Greg’s top travel card, rumored changes coming to a favored card, a board game tour and more [Week in Review]

When my family decided to pursue JetBlue’s 25 for 25 challenge last year, it wasn’t entirely sensible. Sure, we’d earn a lot of points, but there was no way to know for sure whether we’d glean long-term value from 25 years of Mosaic 1 elite status. It was a gamble that I felt pretty good about, but the upside was really hard to quantify speculatively.

But this week, it really paid off for the first time since the completion of the challenge.

Yesterday, we flew as a party of 5 (my immediate family plus an additional family member on our itinerary) + a party of 2 (on a separate reservation) from Boston to San Francisco. On an unrelated side note, all seven of us enjoyed breakfast in the Sapphire Lounge. That was thanks to the Ritz-Carlton card, which no longer allows for unlimited free guests, but still allows for free authorized users, so it was easy to get the whole family into the lounge.

Here’s the part where our Mosaic 1 status really came in handy: JetBlue wanted $169 per passenger for Even More Space (extra legroom) seats prior to the trip. For the 5 of us on a single reservation, that would have been $845 in fees for extra legroom seats (on top of the cost of the tickets themselves). We wouldn’t have paid that. However, thanks to Mosaic 1 status, we didn’t need to — we got the seats for free at check-in. Given the long nature of the flight (scheduled for 6 hours and 45 minutes), free extra legroom was, well, huge. It wasn’t the same as a lie-flat seat, but we had plenty of room to stretch our legs (and thanks to JetBlue charging so much for these seats, the extra legroom section didn’t go out full, so I ended up in a row with a family member where we enjoyed an empty middle seat, making the experience feel that much less cramped). Getting that kind of unexpected win in Year #1 is precisely why I thought we should pursue the promotion. I’m certainly glad that we went after it!

And while I love collecting points to enjoy lie-flat business class seats on long-haul trips, after flying the 6hr and 45min transcon trip yesterday, I could see myself considering a JetBlue economy class redemption from Europe to the US if the play is to get us all in Even More Space seats on a daytime flight home. I don’t know whether I’ll ever take advantage of that, but I love having it as an option thanks to pursuing long-term status. Here’s hoping the status sticks around if and when JetBlue is acquired.

Elsewhere on the blog this week, read about Greg’s pick or the top travel card, the best cards for United fliers, how you can make a memorable day in London from a Monopoly gameboard, and a lot more.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Which United card is best (now that they’re essential)?

United Airlines has introduced significant changes to its program in 2026. The short story is that you’ll now want a United card in order to earn as many points as possible and get more benefits when you’re flying United. In this post, Greg tries to answer the question, “Which United card is best?”. The truth is that the answer to that question will vary from person to person, but this post should help you work through which card makes the most sense for you.

3x travel: Ink Preferred as an alternative to Sapphire Reserve

Don’t really care about United Airlines specifically? In that case, you might be wondering which credit card to use for travel now that the Sapphire Reserve no longer offers 3X on all travel. Greg points out in this post that it is still possible to earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points on all travel with the Business Preferred card while making the case for why he has moved his travel purchases to this card. Personally, I’ve been using the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve for most travel, but I hadn’t realized until very recently that the Altitude Reserve card’s trip cancellation protection doesn’t offer any coverage for lodging. I’ll continue to pay award taxes & fees with a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Ritz card in many cases, though the Bilt Palladium card, which we’re using to earn 3X everywhere in my household, might be our next solution.

Citi might nerf the Strata Premier | Coffee Break Ep99 | 3-31-26

Another option for a “travel” sort of card would be the Citi Strata Premier card. The Citi Strata Premier might be the ultimate “Player 2” card. It bonuses many of the most commonly used categories, like gas, grocery, and dining. It also offers 3X on many types of travel (though not everything) and has some travel protections (that seem a bit weaker than other cards, but might suit one’s needs). However, rumor has it that Citi is contemplating a refresh on the card that would make it far more complicated. It isn’t hard to imagine Citi couponifying the card, but hopefully, they won’t mess with the earning structure nearly so much as has been rumored.

Don’t sleep on Southwest cardholder discount codes — and don’t misuse them, either

While I wouldn’t necessarily use the Southwest cards to book travel, the Premier consumer and business cards come with what could be a highly valuable benefit: a coupon code that defies expectations. The moral of the story is that you don’t want to waste the right Southwest code on a paid fare when you can get significantly more value out of it against an award flight. This can be a handy way to increase the purchasing power/value of your points, and could make the Premier cards the best choice for those who can take advantage of the codes (particularly if you travel with multiple passengers).

Credit Card Collectibles | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep352 | 4-3-26

On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, Greg and I discuss some of our favorite credit card collectibles. Most of the cards in the main event are no longer available, but understanding why we kept them and how that looks in hindsight can help inform how to approach collectibles in the future. We also talked this week about stacking promotions at Hyatt’s Under Canvas brand, ways to change your frequent flyer number on a booking, United’s new changes, and more.

How to see London Monopoly sights without going bankrupt

Stephen’s wife Shae’s Monopoly-themed tour of London sights was incredibly popular during our 100K Vacay team challenge. In this post, Shae lays out the entire itinerary from her day touring around London, including key notes and costs. This was an awesome idea that I could see having high appeal for folks who have been to London before and are looking for an adventurous way to spend a day, while getting to some off-the-beaten-path spots.

Ask Us Anything Live: Wednesday, April 8 at 9pm ET

We ordinarily run our monthly Ask Us Anything Live on Facebook on the first Wednesday of the month, but this month we’re switching it up to next Wednesday because a couple of team members were unavailable this week. Join us next week for your chance to pepper us with your burning questions about miles, points, travel, and more.

My American Express bonuses are posting with blazing speed

We’ve recently earned a few different types of Amex bonuses in my household, including an Amex Offer spending bonus, an American Express Membership Rewards welcome bonus, and a co-branded Hilton bonus that included both points and a free night certificate. In all three cases, I was highly impressed with the fact that points posted with blazing speed – anywhere from the same day to fewer than 48 hours from meeting spending requirements. That could be awesome if you need the rewards from a bonus right away. On the other hand, as a reader points out in the comments, if you want to stretch out the length of time you have to use something like a welcome bonus free night certificate, you may want to hold off on meeting that spending requirement for a while, because the free night certificate might post more quickly than you anticipated.

Current Hotel Promotions for April 2026

This is your monthly reminder to register for hotel promotions, even when you don’t think you’ll use them. As I type this post, I checked out of a Hilton hotel just this morning and almost forgot to register for the current promotion to earn 2K bonus points per stay. Don’t leave those points on the table — make sure you register for promotions when they launch.

Best Credit Card Offers for April 2026

One of the most common questions we field is some sort of variant of, “Which credit card should I get?”. My first stop is always our Best Offers page. We work to keep this resource fully updated with the best publicly available offers for a wide range of credit cards (and we always appreciate reader help if you know of a better offer, so let us know if you catch a change or alternate offer before we do!).

Current point transfer bonuses for April 2026

April 2026 is off to a strong start, with 7 current transfer bonuses available so far. Keep in mind that we update this post with each new transfer bonus we see, even before we’ve written a post, so this is always our most up-to-date resource for transfer bonuses.

Q2 2026 activation links for cards offering 5% in rotating categories

If you have a credit card with rotating quarterly bonus categories, here’s your reminder that April 1st brought in the start of a new quarter, so it is time to activate the new quarterly bonuses. This post has all the links you need for Q2 2026 bonus categories.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to make sure you grab those ending in mid-April (including a couple of transfer bonuses ending soon).

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