The waiting game begins: Bilt 2.0 is coming, elite status plans are forming, and we wonder which Frequent Miler predictions will come true

Happy New Year from somewhere at sea! I boarded my final free cruise of 2026 last week, sailing on the Margaritaville at Sea Islander out of Tampa (more on the cruise to come).

There’s no doubt that the Caesars Diamond match years ago has paid off in spades for my family; I think this is our 13th free cruise of the past few years (though, truth be told, that’s a guess as I have lost count!). I still don’t quite consider myself a cruise aficionado, but we have come to appreciate some of the things that appeal to cruise connoisseurs.

One thing I haven’t appreciated is the realization that I just don’t have a good credit card in my household for covering onboard cruise charges. I assumed that the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve would be the answer, as that card offers 3X on travel (and the definition includes cruise lines). Sadly, onboard charges (such as those from the casino) have only been coding at 1X. A quick survey of the cards currently in my wallet indicated that the best I’d do on those charges otherwise would be 2X. That re-highlighted for me how bad the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card refresh was for cruisers. We don’t have a Chase Ink Business Preferred or an Amex consumer Green card right now, so we just don’t have a great option for onboard expenses.

The good news is that we don’t have any future cruises on the horizon right now, but when we do, we’re really going to have to focus on either earning a new card welcome bonus, or we’ll need to prioritize getting a card that bonuses all travel. Looking at our Best Category Bonuses, I’m not terribly enthusiastic about the best current options, so I’m hoping we see a new issuer join the fray on bonusing all travel in 2026.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Our 2026 points forecast: coupony with a chance of acquisitions | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep339 | 1-2-26

The new year is here, and with it are many new hopes, dreams, and forecasts about what lies ahead. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air podcast, Greg and I share our own ideas about what changes we expect to see, and we debate some of the finer points of those predictions.

Welcome to 2026! Here’s what we predict in miles, points, credit cards, and rewards programs

No two years in this hobby are the same, and 2026 will be no different in that regard. We’ll surely see programs adapt and adjust. Will we see some negative changes in 2026? I’m sure we will. I’m also sure that we’ll find some pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. In this post, each member of the Frequent Miler team lays out the things we predict to change in 2026, including Tim, Stephen, and Carrie (all of whom make some predictions that Greg and I missed on the show!).

Scoring the Frequent Miler team’s 2025 predictions

Before you start making plans based on Frequent Miler’s predictions, you should check on our historical results, as you’ll see that a mere 62.5% accuracy was enough to be the most accurate of Frequent Miler’s fortune tellers in 2025. That said, past results are no indication of future performance :-). Nonetheless, enjoy a look back at what we got right and wrong in 2025.

Bilt card changes: Known knowns, known unknowns, & unknown unknowns

Speaking of changes, we know that changes are coming soon to the Bilt-verse. For starters, a new credit card lineup is soon to be revealed, and existing cardholders will have the chance to choose which (if any) of the new Bilt cards they want when the new lineup is announced on January 14th. This post lays out what we know about the transition (and what you need to know now in order to prepare), and what we don’t yet know (but should find out soon).

Why I’m giving up Hyatt Globalist status (& my other 2026 Elite status plans)

Stephen has organically earned hotel elite status in several programs for years, thanks to what turned into an eight-year, 50-state road trip. With the road trip now over, it will be far more difficult for him to achieve World of Hyatt elite status. That said, his 2025 plans have him making it to 40 nights, which is a real sweet spot given the Milestone Rewards. Like Stephen, I had questioned my ongoing loyalty to Hyatt, not because I don’t love Hyatt, but rather because, like Stephen, we have so many credit card credits and free night certificates to use and fewer stays where Hyatt fits (though I did just book 7 nights at a Hyatt property via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, so we’ll see!). In this post, find out more about what’s up with Stephen’s elite plans, from Hyatt to other hotels and airlines.

New Sapphire Reserve benefit for 2026: a $250 credit for select Chase Travel℠ hotels

A few of the many hotel credits we have to use this year are coming on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card — and there’s a new one added in 2026. The most exciting thing about the newly-added $250 credit mentioned here is that it can stack on top of one of the card’s twice-yearly $250 credits for The Edit bookings. In other words, if you choose a property in a qualifying brand and you are able to book it via The Edit, you could end up getting $500 back. That could make for a terrific deal, given the additional benefits of booking via The Edit. One of the reasons I didn’t buy IHG Qualifying points to earn elite status at the end of last year is because I knew that if I were to book an Intercontinental property, there is a good chance that I’d do it via The Edit to stack these credits. On the other hand, I’ve seen a number of hotels in the far lesser-known Minor hotel group that could work out to be completely covered when stacking the benefits. One way or another, I’ll be looking for opportunities to use these together.

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

Delta has the easiest-to-earn elite status by most measures, since you can get all the way to Gold status just by collecting the right credit cards. Surprisingly, that continues to be true in 2026, so now is the time to get on the path to status if you’re likely to be flying Delta.

Frequent Miler’s 2025 Deal of the Year (and reader’s choice vote)

On a recent podcast episode, Greg and I reviewed what we considered to be the top candidates for 2025’s Deal of the Year. In this post, Tim recaps those terrific deals, and we each make our own picks. Interestingly, 3 out of 4 Frequent Miler team members picked the same Deal of the Year, while the readers voted 3-to-1 in favor of not just one but two other deals. Find out what we picked, and cast your vote for Deal of the Year here.

Our most popular posts, videos, and podcasts of 2025

Carrie has curated lists of our top posts, videos, and podcasts of the year. While we don’t spend a lot of time combing over metrics like these, it is always interesting to look back at the end of the year and see which posts drew in the most readers. Sometimes, we find a couple of completely unexpected posts in the list, though this year was less surprising in the sense that many of the most popular posts, podcasts, and videos were about major changes to premium credit cards. Find the full details in this post (and for those curious about the rankings for all posts, including ones published before 2025, look to Carrie’s response to that request in the comments).

Updated resources

The following useful resources have been updated and republished for the new month and will continue to be updated where necessary on an ongoing basis.

Current Hotel Promotions for January 2026

Q1 2026 activation links for cards offering 5% in rotating categories

Current point transfer bonuses for January 2026

Best Credit Card Offers for January 2026

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Check out the first last chance deals of 2026 for a rundown of those deals departing soon.

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