I didn’t grow up traveling by plane. Instead, my first leisure trips by airplane were in my 20’s, and the first several of those were on Southwest Airlines. This was back in the days when you could sometimes get a free flight with 4 or 5 one-ways, and they handed out those plastic lettered boarding cards based on when you arrived at the gate. Southwest got me as a customer when I was young and retained me when my wife and I got into this hobby more than a decade ago.
Now, they’ve gotten rid of most things that Southwest old-timers knew and loved about the airline, making it more like other major airlines (which, ironically, highlights for me the ways in which it sometimes lags behind competitors).
However, I have accepted that the old Southwest is gone, and now that I am getting into the rhythm of the new Southwest, I am learning to love it again. Particularly as a premium credit card holder, I am finding the free extra legroom seats (officially available to qualifying cardholders 48 hours in advance of departure) easy to snag thus far, though with a notable wrinkle: Just last night, I had an alarm set on my phone to remind me that I could pick exta legroom seats for a flight at 48 hours in advance. That should have meant that I could select seats at 7:10pm last night. At about 7:04pm, I went to take a screenshot of the “before” price so I could do a before-and-after side-by-side comparison of the cost of my seat, but the extra legroom seats were already free to select despite it being 48 hours and about 6 minutes prior to departure. I selected and confirmed my complimentary extra legroom seat just before the 48hr mark. At 7:06pm (four minutes before the 48-hour mark), I received an email from Southwest telling me that it was time to select my free extra legroom seats as a qualifying cardholder. I had previously noticed extra legroom available just a little more than 48 hours in advance, but had thought it was a fluke. I don’t yet know the exact timeline, but it may be worth checking your booking a few minutes sooner than you expect those seats to be free, because it seems like maybe it isn’t exactly 48 hours in advance.
On the blog this week, read about Greg’s plans for Hyatt, family-friendly hotel options from a loyalty program you wouldn’t expect to have them, how a credit card in your wallet could get you a free burger, and more.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
My Hyatt post-pointpocolypse plans
Greg is actually less Hyatt-focused than you may expect. Whereas I do tend to select hotels based on loyalty benefits, Greg tends to pick a hotel based on location and the hotel itself, choosing places he wants to stay over a loyalty program. It should therefore come as little surprise that the coming Hyatt changes aren’t going to have a huge influence on Greg’s decision-making (yet) and that he intends to lean into things like The Edit and Fine Hotels & Resorts. I think that approach is telling: when long-time loyalists who have gone out of their way in years past to maintain loyalty are ready to jump ship in favor of booking through luxury booking platforms, that’s a sign that (in my opinion), Hyatt has lost touch with its base.
Which Hyatts will you book before the award chart changes? | Ask Us Anything Ep84 | 3-4-26
On our most recent Ask Us Anything, somebody asked which Hyatts the team planned to book before the changes take effect. If you’re interested in the answers we gave, you can look to the show notes on the landing page for the podcast here for clickable timestamps. That’s also where you’ll find the many other questions we were asked, with links to their answers.
World of Hyatt: Mexico and Caribbean all-inclusive properties to book before price changes
One of the areas that we know will be especially hard-hit in the World of Hyatt changes is the price of all-inclusive properties. Already subject to a separate award chart, many of these properties will increase substantially in price, so Tim has updated the list of properties in Mexico and the Caribbean to indicate which you should consider booking right now, before category changes and the new complicated award chart debut.
Family-friendly Leading Hotels of the World
“Family-friendly” isn’t an expression that I had previously associated with Leading Hotels of the World. However, when I stumbled on a page full of some Leading Hotels of the World properties with awesome-looking family amenities, I realized that I had perhaps put LHW in too narrow a box, mentally speaking. While LHW properties still won’t be my first look in most cases, I am nonetheless really intrigued by some of the possibilities they offer.
Rove Miles: Transferable Points without a credit card | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep349 | 3-13-26
Rove Miles, a transferable miles program that doesn’t even require a credit card, is a program that is firmly on the upswing, with good promotions and excellent new transfer partner expansions in recent months. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, Greg and I discuss the Rove Miles platform, including the many ways to earn Rove Miles as well as some of the best uses, both with regard to booking travel through Rove and through its best transfer partners. One note: during the show, I had a mental malfunction and talked about Virgin Atlantic being a transfer partner. An astute listener brought to my attention the fact that Virgin is not a Rove partner. Mea culpa on that!
