A 100K twist(er), kudos to Capital One, 42K business class to Europe, and more

I bet you didn’t know….that Greg would meet up with not one, but two friends at New York’s JFK airport! I sure didn’t see that plot twist coming. But that wasn’t all: one day into the trip, another old friend has been brought into the fold in what felt like a mic-drop moment on the first day. Greg is setting the bar high on his 100K Vacay trip.

I do wonder about how Greg (and company) are getting home. Greg spent 59,000 points on the business class flight to Malta. Assuming he’s at the Hyatt property that costs 6,500 points per night, he’d only have 21,500 points left after 3 nights. That could just barely get him back home from Europe if he’s able to find Air France economy class availability (which is sometimes available for as few as 18,000 points one way from Europe to the US), but it wouldn’t leave a lot of wiggle room. On second thought, Geg had access to transfer bonuses to both Virgin Atlantic and Air France / KLM Flying Blue — I wonder if he managed to stretch the budget to include Premium Economy on the way home! I certainly look forward to seeing what they do in Malta and how they get home . . .

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Destination revealed… and a surprise accomplice (Greg’s 100K Vacay Journal)

Greg is off and running — and there are already surprises developing! In Greg’s first journal update, he shared places he isn’t going, and he took guesses from the comments about where he now is. A couple of readers nailed it on this one (and, when you listen to this week’s podcast, you’ll hear me make a guess that I immediately realized was wrong when I read the better prediction in the comments on this post the next day!). This journal post is where you can check in for updates on the blog, but those following on Instagram were the first to be aware of, ahem, a twister of a twist.

The British Airways multi-carrier chart + Finnair Avios: the huge 100K Vacay that Nick let get away 

I spent a long time very seriously considering pairing a great British Airways Avios redemption — the ability to fly as many as 14,000 collective miles with multiple stops on multiple oneworld partners for a reasonable number of Avios — with the incredible hotel deals you can get in Scandinavia thanks to Finnair Avios. The fact that I could have had 5 nights in hotels for 2,000 Membership Rewards points and a reasonable cash copay would have been a great demonstration of stretching points to the limits, and I really liked the idea of helicoptering into Monte Carlo. And I loved the idea that any of my competitors could have booked the same trip if they had dug into Avios! However, I ultimately decided to raise the stakes, and I am very excited to go all-in on a trip I can’t wait to take. Make no mistake, I am playing to win, but, to me, these challenges are about the interesting things we find and ideas we have, so I was happy to share a light bite regarding my planning. Keep an eye on Instagram and the blog for more 100K content coming your way every day.

Stephen’s first mistake of the 100K Vacay challenge

I hate that Stephen made a rookie mistake that could have cost him the chance to properly showcase all the strengths of his 100K Vacay, but I love that he shared how he solved it. You might argue that he got lucky with the easy solution here, but I’d argue back that luck favors those who take action. Kudos to Stephen for not giving up and taking the L but rather asking nicely to see if his mistake could be fixed. This just goes to show that even the best of us (and I do mean the best of us, as I’d bet that Stephen has more hotel booking practice than the rest of us combined!) have an “oopsie” now and again.

40K to Far Away: How far we went with 40,000 points and $400 (the previously untold story behind our first team challenge)

The team challenge that started the Frequent Miler team challenges was 2019’s 40K to Far Away challenge. What started as a crazy idea at an in-person team meeting — that we would each take 40K points and $400 to get as far away as possible — turned into an annual tradition that continues 6 years later, albeit in a different form each year. But that first year, we were very unprepared: we had no real strategy for social media or compiling our footage to recap our trips. After all these years, Carrie and her sister have pored over hours of footage, conducted interviews with each of us, and put together the comprehensive story of the first Frequent Miler team challenge. With Greg already off on his 100K Vacay trip and the rest of the team set to travel next week, now is the time to brush up on the first challenge to see how it started before you check out how it’s going.

Capital One has 3 new transfer partners: Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways & Preferred Hotels

Capital One launched three new transfer partners this week, and I’d say that this was huge news. While some will point to the fact that it was already possible to transfer to another Avios program and then on to Qatar, I’m hopeful that we’ll see future transfer bonuses offered on the Qatar side (like the one currently available to Citi cardholders). The transfer ratio to Preferred Hotels isn’t as good as Citi’s, but there is still value to be had even at 1:2 for those outside of Citi’s ecosystem. And Japan Airlines is a huge add, though I wish the ratio were a long-term 1:1 instead of a short-term-transfer-bonus offering almost 1:1.

Air France without surcharges, around the world style awards, and more Best uses of Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Miles (Sweet Spots)

Despite the poorer transfer ratio, I think there is plenty to be excited about with access to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank redemptions. I had always known that Japan Airlines Mileage Bank had a fervent group of fans, but until I really dug into the program this week, I hadn’t realized quite how many sweet spots they have. From Air France business class to Europe with only $5.60 in taxes & fees to 42K business class to Europe on American Airlines, expanded award availability on Japan Airlines, and a pseudo-round-the-world award, there is a lot to get excited about here.

Sweet-spot awards courtesy of Japan Airlines | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep325 | 9-26-25

If you’d rather listen to us discuss some of the sweet spot awards from that post, you’ll want to tune in to the Main Event in this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, where Greg and I discuss some of the finds from that post. We also talk about a bunch of new transfer bonuses out this week, whether you should consider buying Alaska miles through Rove Miles, and more.

Capital One wins the coupon book wars by not playing | Coffee Break Ep71 | 9-23-25

While Amex and Chase make fervent efforts to out-coupon each other and Citi takes its own approach toward the coupon wars, we declare Capital One to have won the coupon book wars by refusing to participate. The Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card and Capital One Venture X Business Rewards credit card each offer excellent benefits, a solid everyday earn structure, and one simple-to-use coupon that can be used all in one shot rather than needing to track monthly or quarterly uses. Capital One deserves praise for maintaining an excellent value proposition in an environment where competitors keep increasing fees and complicating their products. If I had to recommend one credit card to a newcomer, one of the Venture X cards would almost certainly be it. While it won’t become the only card I carry any time soon, it is certainly the one I think provides the best bang for the buck, particularly if you value any of its premium card benefits.

Which Premium Cards are Keepers? [Updated w/ Strata Elite, Atmos Summit, and refreshed Platinum]

Speaking of premium cards and benefits, our spreadsheet for determining which premium cards are keepers has long been very popular, and for good reason. This is a fantastic resource for deciding which cards to keep and which to send to the circular file. The spreadsheet has now been updated to add the Strata Elite and Atmos Summit as well as to reflect the refreshed Platinum card, continuing to keep this tool highly useful.

[Update] MaxFHR: An awesome way to help use your $300 Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection credits

Ever since MaxFHR launched, it has been a fantastic tool for finding great deals via Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, but the recent update to add The Hotel Collection makes this tool absolutely indispensable for a Platinum cardholder. This is a terrific add that should make it far easier to get great value out of your Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings.

How to maximize value with your Amex Platinum Card

Speaking of Platinum card membership, Tim has fully updated our guide to maximizing value with your Amex Platinum Card to fully reflect all of the major recent card updates. Over the past week, my wife and I have been hustling to use up this quarter’s Resy and Lululemon credits since the current quarter ends on September 30th (note: enrollment is required, so we made sure to enroll first!), and then we’ll get fresh quarterly credits again on 10/1. We have several Platinum cards in our household, so we are working to get maximum value out of these benefits right away.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s month-ending last chance deals to make sure you get those ending this month before they expire.

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