Frequent Miler on the Air

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerIn today's episode, United will be making it harder to earn status in 2027; we're simplifying our card and bank account collections; there are Amex Platinum card rumors, and Hyatt now allows transferring points to others online. And speaking of Hyatt... they've made the next move in their relationship with Air Canada. But... is it enough?Giant Mailbag(01:13) - Megan asks Greg if he's considered opening a Bask Bank account as a potential for AA milesLearn more about the Bask Bank Offer hereBonvoyed: United(09:16) - United will be making it harder to earn status in 2027This Week in Points(13:35) - Transferring Hyatt points to other members can now be done online!(16:44) - Rove has added another new transfer partner: JetBlue(18:40) - Elite night credits from multiple IHG credit cards do stack(20:34) - Hilton and IHG drop their point sale price below half a cent(23:59) - Get paid to visit Vancouver, British ColumbiaLearn more about getting paid to visit Vancouver here(25:49) - Amex Platinum Rumors(39:00) - Find our "Which cards are keepers?" resource herePersonal Points(39:22) - Nick is downgrading cards(46:50) - Greg is downgrading cards too...Main Event: Hyatt & Air Canada's partnership reaches next level(50:30) - Initial partnership(54:21) - What's new?(1:04:06) - Hyatt/Air Canada Dual accrual promoSubscribe and FollowVisit 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 YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerShould I keep my ultra-premium card to preserve 1:1 point transfers? Chuck wrote in with this question, asking:Do you think other banks will do something similar to what Chase did with Hyatt — requiring the highest end card in order to maintain the 1:1 transfer? Will Citi require the Strata Elite for AA? Will C1, Will Amex? I wouldn't want to cancel an elite card only to later learn I need it to maintain value of points. Your thoughts?(01:05) - Do we think other banks will do this?Subscribe and FollowVisit 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 YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerThe Wild Card challenge has officially wrapped, with the final scores and official winner announced in our live YouTube broadcast on October 7th, 2026. Review the scoring and listen to the live broadcast here.As a reminder, for this challenge, our contestants picked from different wild card decks to set the parameters of their trips. First, they selected travel destinations, then hotel, airline, and transferable points cards, which provided their points and miles budgets. And finally, they selected power-ups and obstacles to make their travels a little more realistic to the challenges our readers and listeners face, and make things a little more interesting! Finally, they had to meet together in Melbourne, Australia, a destination that was revealed as a complete surprise in our card draw livestream.Total scores after Destinations 1 & 2As a quick reminder, here were the scores each of the contestants earned after the first two destinations:GregDestination 1 = 102Destination 2 = 106Total score = 208NickDestination 1 = 105Destination 2 = 115Total score = 220TimDestination 1 = 107Destination 2 = 123Total score = 230Destination 3 scoringDuring the livestream on Wednesday night, we judges awarded the scores for their third and final destination: Melbourne, Australia.Here's a breakdown of what each of them earned:GregFlightsWallet-friendliness – 8Ingenuity – 9Luxury – 6Duplicability – 10AccommodationWallet-friendliness – 6Ingenuity – 6Luxury – 9Duplicability – 10ActivitiesWallet-friendliness – 7Ingenuity – 10Luxury – 10Duplicability – 10Mini challenge descriptionMany of our readers use miles and points for their honeymoons. Pick an activity you could imagine including in a honeymoon trip. – 10Additional bonus pointsWe were impressed with Greg's gameplay whereby he paid for his hotels using airline miles and paid for nearly all his flights using hotel points - 10Total points for Destination 3 – 121Total points for Destinations 1 & 2 – 208Total points for the entire trip – 329NickFlightsWallet-friendliness – 7Ingenuity – 8Luxury – 7Duplicability – 10AccommodationWallet-friendliness – 7Ingenuity – 8Luxury – 8Duplicability – 10ActivitiesWallet-friendliness – 10Ingenuity – 9Luxury – 9Duplicability – 10Mini challenge descriptionMany of our readers travel with picky eaters. Order a dish you think is locally authentic, but wouldn't scare off a picky eater. – 10Additional bonus pointsNick was a real trooper considering he had to fly across the Atlantic three times despite not having to actually visit Europe as part of the challenge, as well as for managing to fit in so many activities despite the lack of sleep - 10Total points for Destination 3 – 123Total points for Destinations 1 & 2 – 220Total points for the entire trip – 343TimFlightsWallet-friendliness – 10Ingenuity – 10Luxury – 10Duplicability – 10AccommodationWallet-friendliness – 9Ingenuity – 9Luxury – 10Duplicability – 10ActivitiesWallet-friendliness – 8Ingenuity – 10Luxury – 9Duplicability – 10Mini challenge descriptionMany of our readers travel with young children. In this destination, find an activity that would be infant-friendly, but not a snooze fest for Mom and Dad. – 0Additional bonus pointsTim had arguably the best set of cards that were picked for the challenge, but what he did with them far exceeded what we imagine many people thought he'd be able to do with them - 10Total points for Destination 3 – 125Total points for Destinations 1 & 2 – 230Total points for the entire trip – 355Rewatch the livestream below(01:15) - Recap of Greg's previous score(01:40) - How did Greg get home?(04:08) - Greg's final score(07:49) - Team rebuttal for Greg's score(11:28) - Recap of Nick's previous score(12:18) - How did Nick get home?