Southwest compensating passengers with 25K points each as a goodwill gesture (check your email!)
Southwest Airlines is compensating at least some passengers who caught caught up in the crazy Southwest Airlines meltdown over the holidays by sending out apology points. If you were scheduled to fly during that...
FM Predicts: Here’s what will happen in 2023…
Despite our poor success rate with predictions in 2022 we're at it again. Just like Charlie Brown who never gave up hope that he'd successfully kick the football from Lucy's hands, we're winding...
How did we do for 2022? Results of FM’s predictions . . .
At the beginning of 2022, Greg, Stephen, and I made predictions about what we would see in the points and miles game in 2022. The short story is that we are far better at...
What was the 2022 Deal of the Year?
All year long we have written about great deals -- from hot credit card bonuses to award alert messages, stacking opportunities, ways to earn elite status without flying, and more. What was the best...
Alaska “simplifies” award chart, but some awards still feature old pricing
Alaska Airlines has launched its new unified partner award chart. Unfortunately, they have set it up to easily institute dynamic pricing, which leads me to expect frequent stealth devaluations. That's almost worse than if...
Yes, you can travel cheaper and better with award travel
After nearly 6 years of writing here at Frequent Miler, I've seen countless variations on this sentence from newcomers to award travel: "I don't know if I can figure this award travel stuff out"....
Year-end strategy for Fine Hotels & Resorts credits
As we approach the end of the year, I've ended up with a bit of excess credit to use toward prepaid Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings. As you'll recall, one of the new...
Frequent Miler’s 2022 State of the Business Report
In 2020, I posted a series detailing how the Frequent Miler business was coping with COVID. In the first post, at the start of COVID lock-downs, I predicted that revenue would likely drop to...
2022 Bonvoyed awards
(Drumroll, please): Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have been waiting for all year long has finally arrived. This week, we present to you the 2022 Bonvoyed Awards, where we discuss the nominees for...
End of Year Checklist for 2022
Republishing this because time is running out! With only a week remaining in 2022, it's your last chance to take care of those things you've been putting off! Earlier this week I finished spending...
Major programs taking fun out of the game with more revenue-based structures (on Nick’s...
With American Airlines announcing last week that they will essentially follow Delta's lead and make award redemptions on its own flights fully dynamic (with no more "Mile SAAver" or "Anytime" awards on American airlines...
Marriott Titanium achieved. Here’s how I sprinted to the finish.
In the November 4th post "Should I go for Marriott Titanium Elite Status?" I explained that my travel plans meant that I would be 8 nights short of requalifying for Marriott Elite Titanium status...
American Airlines takes elite gaming to the next level
The newly revamped AAdvantage Loyalty Points program seems to be designed with an eye toward gamification. Gone are the days when George Clooney's character from Up in the Air was the ideal of an...
Sweeping changes at American Airlines: Is the program more AAdvantageous than before?
American Airlines announced sweeping changes to its AAdvantage loyalty program yesterday. CNBC claimed that "American Airlines will make it harder to earn frequent flyer status next year", but that was a huge oversimplification. The...