Indirect Amex Platinum Card® benefits: Free burgers, Champions League soccer, Best Western & Sixt status, & more
The Platinum card is packed full of advertised benefits, from regular coupon credits to elite statuses. But the Platinum card opens doors to more than meets the eye. In this post, Stephen explores the benefits you might not realize you can get, like a free Whopper once every few months with purchase. There were definitely a couple of things in this list that I’d missed, so it’s worth checking this post out to find the benefits your Platinum card could open up that you may otherwise be missing.
I changed a Lifemiles award as a Lifemiles Plus subscriber, and it was painless
Avianca Lifemiles has a reputation for its challenges, from a faulty website with complicated search to poor customer service. However, I was recently once again pleasantly surprised by better service than I expected when I called to change an award ticket. As a Lifemiles Plus Basic member, I was able to change my award ticket over the phone (for free) within less than 12 minutes, start to finish. In this post, I cover the key details you need to know, particularly the value of Lifemiles Plus and timing your subscription right.
Speed up US entry with Mobile Passport Control | Coffee Break Ep96 | 3-10-26
Greg recently re-entered the United States while Global Entry was down, so he got a chance to finally try out my preferred Mobile Passport Control. That became the topic of discussion for this week’s Coffee Break podcast, where we discuss how this program works (spoiler: it’s really easy) and why you should consider it if you don’t have Global Entry or if you travel during a time when Global Entry is not up and running.
Are you eligible for a new Marriott card?
With new offers out on several of the Marriott credit cards, many readers likely find themselves wondering about the title question. Given Marriott’s byzantine rules for new card bonuses, knowing whether or not you are eligible is far less straightforward than with other cards. See this post for the full chart and explanations of the various eligibility rules.
Marriott raises “top off” limit on free night certificates from 15k to 25k
Marriott has increased the maximum number of points that can be used to top off a free night certificate from 15,000 points (on top of a free night certificate) to 25,000 points. Theoretically, that will make certificates usable in more situations, though I’m not entirely sure that I agree with Stephen when he says that “I’m sure we’d all prefer a 25k limit to 15k”. I’m actually of two minds on that: on the one hand, I like that it creates more situations in which those certs can be used, but on the other hand, it sort of backdoor-devalues them if I suddenly need to start kicking in more than 15K points for the places where I want to stay.
What are Choice points worth?
Even before reading Tim’s update, I would have told you that Choice points have been on the rise for me. I’ve been in the midst of planning the finer details for a trip to Europe, and I just keep finding places where my Choice points put me where I want to be and yield solid value. I therefore wasn’t surprised that once we began incorporating Gondola.ai data to paint the value of Choice points with a broader brush, the value has increased.
Citi ThankYou Points about to end points-sharing between cardholders?
Word began to spread yesterday that Citi is planning to end points sharing between cardholders. However, as Tim dug into the details, he came to suspect that the change here might only affect one (relatively uncommon) type of ThankYou card. Time will tell how this shakes out, but one thing is for certain: you don’t want to panic-transfer without a redemption in mind, since points transferred to another member expire 90 days after being transferred. Instead, take your time and consider a best use for your situation.
What is a dummy booking? How to get targeted offers using this trick
Stephen’s beginner series continues this week with the explanation of a dummy booking and how you can use that technique to sometimes find better targeted credit card offers. While I don’t regularly use this technique, it is certainly something that comes to mind when I find myself interested in an airline or hotel credit card. Sometimes, it isn’t even necessarily a better offer that’s available, but that targeted dummy booking offer might be a better fit for your situation.
Updated resources
The following resource posts have been updated this week:
- Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card Review (2026)
- Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card Review (2026)
- Citi Strata Elite℠ Credit Card Review (2026)
- Hilton Honors Complete Guide (2026)
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to be sure you get them before they’re gone.
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I too have LG, and LTE and will tend to gravitate to them when possible, but always look at all options including edit and FHR. This week I had a modest AC marriott in Spain booked and checked Chase and they had a $250 rebate (one of their offer brands, not Edit) and cost was $308 for 2 nights. Had my credit applied next day so cost for a 4* net was $58. I may have to pay for breakfast but still a great deal.
Greg’s not alone. While Ben at OMAAT has Hyatt Lifetime Globalist status and Marriott lifetime status, he too has said that he has drifted away from points-based hotels toward luxury hotels. I’m in the same boat.
It’s easy to say that each person has different objectives. But, as a practical matter, if a person can capture many/most tier benefits via “select” booking platforms, how much effort must a person expend to attain the incremental benefits of earned tier status? And, typically, there’s an opportunity cost as well. As long as a person understands all of this, fine.
But, I’d say that all of the programs have lost touch. It’s pure economics. From the hotel’s perspective, loyalty is on the chopping block. Hyatt simply held out longer.