The Amex Platinum card has had great welcome bonuses for a while now, but it's a very expensive card. Are there reasons to keep the card once the annual fee comes due? That's what we'll discuss in today's Frequent Miler on the Air episode.

(01:36) - Online chat for immediate Avios refunds? (Mailbag)

(05:26) - Wells Fargo Attune Card (Card Talk)

Read more about the Attune card here.

(17:49) - Hyatt promo: Earn 1k bonus points + double elite nights at 15 Florida properties (Mattress Running the Numbers)

(23:46) - Virgin kills Delta One deal (Award Talk)

(28:39) - Interesting notes about Spirit awards (Award Talk)

Read more about Nick's Spirit discoveries here.

Read more about the Amex Platinum card here.

(34:25) - Become elite

(37:01) - Enhance your travel experiences

(40:57) - Earn $200 back on prepaid hotel bookings each year

Read more about FHR credits here: https://frequentmiler.com/maxfhr-an-awesome-new-way-to-help-use-your-200-fine-hotels-resorts-credits/

(44:28) - Earn $200 in Airline Fee Credits each calendar year

(46:08) - Use $200 in Uber credits each calendar year

(48:53) - Get $20 per month back in rebates on select digital entertainment services

(51:27) - Earn up to $100 per year in rebates at Saks Fifth Avenue

(55:18) - Get Walmart+ for Free

(56:53) - Earn 5x for airfare and prepaid hotels

(57:21) - Refer friends

(1:05:37) - Hyatt dummy-booking offer... why is no one talking about this offer?

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

Sonesta is a hotel chain with more than 1100 properties that we haven't paid much attention to until Tim wrote a recent post about the Sonesta Travel Pass, a program that sort of came out of nowhere. In this week's Coffee Break episode, we'll chat more about why you shouldn't siesta on Sonesta!

(01:24) - Sonesta Travel Pass Basics

(04:04) - Elite Status

(06:49) - Shortcuts to elite status

(11:22) - Points from paid stays

(13:08) - Sonesta Travel Pass credit card

Read more about the Sonesta card here.

(15:58) - Final thoughts... are we excited about this?

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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads

Amex has long had rules against getting a new welcome bonus for a card you’ve had before.
Now, they’ve expanded those rules to include "families" of cards. In this episode we'll help you navigate this confusing and tedious concept.

(01:31) - With pointsyeah a reader found an interesting redemption for ANA first class... but found a great discount for “suffering” in economy to HND. (Mailbag)

Read more about Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing - First Class for less

(05:15) - Southwest Companion Pass with one business card (Card Talk)

Find out more about the Southwest Premier Business Card here

Find out more about the Southwest Performance Business card here

(18:14) - Bilt rent day promo (Award Talk)

(19:42) - Alaska Airlines transfer bonus, up to 100% (Award Talk)

Read more about the Alaska / Bilt transfer bonus here

(24:18) - Alaska Airlines status match (Award Talk)

(29:20) - Bilt Neighborhood dining (Award Talk)

(32:09) - Hilton adds more SLH properties (Award Talk)

(37:50) - Choice removes 35K cap on their points prices in the US (Award Talk)

(39:22) - We've updated some of our RRVs (Award Talk)

(44:46) - Use Virgin points to book AF/KLM (Award Talk)

(50:23) - Fiji airways to adopt AAdvantage miles (Award Talk)

(52:09) - Read more about Greg’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(54:55) - Read more about Nick’s predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(56:27) - Read more about Stephen’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(58:38) - Read more about Tim’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(1:01:27) - Read more about Carrie’s Predictions here (2024 Predictions Half-Way Check Point)

(1:03:24) - About Amex's "Pop-Up Prison"

(1:06:58) - Family types

(1:09:08) - How to find the rules. Look for "Offer Terms"

(1:12:16) - Skirting the pop-up prison

(1:18:01) - What sites do you like the best, apart from your own? (Question of the Week)

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

On a previous Coffee Break episode, we talked about the Frequent Miler origin story – Greg’s story. This week, we'll learn about Nick's origin story with the Frequent Miler team.

