As we enter the final two months of the year, the pressure is on to make sure that you use your calendar-year, quarterly, and monthly credits while you can. I’ve been furiously trying to find opportunities to use my various coupon credits while simultaneously checking on my elite progress and trying to button up end-of-year travel plans.
Thankfully, Greg published a couple of posts this week that will make it easy for me to make good use of our new Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits. Funny enough, despite my cooling feelings toward hotel coupon credits, our conversation on this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air has me planning out a December application road map that will include even more coupon credits. The truth is that even though I’m cooling on having so many coupons to track, the thousands of dollars we could get back should make the juice well worth the squeeze in the short term, even if it means focusing near-term trip planning on chances to maximize the use of coupon credits.
To that end, I’m looking forward to a couple of short Fine Hotels & Resorts stays in the next couple of weeks and to trying out Blacklane. I haven’t yet done it, but I intend to hopefully use a StubHub credit from the Sapphire Reserve and the splurge credit from the Strata Elite for Live Nation to buy tickets to the same event. And I’ve got alerts set for some hotels I want to book over holiday travels that don’t yet have award availability. I think I’m prepared to close out the year, and I am almost ready to start digging into my 2026 plans to use all of these coupons again.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Still got the Sapphire Reserve® card? Your new benefits are now live. Here’s what to do next.
If you had the Chase Sapphire Reserve card before June 23, 2025, you finally gained access to the many new perks this week, including a credit for The Edit bookings and one for StubHub, and another for Chase Sapphire Exclusive Tables that can all be used by the end of this year before they reset and become available again in January. Don’t forget that some of the new benefits require enrollment! This post walks you through the motions to get started.
Switching from Spotify to Apple Music thanks to a new Chase Sapphire Reserve® perk
Two of the new perks on the Sapphire Reserve card come from Apple: complimentary Apple TV+ and Apple Music. Greg recently activated these benefits and switched over from Spotify to Apple Music. In this post, he explains the process of activating the benefit and transferring your playlists from Spotify to Apple. Personally, I’m both disappointed and relieved that this benefit is only available for an individual Apple Music subscription. I’m disappointed because I imagine that many cardholders have more than one person in the family using a music subscription service, but I’m kind of relieved because, if there were an option to pay a small difference to upgrade to Apple Music, I’d feel more compelled to make the switch. Frankly, I’m glad not to have to use up any mental bandwidth figuring that out.
A second look at the new Chase Sapphire Reserve® card | Coffee Break Ep75 | 10-28-25
On this week’s Coffee Break, Greg and I took a second look at the Sapphire Reserve card, now that benefits are live for pre-June 23rd cardholders. Neither of us have warmed much to the card yet, particularly when it comes to recommending it to others. If you’re willing to put in the time and energy to maximize things, this card can still be OK, but it certainly isn’t the easy-to-recommend product that it once was.
Warming up to Citi’s Strata Elite card
On the other hand, Greg is warming up to the Strata Elite card after having a few months to use the benefits. There is no doubt that the Strata Elite stands out by offering fewer coupons that can mostly be used up in one shot, making it far easier to get back most of what you pay out in the annual fee. Personally, I’d still find it hard to recommend this card over the Citi Strata Premier card unless you really value the American Airlines Admirals Club passes.
Cooling considerably on hotel credits
While Greg is warming to the Strata Elite, in large part due to a strong valuation of the card’s hotel booking credit, I am feeling differently about credit card hotel coupon credits. Between credits for Amex’s Fine Hotels + Resorts®, Chase’s The Edit, and the Strata Elite hotel coupon, I am swimming in hotel booking credits, and I am struggling to find uses for all of my existing credits by 12/31. That prompted me to look back at my year in travel and realize that out of 105 hotel nights in 2025, only a couple would have fit with hotel coupon credits. I’ll have to see if I find these easier to use in 2026, when I have access to all of them from the beginning of the year, or whether I need to reconsider a couple of ultra-premium credit cards.
