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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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.
(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
(04:53) - American Airlines blocking close-in domestic award availability to partners here
(07:58) - Alaska Airlines: Increased partner award fees & no points or status points on saver fares here
(13:36) - What are Hilton points worth? Find out here
(21:00) - Hyatt reasonable redemption value preview
(23:26) - Vacations by Marriott here
(28:42) - World of Hyatt to launch early access bookings for elites and cardholders June 30th.
(30:01) - Credit card referral offers
(32:53) - Learning to love Instacart credits here
(37:25) - Greg's shutdown story
Read more about Greg's situation with Cit here
(52:12) - There was a brief window to transfer points
(58:40) - Globe Card (from Aviator Silver) opened shortly after shutdown
(1:03:41) - What's lost and what to do about it
(1:07:51) - Citi's unique transfer partners
(1:11:42) - AA status: Will pursue AK status instead
(1:14:38) - Priority Pass restaurants: US Bank Altitude Connect
(1:16:58) - Grocery
(1:23:44) - Dining
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
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
(06:33) - Is it worth going out of one's way to get Citi Citi Custom Cash® Card while it's available for product changing?
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
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 do you balance speed with lowering the risk that your points will miss their intended purpose?
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 mailbag@frequentmiler.com.
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 allow more awards for more points
(26:47) - Married segment logic awards (e.g. san-lax-tyo available, but lax-tyo not available)
(35:07) - Consider programs that allow a stopover
(39:04) - Award tool Alerts
(41:44) - Paid flights
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
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
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
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 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 mailbag@frequentmiler.com.
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?
(00:46) - Gil has a warning story about being Bonvoyed by Bonvoy... Boundless
(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
(17:37) - Enjoying elite status
(21:10) - Earning points getting easier
(27:54) - New opportunities to earn transferable points keep appearing
(29:00) - Point transfer opportunities are often increasing
(30:26) - Using points sometimes improves
(31:28) - Airlines
(38:37) - Hotels
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
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.)
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
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 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 Monday 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 mailbag@frequentmiler.com.
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.
(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
(08:48) - American Express adds $300 in ChatGPT credits on The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and American Express® Business Gold Cards
(12:40) - See our updated resource for the best cards for Priority Pass here
(16:04) - Priority Pass Restaurants
(18:02) - Mastercard Launches Mastercard Airport Dining Experience (‘Taste By/Of Priceless’ Airport Lounges)
(22:13) - JetBlue and United Unlock Reciprocal Loyalty Benefits
(25:51) - Read Nick's post about Citi Travel for rental cars here
(30:49) - Read more about Sixt offering prepaid fuel for $49.99 for rentals in the US for Sixt ONE members here
(34:31) - Points Path Pro now shows United discounted cardholder pricing
(36:23) - Read more about how to keep airline miles and hotel points alive here
(37:37) - We'll focus on which combination of credit cards might make sense for someone to use, but we'll stick to a $95 annual fee budget. We'll focus on transferable points and include cash back that can be converted to transferable points
(40:27) - Capital One
(42:21) - Chase
(47:54) - Citi
(52:03) - Wells Fargo
(56:07) - Other considerations
(1:01:05) - Best Mixed-Bank $95 Wallet
(1:10:40) - Nick's pick for best $95 wallet
(1:13:39) - Greg's pick for best $95 wallet
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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