Finding hidden wins, a great hotel award search tool, and more [Week in Review]
Almost 30 years ago, the Sunscreen Song taught to "accept certain inalienable truths", among them the fact that "prices will rise". That is unfortunately just what happened this week for some awards booked through Avianca Lifemiles....
The best programs for lap infant award tickets
Before your child is two years old, most airlines will allow you to bring the child as a lap infant. Fees to do so range from none at all to thousands of dollars depending...
Hyatt Regency Waikiki: Bottom Line Review
Oahu is probably my favorite Hawaiian Island, but Waikiki is undoubtedly my least favorite part of Oahu. However, it's tough to avoid when trying to use points and many people love its unique "Hawaiian...
How much are Southwest Rapid Rewards points worth?
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points are worth, on average, about 1.4 cents per point. That has been our Reasonable Redemption Value for several years, so I recently took that concept for a test drive...
Indirect Amex Platinum benefits: Free burgers, Champions League soccer, Best Western, Radisson & Sixt...
Amex Platinum cards come with a large suite of benefits, from hotel status to airport lounge access to entertainment subscription credits to savings at Saks and Dell to a Walmart+ membership and more.
All those...
PointsYeah: Free award searches and alerts (now with seat maps, hotels & more)
PointsYeah is one of my favorite award search tools. It's fast and user friendly. It offers both flight and hotel searches, and alerts, across a wide selection of loyalty programs. And it does all...
Avianca Lifemiles devalues, but with a huge twist (it’s not all bad news!)
Avianca Lifemiles has devalued its program in the most Lifemilesish way possible.
This is going to get complicated, but if you're a Lifemiles fan and you saw reports from Loyalty Lobby and One Mile at...
Maximizing American Express credit card rebates & credits
American Express credit card annual fees have continued to go up. And up. And up. In exchange for these increased fees, the bank continues to pile on benefits where you can get money (in...
Copycat credit cards, another program inches toward dynamic pricing, a tool we use constantly...
This week we've seen details of some "new" cards that perhaps draw inspiration from a Xerox machine, one of my favorite frequent flyer programs has inched toward dynamic pricing, Stephen is on the verge...
Bilt’s proposed card changes – like Chase, but (mostly) not as good
Changes are on the horizon for the Bilt card. After news reports (gift article) that Wells Fargo wasn't happy with how things were working out with regards to its issuance of the Bilt credit...
Struggling with the struggle to get under 5/24 (on Nick’s mind)
I've long advocated against over-emphasizing the 5/24 rule and thereby missing out on easy opportunities now for the sake of a shot at a future welcome offer (See: Stop over-valuing 5/24 slots). That's particularly true...
point.me better, but still best for beginners
Around 2019, a new award search tool called Juicy Miles was introduced. It was amazing because it was the first ever user-friendly tool that let users search for award flights across multiple loyalty programs...
Exclusive experiences with points and miles
Miles and points are generally best used to book flights and hotels. Many airline and hotel programs offer the opportunity to do lots of other things with your miles and points -- like buying...
How to get into Delta Sky Club lounges
Big changes are now in effect for Delta Sky Club® access, primarily in an attempt to combat overcrowding. Basic economy flyers aren't welcome and both Amex Platinum and Delta Reserve cardholders are limited to...
