The timing of this week’s coffee break episode couldn’t have seemed much better-timed given the prediction that came true within a day or two. Hyatt surprised and delighted us this week with the ability to book our suite upgrades online and I shared both my excitement over portal payout rates like 60% back along with my frustrations with what is still easily my favorite shopping portal. All that and more in this Frequent Miler week in review.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Citibank to become exclusive issuer of American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards
After a few months of rumors that Citi was making a play to be the sole issuer of American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards, the news finally broke this week that it’s a done deal: In 2026, Citi will push out Barclays to become the only issuer of American Airlines credit cards. Perhaps more excitingly, the press release indicates that we’re likely going to see Citi launch transfers from Thank You Rewards to American Airlines AAdvantage. That part will be great news, but the loss of Barclays AA cards will mean fewer opportunities for new cardmember bonuses in the form of American Airlines miles.
Predicting the next credit card collectibles | Coffee Break Ep35 | 12-3-24 | Podcast
On this week’s Coffee Break, Greg and I discussed the top credit cards that we think might be worth considering for fear that they will eventually go away. In what feels like quite a prescient moment in hindsight, we predicted that the Barclays Aviator cards would likely go away at some point and so we said that it might be worth getting the Aviator Silver sooner rather than later. Sure enough, barely more than a day later we learned that Citi will become the sole issuer and that the Barclays cards are expected to be migrated to Citi. What we didn’t know at the time but do now is that Citi and AA have said that existing Barclays cardholders will keep the same benefits. Whether that means that Citi will offer something like the Aviator Silver card or simply continue to service those cards as-is remains to be seen — but we were clearly right that this is one collectible that you need to consider collecting sooner rather than later (though not imminently).
Hyatt Suite Upgrades & Club Access awards can now be applied online
This is both an awesome development and one that will likely have some negative consequence. Still, I’m personally thrilled overall that we can finally apply Hyatt suite upgrade awards online. As soon as this news broke, I booked a hotel via the app using my points and confirmed the suite upgrade all on my own in one fell swoop. That was great — I’ve hated having to call each time I want to use an upgrade. The flip side here is that making these easier to use will mean a lot more competition to use them. That will unfortunately make it harder than ever to find availability in some locations, but overall I think I’m more positive about the ease of use than I am negative about the competition to use them.
End of Year Checklist for 2024
The end is near . . . the end of the year, of course! That means it is time to make sure you’ve used up calendar-year airline fee credits, combined points that are limited per year, “renewed” some Wyndham points by transferring to Caesars and back, and more of that sort of thing. This post covers the major to-do’s that need to be on your list before the end of the month. A word of caution: make sure that you choose your Amex airline (for your Platinum cards) one calendar day before you try to use the credit — I’ve had the charge fail to credit with some airlines when making the charge the same day I chose my airline.
Preparing For The End of 2024 | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep284 | 12-6-24 | Podcast
If you’d rather listen to us discuss our end-of-year to-do’s (and add some tips to make them a little easier!), listen to this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air podcast. We also had a lot of other things to discuss this week, but if I were to point to one discussion other than the main event that might be worth a listen, it’s our discussion about booking Preferred Hotels with points. We don’t share any deep, dark secrets, but rather you get a little balance between Greg’s enthusiasm and my skepticism that will help add some important understanding to this interesting new option for booking boutique hotels.
Still loving Capital One Shopping, but with some caveats
I’ve done most of my holiday shopping this year with ridiculous shopping portal rates — like 30% back, 58% back, and even 60% back thanks to borderline ridiculous targeted offers from Capital One Shopping. The fact that redemptions are only via gift card is a limitation — but at 60% back on some purchases, I really can’t complain about anything. That said, the email offers now come with some fine print, so watch out for that per-transaction cap on email offers.
Hyatt Centric Milano Centrale: Bottom Line Review
I have passed through Milan several times in the past few years, but I think I haven’t stayed overnight in more than a decade. Nonetheless, I’ve looked at hotels numerous times and this property had caught my eye in the past as a Category 4 property, so I was quite interested in reading Tim’s review. The first thing that strikes me is that the interior didn’t look how I’d imagine based on the colorful Murano-glass-looking exterior. That isn’t necessarily bad, it just caught me by surprise. As a Category 5, I’m not sure this place would be at the top of my list, but if it ever dropped to 4 again in the future I might just be in.
The sad state of Avianca LifeMiles mixed-cabin awards
Avianca LifeMiles has long been one of my favorite airline programs. One of the reasons I’ve long loved it is for its awesome mixed-cabin pricing. Unfortunately, mixed-cabin pricing seems to have taken a bit of a hit in recent months. There are still some decent deals to be had, but there are also some awful mixed-cabin deals, particularly when combining a long economy class segment with a short business class segment, but also in some cases when combining something like Lufthansa first class with a business class segment on another partner.
60+ best places to use a Hilton Free Night Certificate worldwide
Wondering where to use your Hilton free night certificates? Over the past year, those certificates have become increasingly valuable thanks to some expansion of LXR properties, a few new Conrads, and a slew of highly-desirable Small Luxury Hotels of the World that are now bookable with Hilton points and free night certificates. At this point, I feel like I can’t get enough Hilton free night certificates — and we don’t currently have a Surpass card in my household. That’s a situation that we’ll likely fix in the new year.
Many Preferred Hotels now bookable with points
Preferred Hotels is another boutique hotel program that’s gotten attention in recent years, mostly thanks ton its partnership with Choice Privileges and the ability to book some properties using Choice points. However, Preferred Hotels has recently drawn new attention thanks to the fact that you can now transfer points directly from Citi Thank You rewards to Preferred Hotels (at a 1:4 ratio). Now, Preferred Hotels has sort of opened the floodgates and made more properties bookable with points. Sort of. Before you dive in head first, you should listen to the relevant discussion on this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air episode. While Greg is very excited about this partnership, my excitement is lukewarm at best thanks to the multitude of pitfalls that you may befall.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to be sure you catch those before they’re gone.
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Stayed at Milano Centric three times when a Category 4. Thought I had found my secret hideout in Milan. Not anymore. It was my fnc haven. Goodbye to that!