Nobody likes it when points become less valuable because awards get more expensive or when policies change that make it harder to play the game. But remember that those dark clouds have silver linings, and this week on Frequent Miler on the Air we discuss some of the bright spots in the latest award devaluations.
Mailbag
(00:01:45) Giant Mailbag triple-header!
(00:01:50) Schwab bonus with $10mil
(00:02:56) Schwab mortgage counts toward assets (00:05:50) Don’t forget Amex corporate cardholders get statement credits
Crazy Thing
(00:19:33) What crazy thing . . . did Turkish Miles & Smiles do this week?
Award Talk
(00:23:46) Award Talk
(00:23:47) American Airlines Award Sale: Seats for 5K each way
(00:27:59) Rio Las Vegas joins World of Hyatt
Main Event: Bright spots in the latest award devaluations
(00:30:20) Main Event: Bright spots in the latest award devaluations
(00:30:48) Hyatt devaluation
(00:41:07) Wyndham Vacasa devaluation
(00:47:14) Etihad devaluation
(00:53:46) ANA devaluation
(01:02:10) Turkish devaluation
Question of the week
(01:10:09) Question of the Week: If you book a hotel through the AAdvantage shopping portal, will the miles be dated based on the booking date or the checkout date?
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For the first time ever I have correction for something you said in the podcast.
In the question of the week segment you discussed whether hotels booked via AAdvantageHotels (AA’s booking platform that gives miles and loyalty points — sometimes lots of them) for booking hotels would post on the purchase date or the check out date of the stay.
You both had guessed they would post on the check-out date but were surprised that the post on the purchase date. But that’s not correct — AAdantageHotels credit with an activity date of the check-in date at the hotel. A stay that begins in February and ends in March would post in February and count towards the previous year’s loyalty point total.
To further clarify . . . if you are using the Citi AA Executive Mastercard to make that purchase on AAdvantage Hotels and if your purchase is prepaid, then the Loyalty Points *earned by the card* (as opposed to the portal itself) are credited on the purchase date and not on the stay date. If your purchase is pay later (at the hotel, which is sometimes offered), then the Loyalty Points *earned by the card* (as opposed to the portal itself) are credited within 65 days after the stay (but would count towards the qualification year in which the stay occurred).
In both cases, a person would somehow be ineligible for an Amex Marriott SUB. Ha.
I can also confirm the base loyalty points for the AAdantageHotels have an activity based on the checkin date of the reservation. And my experience is 2-3 weeks to see it post to the account.
If Wells Fargo is receiving guidance from the Bilt team . . .
Now, if the Autograph Journey card is what it is, please speculate about what the Autograph Beyond might be. Earn rates? 10X hotel portal?