One of the things I love about Greg the Frequent Miler is his enduring optimism. Not one to dwell on bad news, Greg is a master of finding the silver linings. However, this week’s points and miles news made that surprisingly difficult even for a serial optimist. That, in turn, led to some late-breaking entries in our Bonvoyed of the Year competition, so we had some fun giving credit where credit was due by calling out those companies that made the least customer-friendly moves of 2025.
But it’s not all doom-and-gloom this week, as the team looked back on our favorite flights of the year, we saw a major dining program launch an unannounced expansion, and a major airline program launched its first partnership with a transferable currency. And through 12/22/25, we’ve seen an edit to the unexpected The Edit edit. Whatever 2026 holds in store, you can be sure that we’ll continue keeping our eye on the sweet spots and reporting them here.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Frequent Miler’s Favorite Flights of 2025
The Frequent Miler team put in our share of miles in the sky in 2025, but which flights were our favorites? In this post, all five of us highlight the flights that surprised or delighted us the most in 2025.
The 2025 Bonvoyed Awards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep337 | 12-19-25
We spend most of our time here at Frequent Miler focused on the ways to maximize your rewards, like earning big points bonuses and maximizing sweet spot redemptions. However, it is impossible to ignore that some companies and programs try to make things difficult for those focused on maximization. At the end of every year, we call out the companies and loyalty programs that have made the least consumer-friendly moves of the year. This year might have produced the most competitive field that we have ever seen for the title of “Bonvoyed of the Year”. Ultimately, Greg and I came to slightly different conclusions while agreeing that all of this year’s entrants easily deserved their spots on the list.
The Edit vs Amex (now that the guaranteed 2x boosts are gone)
One of the things that certainly made our Bonvoyed list this year was the edit to The Edit. It is worth noting that Chase very briefly walked back those edits and will honor the 2x boost for bookings made through 12/22/25. However, in this post, Greg explored whether the reduced Points Boost rate was a significant change and whether that has made it possible for Chase to expand the program or offer more competitive rates. While the sample size here is only two major cities, the results are nonetheless disappointing.
Sapphire Reserve® Exclusive Tables expanded (more cities, more restaurants)
In positive Sapphire Reserve news, we saw an unannounced expansion of Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables this week. A number of new cities/areas have been added, which can make this program far more accessible for those who live in or travel to those newly-added places. We’ve also seen some new restaurants added in existing cities, though it is worth noting that we’ve also seen a handful of restaurants removed. That part stinks: I’d be upset if I made a reservation at a restaurant on the list only to find out later that they were removed before I dined. There’s no doubt that unannounced changes to the list may lead to messy results; I would rather Chase release a quarterly or semi-annual list with an expiration date.
Aftermath of the major Mesa mess | Coffee Break Ep82 | 12-16-25
Speaking of messy, we haven’t seen a mess the likes of the Mesa shutdown in as long as I can remember. Neither Greg nor I could remember a time when a credit card issuer so abruptly closed down operations and left cardholders in the lurch like this. On this week’s Coffee Break, Greg and I discussed what happened and how we would approach a similar deal in the future (with the benefit of hindsight). Rove Miles has since seized the opportunity for some brilliant marketing to the Mesa crowd (and Mesa proceeded to redeem outstanding points for statement credits at 0.6c per point).
Looking ahead: My elite status plans in 2026 (on Nick’s mind)
Thinking in the opposite direction, I spent some time examining my 2026 elite status plans. While my entire family will have JetBlue elite status for the next 25 years, which other airline and hotel statuses do I plan to chase in 2026? Surprisingly, I don’t have many trips yet planned for the coming year, so I have far fewer hotel nights booked in the coming year (including just one Hyatt night booked so far). In this post, I discuss what I plan to achieve and where I might chase a little harder.
Bilt has added Spirit as another transfer partner
Earlier this year, I had caught wind that Spirit would likely be partnering with a transferable currency. At the time, I speculated that Bilt had to be the partner currency. However, as Spirit has struggled to stay afloat in recent months, that possibility had dropped off my radar entirely. I was as surprised as anyone when it was announced this week that Spirit would become Bilt’s latest transfer partner. While this is not among the most exciting additions Bilt has made to its ecosystem, I am nonetheless happy to see Bilt continue to diversify and create opportunities.
Preferred Hotels I Prefer elite status
Perhaps unsprisingly, Greg has found Preferred Hotels’ I Prefer elite status to be a mixed (yet mostly empty) bag. This just solidifies for me that this isn’t a program for folks who, well, prefer to be rewarded for their loyalty. I continue to look for opportunities to use this Citi transfer partner, but I haven’t yet stumbled into a compelling use case. The inconsistent elite recognition isn’t terribly inspiring, either. This is a program that I’ll keep in my back pocket for a rainy day when it becomes useful, but it certainly won’t become a primary focus for me if receiving elite benefits is likely to require as much follow-up as it has for Greg on 2/3 of his stays.
Q1 2026 activation links for cards offering 5% in rotating categories
I don’t usually include “deal” posts in Week in Review, but after having forgotten to activate and use quarterly rotating categories a couple of times this year, I am trying to get better at activating those categories early. Stephen always does a great job of gathering the info for all of the various rotating category cards, so you can quickly see the qualifying merchants and click through to log in and activate.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals and grab them before they are gone.
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