Frequent Miler on the Air

4.9 (604)
PLACES & TRAVEL
UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

1D AGO

Shortcuts to Delta elite status in 2026 | Coffee Break Ep84 | 12-30-25

Delta may be the easiest major airline to get elite status if you don't mind getting a few credit cards. We'll talk about some of the shortcuts available to you in today's podcast episode. (00:27) - Shortcuts to Delta elite status (read more here) (01:27) - Elite status requirements (02:18) - $2500 Headstarts from specific Delta credit cards Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card here Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card here Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card here Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card here (04:11) - MQDs from spend (06:27) - Status Match Read more about Delta's excellent status match here 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 Mentioned in this episode: Check out this month's sponsor and support our show Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/miles https://joinbilt.com/miles

10 min
5D AGO

2025 Deal of the Year | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep338 | 12-26-25

In this podcast episode, we'll talk about last-minute uses for dining credits, AA bonvoying us, but too late to earn a Bonvoyed award, and we pick 2025's Deal of the Year. Giant Mailbag(01:24) - PSA for Dining credits (04:17) - Vote for your favorite soon: polls close 12/31 You can vote here. (04:52) - Our Bonvoyed of the year picks (05:14) - The People have spoken Bonvoyed(11:02) - AA: No more miles or Loyalty Points on Basic Economy fares with American Airlines Read more about this here. Main Event: 2025 Deal of the Year(13:58) - Last year's "Deal of the Year" (2024) (17:58) - 2025 Candidates for "Deal of the Year" (18:15) - Airline & Hotel Deals Read more about Japan Airlines here. (19:23) - Learn more about Nick's JetBlue 25 for 25 journey here. (20:23) - Learn more about Wyndham's promo here. (21:11) - Credit card deals Learn more about the Alaska Atmos Summit card here, (23:19) - Learn more about the American Express Platinum cards here. (27:50) - Learn more about the targeted American Express Business Platinum offer here. (28:48) - Learn more about the (now dead) Rakuten deal here. (30:55) - Learn more about the Citi Strata Elite recovery here. (33:43) - Learn more about Citi's addition of American Airlines as a transfer partner here. (35:36) - Other deals Learn more about the Rakuten portal, earning Bilt points here. (37L17) - Our picks for "Deal of the Year." Question of the Week(45:12) - Anyone having trouble using Hyatt Suite Upgrade awards when using a third party like The Edit by Chase Travel℠ or Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts®? 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 Yoder Mentioned in this episode: Check out this...

53 min
12/23/2025

How Frequent Miler makes money | Coffee Break Ep83 | 12-23-25

People often ask how a site like ours makes money. In this episode, we'll talk about how we do (and don't) make money talking and writing about miles and points. (00:35) - We have a team of 5, 4 of whom are full-time (01:06) - Greg's been doing this full time since 2012 (01:55) - Display ads (05:42) - Miscellaneous affiliate links (06:51) - Credit card affiliate links You can see our Best Offers page here, where we display the best credit card offers, regardless of our affiliate income (12:40) - New: Podcast ads 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 Mentioned in this episode: Check out this month's sponsor and support our show Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/miles https://joinbilt.com/miles

17 min
12/19/2025

The 2025 Bonvoyed Awards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep337 | 12-19-25

In this episode, we talk about how Rove matches your Mesa, we talk about whether or not you should buy IHG Diamond status, and we announce this year's picks for Bonvoyed of the Year. Giant Mailbag(01:09) - Changing names on reservations/workarounds for using the Fine Hotels and Resorts the Hotel Collection benefit Mattress Running the Numbers(03:59) - IHG Lock in 2026 Diamond status by buying points (targeted) Read more about this here: https://frequentmiler.com/ihg-offering-opportunity-to-buy-back-or-increase-status-for-2026/ Bonvoyed(12:52) - Chase re-edits The Edit by Chase Travel℠: 1.65x boosts Awards, Points, and More(16:12) - Rove: Match Your Mesa (up to 5,000 free miles) Main Event: The 2025 Bonvoyed Awards(18:36) - What are the Bonvoyed Awards? (20:03) - 2024 winner (21:11) - 2025 Honorable mentions (21:55) - 2025 Contestants (40:05) - Nick's Pick: Southwest (44:36) - Greg's Pick: Sapphire Reserve® Refresh Question of the Week(50:02) - Any last-minute ideas for using Hilton resort credits? Mentioned in this episode: Check out this month's sponsor and support our show Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/miles https://joinbilt.com/miles

1 hr
12/16/2025

Aftermath of the major Mesa mess | Coffee Break Ep82 | 12-16-25

The Mesa Homeowners card abruptly closed all accounts last Friday, with no warning. This is particularly surprising because they had just added Omni as a partner. We'll talk about the aftermath in today's podcast episode. Aftermath of the major Mesa mess(00:17) - Read more about the abrupt closure of Mesa homeowners credit cards here (03:47) - What was the Mesa Homeowners card? You can learn about what the Mesa Homeowners card was here (05:05) - Lessons learned: Should we hesitate to jump into "too good to be true" deals? (09:00) - What about Rove Miles? (13:41) - What about Bilt? 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 Mentioned in this episode: Check out this month's sponsor and support our show Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/miles https://joinbilt.com/miles