Triple dipping credit card coupons | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep330 | 10-31-25
Despite the fact that I am cooling on hotel credits, I still love the ability to double or triple dip credit card coupons. In fact, I consider these coupons to be an integral part of the first-year value of a new credit card, despite the fact that we don’t include double or triple dipping in our first-year-value calculations. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, we explain how it is possible to get thousands of dollars in coupons for a single year’s annual fee.
How to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham points (ends 12/1)
Sad news incoming: The partnership between Wyndham Rewards and Vacasa vacation rentals is coming to an end. You’ve got until 11/30/25 to make any final bookings, though, sadly, you’ll need to check out from any new bookings by the end of January 2026. Existing bookings are expected to be honored, though if I had a reservation far in the future, I would be eyeing my backup plan in case something goes wrong. The owner of your unit could leave Vacasa or the rental unit could become unavailable, and my impression is that in those cases, Vacasa/Casago likely will not be helpful in reaccommodating you.
Find Preferred Hotels bookable with points (updated interactive map)
One of the reasons Greg’s love of Citi has grown is for the ability to book Preferred Hotels with points. Note that I didn’t specifically cite Citi’s partnership with Preferred Hotels IPrefer, because it isn’t quite that simple. Some preferred hotels are best booked through IPrefer, which has a great 1:4 transfer ratio from Citi, while others are better booked (or in some cases only bookable) via Choice Privileges, a 1:2 Citi transfer partner. Greg has updated his map that helps you find where Preferred Hotels are and which program to use to book them. This is worth a look if you’re sitting on Citi points.
How To Book Preferred Hotels with Points (Video)
If you’re more of a visual learner, you may find it helpful to start with this video that functions as a companion piece for Greg’s map to find Preferred Hotels. In this video, Greg walks us through finding and booking Preferred Hotels using points, both through IPrefer and through Choice Privileges.
Grand Wailea Maui, A Waldorf Astoria: Bottom Line Review
I read Tim’s review of the Grand Wailea Maui with great anticipation, knowing that half of his wife’s family is from Maui and, as such, he has been a frequent Maui visitor over the years. I was not surprised that his review included insightful info like where to find free parking to dodge the resort’s $75 daily valet fee and a comprehensive review of the hotel’s features. I could definitely imagine spending a few days at this property with the family, but not until we have a handful of Hilton free night certificates to burn, since I can’t imagine paying the high points rates and getting hit with restaurant prices that Tim says must be seen to be believed. Nonetheless, I think we’d probably try this place out the next time we get to Maui.
The Trafalgar St. James London (Hilton Curio Collection): Bottom Line Review
If you’re looking for a boutique-type place to burn your Hilton points and you want to be within easy reach of major London tourist attractions, it sounds like the Trafalgar St James London could easily fit the bill. I’ve not actually spent much time in London despite a few quick visits over the years, so I could see the appeal of being in the thick of the tourist area. That said, Tim points out that there are many solid hotel options in London. I’m not sure what it costs in points these days, but we stayed at the Conrad London St James a few years ago, which enjoys a slightly shorter walk to sites like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, though a significantly less boutique-like feel.
Bilt Complete Guide (2025)
Bilt has continued to evolve significantly throughout 2025, necessitating another update to our Bilt Complete Guide given both the myriad of changes and new ways to earn Bilt points. I imagine that we’ll see even more changes in the new year, particularly with Bilt expected to launch a couple of new credit cards while also bringing mortgage rewards on board, implementing a partnership with Venmo that should make it easy to split rent or other expenses while earning points, and more. Bilt has long been leaning into its Neighborhood Rewards, which makes sense; they can offer merchants access to a fully developed rewards system and the ability to market to nearby customers while offering opportunities for members to stack rewards with any credit card they choose. If you live in an area with a strong Neighborhood Rewards presence, it certainly makes sense to take advantage of the opportunity for easy additional rewards.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to be sure you grab them before they go.
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Nick, if you didn’t have the statement credits, would you still be doing the hotel stays that you’re mentioning? Would you still be doing the event that you’re mentioning?