Growing up, my parents were adamant that I should never pay an annual fee for a credit card. They weren’t wrong considering their approach: in their minds, a credit card was a tool of convenience that made it easier to access the purchasing power of their money to buy the things they needed. And of course they were probably concerned that their kids would chase credit cards as a way of obtaining wants instead of needs.
Over time, I realized that it is possible to balance both: credit cards certainly are the most convenient way to pay for so many of my regular needs. However, they can also supercharge my ability to obtain wants — not by spending my way into debt, but through the rewards credit cards can offer. That’s where those annual fees began to creep in: I realized that it was possible to buy up to supercharge my rewards and get far more of my travel wants than I ever would have afforded otherwise.
Earning an extra 100,000 points by strategically downgrading a card and opening a new one can certainly be one path toward your travel wants, but so, too, can be getting the right airline card to enhance your experience or pairing the right premium card with your collection in order to transform your cash back into elevated travel experiences. Mom and dad were right that it wouldn’t make sense to pay an annual fee just to use a credit card, but it turns out that paying an annual fee to supercharge your experience might just make sense after all.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
How soon can you apply for the 100K offer after product changing?
The big new 100K Sapphire Preferred bonus is ending soon. We’ve long known that in order to qualify for a welcome bonus on the Sapphire Preferred, you must not currently have a Sapphire card. However, if you currently have a Sapphire card, it should be possible to downgrade to a Freedom card, which would make you potentially eligible to open a new Sapphire card once the computer system recognizes that you are no longer a current Sapphire cardholder. But how long do you have to wait after downgrading for the system to catch up and allow you to get a new Sapphire card? Conventional wisdom has been “a few days”. Greg experimented to try to figure out what that might mean and has his data to share in this post.
Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Sapphire Preferred: Which is Right for You?
With all of the press given to the Sapphire Preferred card in recent weeks, there has been less mention of the card’s big sibling, the Sapphire Reserve. While the Sapphire Preferred is widely considered among the best starter credit cards, the Sapphire Reserve is widely considered to be among the best ultra-premium credit cards. You might then wonder which is right for you? For most folks, the additional points of an improved introductory offer probably swings the math for the first year toward whichever card has the stronger opening offer. However, after that, you’ll need to consider your spending patterns to decide which is best for you.
Credit Card Power-Ups | Coffee Break Ep54 | 4-29-25 | Podcast
Some of the best credit cards in this hobby only become that way when powered up. That is to say that a number of issuers have credit cards that would be relatively pedestrian if not for the ability to pair them with a card that supercharges the value of the points, giving you the ability to transfer points or use rewards to elevated value. On this week’s Coffee Break, we discuss some of the best of those cards and how to power them up with the right companion.
Southwest renames fare types, announces new credit card benefits
We’ve known for a while now that Southwest Airlines would totally reinvent itself in just a few short weeks. We now have more detail about what’s to come, and I have to say that my disappointment has been tempered by the fantastic set of benefits coming for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card. I think it’s possible that we may end up liking Southwest even more in the short-term thanks to free seat selection throughout most of the plane at booking on any fare, enough checked bags to meet our needs, and now a shot at extra legroom seating a full day before anyone can even check in. There’s no doubt that the new Southwest is bad for a lot of people, but for Priority cardholders, it’s a whole new ballgame…..at least until they inevitably increase the fee and decrease the benefits.
Southwest LUVs cardholders | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep304 | 5-2-25 | Podcast
While Southwest indisputably downgrades the customer experience for most travelers from May 28th onward, cardholders arguably end up with what some will find to be a better experience than before. That is particularly true for Priority cardholders, who end up with enough value to justify holding the card even if they’ll only fly Southwest once a year. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, we pencil out the numbers and try to help Greg figure out whether he should become a cardholder.