(15:03) - Nick's final score(20:09) - Team rebuttal for Nick's score(24:11) - How did Tim get home?(27:46) - Recap of Tim's previous score(28:03) - Tim's final score(35:19) - Did anyone wish they'd made use of the option to fully redraw cards?(39:47) - At any point in this challenge were you truly dead tired?(46:33) - What surprised you most about your activities or destinations?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 – “swappin’ back n’ forth” by up @ nightCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerWhat should you keep in mind when Estate planning for miles and points? Reader John wrote in with this question, asking:I’m working through estate planning right now and one thing keeps bothering me: what happens to a meaningful stash of points and miles when you die?Have you ever thought through your own points-and-miles estate planning? What would you do if your heirs weren’t hobbyists? Transfer where possible, redeem in advance, leave detailed instructions, designate one knowledgeable person to handle it, something else?I’d be interested in how you would approach it.See our post about this here.(01:11) - If you are planning for an imminent situation:(01:25) - Combine points where possible(05:06) - Cash out points(05:44) - Planning an "in case" scenario(08:43) - Take things slowlySubscribe and FollowVisit 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 YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerIn our third check-in of the Wild Card Challenge, our contestant's were in their final destination, nearly done with their travels. However, judges and viewers were not quite ready to score everything we were catching up on. In this check-in, we scored the second destination's activities and caught up with what our travelers had done since then, in preparation to finish scoring and announce a winner soon!(01:15) - Who is Annie?(05:35) - A quick recap of where the scoring left off(07:47) - Nick recaps his destination 2(09:29) - Greg recaps his destination 2(11:41) - Tim recaps his destination 2(18:28) - Nick's scores for destination 2(20:53) - Greg's scores for destination 2(24:00) - Tim's scores for destination 2(26:43) - Invitation for feedbackComment with your thoughts on how the scores could or should be adjusted here: https://frequentmiler.com/wild-card-challenge-the-scores-so-far-a-final-opportunity-to-influence-the-scoring/(27:40) - Nick shares what he's been up to since destination 2(35:34) - Greg shares what he's been up to since destination 2(49:15) - Tim shares what he's been up to since destination 2You can read more about Tim's award booking here: https://frequentmiler.com/costa-rica-to-korea-and-australia-on-one-business-class-award-tims-wild-card-challenge-journal/(01:08:49) - Our favorite elements of each traveler's tripSubscribe and FollowVisit 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 YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerGreg and Nick, along with Tim, are busy flying around the world for the Wild Card Challenge, which is going on now! That means they didn't have time to film our usual podcast episode. Not to mention, we want to make sure everyone gets the chance to hear an update for the first destination of the Wild Card Challenge, even if you missed the live stream last evening. In this episode, relisten to the Destination 1 travel summaries and scoring.(01:17) - Greg summarizes his Wild Card Challenge Destination 1(08:22) - Nick summarizes his Wild Card Challenge Destination 1(15:21) - Tim summarizes his Wild Card Challenge Destination 1(26:56) - Greg's scores(34:10) - Greg offers a rebuttal for his scoring(35:43) - Nick's scores(46:41) - Nick offers a rebuttal for his scoring(49:00) - Tim's scores(54:57) - Tim offers a rebuttal for his scoringSubscribe and FollowVisit 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 YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerIs this points & miles hobby worth my time? Reader John asked this question recently, saying:Do you ever calculate the return on your time in the points and miles game? We spend a lot of time talking about return on spend and cents per point, but I rarely hear anyone talk about return on time invested. For me, points and miles are a hobby, not my job, so I sometimes catch myself asking whether saving an extra $200, or getting that credit or getting another 30,000 points is really worth two or three hours of my time. I tend to think about what my time is worth financially, but I also think about the opportunity cost. That might be time with my family (which really prompted this question) , working on my business (this honestly has much better return) , exercising, or just doing something else I enjoy.I know you guys sometimes go to extraordinary lengths because there is value in being able to report the results to your readers and listeners. But outside of the journalism side, do you personally put any value on the hours you spend playing the game?(01:04) - Why Greg's answer is "Absolutely!"(07:14) - Why Nick's answer is "Yes and no."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 1pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to [email protected] out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerMany hotel cards come with free night certificates each year upon renewal. That's great, but those certificates expire after 12 months. If you don't time your applications well, you may struggle to use those certificates...(00:17) - Greg's been considering getting the Hilton Aspire, but... is this the right time?(01:05) - Example Problems(03:55) - When do free night certificates post?(07:52) - Nick & Greg's thoughts/analysisSubscribe and FollowVisit 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 YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.