34) - Delta trick lowering award prices by booking flights to/from Mexico, working once again
(25:20) - Alaska $99 Companion Fares can be used with the multi-city tool on the regular booking engine again
(26:35) - American Airlines Awards flying Aer Lingus Now Available Online
(28:14) - Find out which premium cards we think are keepers here
(31:41) - Greg's thoughts about keeper cards
(35:25) - $795 Sapphire Reserve® Card Example (read more about our thoughts here)
(57:45) - $325 American Express® Gold Card example
(1:04:44) - $895 American Express Platinum Card® example
(1:14:58) - Cards Greg and Nick have discarded recently
(1:24:08) - American Express® Gold Card with 4x dining vs Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card with 3x dining + status... which one is worth it?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Chase is out with offers for both their Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card, both offering up to 5 free nights. So which of these offers is better?
(00:32) - World of Hyatt Card
(01:17) - Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card
(01:36) - Which is better?
(01:47) - Marriott advantages
(05:17) - Hyatt advantages
(08:10) - Caution: Annual category changes coming soon (last year it was March 25 for Hyatt, unknown for Marriott)
(09:28) - Final answer
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
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