(00:47) -Super quick recap of next 5 years from the start of the blog

Greg posted a "Help Wanted" for full time employee, which you can read here

(02:21) - How Nick got into miles and points

(12:09) - Nick discovers Frequent Miler at an FTU

(13:58) - Greg and Nick meet in person at another FTU

(16:37) - Nick's wife convinces him to apply for the Frequent Miler position

(17:10) - More details about Greg's help wanted post and the hiring process

(20:42) - Greg was hoping to find someone who knew more about redemption than he did

Visit here 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

(00:00) Intro: There are a multitude of ways to fly to Hawaii using miles and points (and even many ways to get a deal on cash tickets). On this week's show, we discuss ways to fly to Hawaii from around the US from as few as 10K or 13.5K points each way.

(01:06) New FM intro

(03:22) Card Talk: Sonesta World Mastercard

https://frequentmiler.com/sonesta/

-Card Details

-What are points worth?

(16:00) What crazy thing . . . did Marriott and Starbucks do this week? https://frequentmiler.com/link-marriott-starbucks-accounts-to-occasionally-earn-double-stars-minimal-bonus-points/

(19:51) Mattress running the numbers: Wyndham Rewards Hotel Pass https://frequentmiler.com/wyndham-rewards-selling-30-night-hotel-pass/

(27:48) Award Talk

(27:55) New Reasonable Redemption Value for Hotel Points https://frequentmiler.com/what-are-hyatt-points-worth/

(30:29) Aeroplan promotion with Miles4Migrants) https://frequentmiler.com/earn-7500-aeroplan-points-with-a-100-miles4migrants-donation/

(34:19) 15% transfer bonus from Citi to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles https://frequentmiler.com/citi-thankyou-offering-15-transfer-bonus-to-cathay-pacific-asia-miles/

(27:03) Enterprise Rent-A-Car Status Match https://frequentmiler.com/enterprise-status-match-giving-status-through-february-2026-match-from-hotel-airline-car-rental-programs/

(30:29) Amex referral bonuses now as high as 45,000 points for targeted cardholders https://frequentmiler.com/amex-referral-bonuses-now-as-high-as-45000-points-per-referral-up-to-100k-per-year-per-card/

(42:44) Main Event: Best Ways to fly to Hawaii https://frequentmiler.com/best-ways-to-fly-to-hawaii-from-the-us-mainland/

(43:04) Cash deals

(43:30) Delta companion certificates

(44:55) Alaska Companion Fare

(46:13) Southwest Companion Pass

(47:32) Vacation packages

(49:15) Award deals: Economy

(49:24) United flights via Turkish Miles & Smiles for 10K each way

(50:48) Finnair Avios for American Airlines (15K) or Alaska Airlines (13.5K)

(52:52) Alaska Mileage Plan for Alaska from 15K

(53:35) Singapore Krisflyer for central/Western US to Hawaii (13-14K)

(54:33) Using Alaska miles to fly AA for 17.5K from Dallas and west coast

(55:32) Use United to fly United from 11.1K from the west coast

(56:42) Aeroplan for 12.5K from the west coast to Hawaii on United

(58:00) Qatar Avios for 13K one way from the west coast

(59:00) Flying Blue for Delta from 18K

(59:16) Virgin Atlantic for Hawaiian Airlines for 20K each way from the west coast

(1:00:16) JetBlue for Hawaiian Airlines for 20K each way from the west coast (1:00:48) American Airlines miles for AA from 20K each way

(1:01:39) Southwest Airlines when cash fares are cheap

(1:02:00) "First class" flights to Hawaii with miles

(1:02:57) Turkish miles for United: 15K miles each way

(1:05:35) Finnair Avios for American Airlines" 38K miles each way

(1:07:00) Alaska Miles for Alaska from 40K miles each way

(1:07:21) Hawaiian miles to fly Hawaiian: 40K one way or upgrade from 25K. Possibly more availability with status or as a cardholder.