21 min
12/12/2025

Our end-of-year miles & points check-lists | Ep336 | 12-12-25

In today's podcast episode we hear about one reader's status magic, how Nick's family got stuck in HEL-sinki, and we make our end-of-year to-do list with your help. Giant Mailbag(01:41) - One reader's experience with unexpected status benefits See episode 334 "Super Stacking Stories" here. Card News(04:45) - Both Citi AAdvantage Business cardholders & authorized users earn Loyalty Points on purchases (Read more here) (07:31) - Reminder: last call to triple-dip credit cards Awards, Points, and More(12:21) - Read about how Nick was stuck in HEL here Bonvoyed(21:10) - American Express transfer ratio to Cathay Pacific will reduce to 5:4 3/1/26 Main Event: Our end-of-year miles & points checklists(27:42) - Read more about our end-of-year checklist for 2025 here (29:11) - Elite Status Airlines (37:59) - Elite Status Hotels (45:21) - Elite Choice Benefit selections (48:59) - Southwest Companion Pass (52:07) - See our Coffee Break episode 81 "The Southwest Debit Card is actually interesting" here (53:21) - Credit card coupons (1:13:36) - Summary of our major To-Dos Question of the Week(1:15:16) - How do you manage continued spending on a card after meeting the spend requirement for a welcome bonus? 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 Yoder Mentioned in this episode: Check out this month's sponsor and support our show Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/miles https://joinbilt.com/miles

1h 22m
12/09/2025

The Southwest Debit Card is actually interesting | Coffee Break Ep81 | 12-9-25

To our surprise, the Southwest Debit Card is more interesting than we expected! It's been uncommon for debit cards to make waves in points-earning efforts, but this one is proving intriguing. (00:17) - Southwest Debit card is more interesting than we thought! Read more about the Southwest Debit Card here. (00:51) - Some basic details about the Southwest Debit Card (07:09) - Why is this interesting 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 Mentioned in this episode: Check out this month's sponsor and support our show Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/miles https://joinbilt.com/miles

17 min
12/05/2025

The lowest hotel ratings we're willing to book | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep335 | 12-5-25

In this week's podcast, we'll talk about how Citi Travel hides thousands of hotels, we'll describe our favorite flights from 2025, and we'll find out who on the FM team is willing to book a 3.5 rated hotel... (Skip straight to the main topic here: 1:26:18) Giant Mailbag(01:51) - Hyatt Elite Status Hack See episode 334 "Super Stacking Stories " here. Bonvoyed:(07:07) - Citi Travel blocking hotel bookings in Egypt, UAE, Malaysia, and Indonesia (and maybe other places?) Bonvoyed runner-ups(10:15) - PSA: Wyndham book and cancel trick may appear to extend points, but then they may expire anyway (13:02) - Turkish Airlines devalues Miles & Smiles redemptions for US flights (17:52) - British Airways devaluation Dec 15 (18:54) - Capital One transfer ratio to Emirates will reduce to 1,000:750 (Jan 13) Awards, Points, and More(20:35) - Citi loses Aeromexico as transfer partner 1/25/26 (22:13) - Omni Hotels & Resorts added as Mesa transfer partner (26:36) - Delta Leaves SkyMiles Status Requirements Unchanged For 2026, and Delta Choice benefits changes for 2026 (34:36) - United cardholders can earn 2x on rent with Bilt (3% fee applies) (36:58) - Accor → Flying Blue 30% xfer bonus Ask Us Anything, Live - Ep81(40:51) - What were our favorite flights that we took with points and miles in 2025? (50:17) - What are the FM team’s thoughts on the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card / Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card train derailing? It seems like the so valuable pool to earn our sweet Hyatt points is drying up. (51:35) - A lot of good Bonvoy'ed options this week. Capital One/Emirates, Turkish, and British Airways... rank them from least worst to worst. (55:52) - Do you have any insight on the United business partner awards between the US and Europe? I'm attempting to book via Aeroplan, but availability seems to have vanished. (57:40) - How the heck do I know what's actually going to earn rewards with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card? Does Chase give MCC codes? (59:16) - Are any of y'all nervous flyers? (1:03:02) - Have you guys ever thought about visiting every single country in the world using points/ miles as much as possible? (1:10:51) - Do you have insight into what Sapphire status gives with Alaska when someone is flying with Alaska or another oneworld partner? (1:17:28) - What would you value more….achieving Bilt Platinum status or ATMOS Gold status (I live in Charlotte, an AA hub)? (1:20:10) - Aloha! In yesterday's coffee break, you spoke about the great deals you found. How do you find when a great sweet spot becomes available? Are you setting alerts for 20+ locations? Scouring every day? (1:23:56) - Now that the Turkish sweet spot to Hawaii has died, are there any other sweet spots worth seeking out in the Turkish program? Read Nick's best use of Turkish Miles and Smiles here. The lowest hotel ratings we're willing to book(1:26:18) - How long is too long to spend comparing hotels on websites like flyertalk or reading reviews 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 Yoder Mentioned in this...

1h 46m

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Greg Davis-Kean

Host
Nick Reyes

Host

4.9

out of 5

604 Ratings

Travel Hacker’s Bible

12/22/2025

yousavvy

If you’re into the travel hacking game. Getting extreme value and benefits through credit cards, promotions, and manufacturered spending…. Look no further! These guys are the gospel. They give great insight to wire or retire your brain to see opportunities and travel the world incredibly cheaply or in otherwise often out of reach luxury! Nick and Greg have natural chemistry. Batting ideas effortlessly and giving keen insight into the game. Definitely recommend listening to these guys and following the blog. There are many blogs in this space, but I find them the most honest and fun!!
Points & Miles Staple

11/29/2025

Palmo23

I’ve been listening for roughly 1.5 years and this podcast has accelerated my family’s points and miles journey. Thank you Greg and Nick for the endless information and knowledge!
Enjoyed Frommer interview

10/15/2025

Gitloml

Enjoyed Frommer interview!
The best travel podcast

09/15/2025

EJorgensen18

Frequent miler should be required listening for anyone who wants to get into points and miles. I’ve learned so much from this podcast and continue to learn new things each week. Thanks for all you guys do!

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.