Mesa Homeowners Card: Earn transferable points on mortgage payments
The Mesa Homeowners Card is out and it presents an interesting set of opportunities. Contrary to what you may expect, it doesn’t provide for a way to pay your mortgage with a credit card. In fact, it doesn’t provide a way to pay your mortgage at all. Instead, you pay your mortgage however you ordinarily do and having this card offers the opportunity to earn 1 point per dollar spent on your mortgage if you spend $1K per month on this credit card. Frankly, with the incredibly weak set of opening transfer partners, I think this one has an uphill climb to be relevant in the loyalty rewards space, but I imagine it’ll be a fit nonetheless for many homeowners, particularly if Mesa is able to add more valuable homeowner-centric partnerships. And for those who pay for daycare and have a mortgage, this could actually be a nice fit despite the weak transfer partners since it offers 3x on daycare, which would be an an easy set-it-and-forget-it way to meet the $1K in purchases and also earn 1x on the mortgage.
The 230 best places to use a Hilton Free Night Certificate worldwide (includes SLH)
I love this post that Tim works to keep updated with the best places to redeem Hilton Free Night Certificates because I find it to be a perfect reference guide for when I have a little extra time and might be able to work in a side trip and I want to know what might be somewhere around where I’m going (without necessarily narrowing it down to a single city). Tim has now added Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties to the list, which is incredibly useful. Should Autocamp be next to make the list?
InterContinental Ambassador: Elite status you can buy
InterContinental Ambassador is a paid status that can be totally worth the cost of admission if you’re able to make good use of the Buy One (night), Get One Free coupon that comes with membership. That said, the cost has increased in 2025. This guide has the latest cost info and everything else you need to know about Intercontinental Ambassador.
Sharing is caring: The best programs for sharing points and miles
My family has had occasion to fly Spirit Airlines two times in the past couple of years. On each trip, each traveler has earned a couple thousand miles in the Spirit program. That type of low mileage balance hardly seems worth collecting since, on its own, each family member’s balance wouldn’t be very useful. However, Spirit Airlines elites and cardholders get to pool miles. Our combined balance would be more than 20,000 Free Spirit points, which certainly could get us an award ticket or two. I love that type of feature for leisure travelers. The good news is that Spirit is hardly unique here: this post offers up some of the best airline, hotel, and credit card programs for combining your points and miles.
Amex Hotel Collection Guide: Earn hotel points/perks while using Platinum credits
We often talk about Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, but don’t sleep on Amex’s “The Hotel Collection”, which offers some benefits of its own, albeit with a two-night minimum. In this post, Greg covers how to find The Hotel Collection (THC) properties and the benefits you can expect — including the ability to earn hotel points and elite credit in many cases.
AwardTool: a powerful award search tool with up to 32 simultaneous searches (now supports Cathay Pacific Asia Miles)
AwardTool is among the best award search tools (though keep in mind that the best tool for you can vary, so you’ll want to check out our comparison post here). Recently, AwardTool got even better with the addition of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Cathay can be a great program for booking British Airways awards thanks to lower fees and good mileage redemption rates to and from Europe, but I believe support thus far only extends to finding availability on Cathay’s own flights.
Current point transfer bonuses for May 2025
This week welcomed a new month and with a new month come new transfer bonuses. As a reminder, we keep our current point transfer bonuses page updated with the latest information each time a new bonus launches.
US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards: What Works Where?
US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards is the power-up tool that long made the Altitude Reserve one of the best “everywhere else” cards for use in any situation where you could tap-to-pay with a phone or smartwatch (or even pay online with Apple Pay). It’s too bad that the Altitude Reserve is no longer available, but we’re continuing to keep this post up to date with the things that work to trigger real-time mobile rewards.
The Tools We Use (for playing the points and miles game)
The tools we use change from time to time, so it was high time for Greg to dust off this post and refresh it with the latest tools we use to find and use card-linked offers, the best search tools in the game, and more.
American Airlines AAdvantage Complete Guide
American Airlines AAdvantage is one of the most popular airline frequent flyer programs thanks to a very reasonable partner award chart and pioneering ways to earn elite status without flying. This guide contains all of the key details you need to know about earning elite status, the choice benefits you can select at various Loyalty Point levels, and a lot more.
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