(1:09:25) Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Hawaiian: 40K one way from the west coast

(1:09:48) Alaska Mileage Plan for American Airlines: 35K one-way from as far east as Dallas

(1:10:10) Air Canada Aeroplan for United for 25K from the west coast

(1:10:50) Qatar Airways Avios for American or Alaska for 38,750 Avios from the west coast

(1:11:50) Example for how to find award availability

(1:19:33) Question of the Week: Is reselling a good low-energy way to generate points?

Music credit: Annie Yoder

(00:00) The Wall Street Journal reported friction in the relationship between Wells Fargo & Bilt. What was reported and what do we make of the details? Find out in this episode of Coffee Break.

(01:16) What the Wall Street Journal Article says

(02:01) Digging into article details a bit about the Bilt / Wells Fargo relationship (06:34) Fraud and Money Laundering Concerns

(09:44) The Wells Fargo and Bilt response

(10:34) WSJ article key points quick summary

(11:12) Our take about what this all means

Visit 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

Greg and Nick have been consumed with last-minute travel the last week and a half so it's great timing for them to summarize 10 important tips for last-minute award travel.

(01:17) - Standing ovation for the annual challenge! (Mailbag)

(06:43) - Annual Challenge recap and overview

Watch the Stage 1 recap video here: https://youtu.be/bMt_NfuuINI?feature=shared

Watch the Stage 2 recap video here: https://youtu.be/gyJPtTZN1EE?feature=shared

Watch the Stage 3 recap video here: https://youtu.be/HTmEAicB3dw?feature=shared

(34:15) - Curve overview (Card Talk)

Find out more here: https://www.curve.com/en-us

(37:56) - Hilton SLH integrated testing phase (Award Talk)

(40:26) - Preferred Hotels / Choice devaluation (55K to 87K) (Award Talk)

(42:34) - Aero plan credit card & elite members status match to iPrefer Titanium (before June 28) (Award Talk)

(44:18) - Book Oman Air w/ Flying Blue miles (Award Talk)

(44:30) - Book El Al with Virgin points (Award Talk)

(44:51) - Points Path adds support for Air Canada & Alaska Airlines (Award Talk)

(47:00) - General advice

(52:38) - Great awards often open last minute (ex: Lufthansa first)

(57:16) - Diversify. Having different types of points and miles helps.

(58:28) - Become adept at award search tools. Huge time saver.

(1:00:26) - Don’t rely entirely on award search tools. They don’t catch everything (no Virgin Atlantic on a couple, no BA / QR Avios, didn’t see LifeMiles for my redemption, etc)

(1:03:41) - Consider keeping stashes in programs you use often. This only applies if you have a lot of points and miles, but it could help avoid a failed transfer.

(1:05:27) - Watch out for transfer times

(1:08:10) - Get a good VPN. I wonder if some of my problems could have been averted if I’d used one all along.

(1:11:22) - Know that Aeroplan’s contact center isn’t 24/7. This can be a big pain when you’re overseas.

(1:12:37) - Beware the phantom menace. Tons of Swiss space that isn’t real.

(1:17:02) - Have some tricks up your sleeve. This could alternatively be called "persistence pays off". Don’t give up right away. Examples include searching Avianca’s site multiple ways, forcing a stopover with Aeroplan to get a flight to show up, booking a refundable something as a backup, etc.

(1:20:10) - How do you go about finding activities while you travel? (Question of the Week)

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

Greg and Nick are busy returning home from a jam-packed week competing in our 2024 annual team challenge "Flying by the Seat of our Points". For this coffee break episode, we've highlighted a portion of the final livestream from Kuala Lumpur where the team reflects on the highlights (and lowlights) of their individual journeys.

You can find out all kinds of details about this challenge here: https://frequentmiler.com/2024-annual-challenge/