Choice surprises and delights, United feature self-destructs, best awards to Europe and more [Week in review]

Choice came from deep in the distance with its new online booking tool for Preferred hotels during a week in which a new transferable points currency card launched with points that can transfer to Choice at a desirable rate. We updated our guide to the best ways to get to Europe using miles the same week that Greg took advantage of one of the best of those awards (which is set to devalue slightly in a few weeks). Speaking of devaluations, don’t forget that Hyatt and Wyndham are set to increase the price of some awards in just a few days. All of that and more in this Frequent Miler week in review.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Preferred Hotels now bookable online with Choice points!

I never knew that Choice Privileges loved baseball so much, but they certainly came straight outta left field late last night with the ability to book Preferred Hotels online using Choice Privileges points! Thanks to a hot reader tip, we learned that you can now book these properties (some of which look very nice and many of which are a fantastic value for Choice Privileges points) online and instantly, with no need to call and hope you find that magic agent named Milton who knows how to book them. Read the post carefully — there is a link to check the availability calendar without even logging in to your account. That link looks the same as the booking site, but it’s different. Note that you cannot see the availability calendar on the booking site unless you have enough points to book the hotel, but you can see the availability calendar without even logging in to your account if you follow Greg’s instructions. I know this because I was frantically messaging him around the time of publication saying that I couldn’t check availability without enough points to book and he was patient enough to tell me three or four times to look at the old availability calendar page to see availability before I realized that it was actually a different page.

Citi Double Cash Credit Card Review (2024)

If you’re interested in those Preferred Hotels, having this card will get you to a stay on the double. The Citi Double Cash is probably the best rewards card that I’ve never had in my wallet. For those who want to also keep a Citi Premier card, the Double Cash is almost a required accessory that you can use as an “everywhere else” card to earn 2 points per dollar spent that can then be transferred 1:1 to Citi’s airline partners (as long as you have the Citi Premier or Prestige card) or 1:2 to Choice Privileges (an effective 4x Choice points everywhere!).

Wells Fargo launches Autograph Journey Visa Card: transferable points, up to 5x earnings & more

Another option for collecting Choice Privileges points launched just this week. The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card officially became available just a couple of days ago, marking the beginning of Wells Fargo’s foray into transferable points. I predicted on Frequent Miler on the Air that they will slowly announce more transfer partners in the coming months as I imagine they intend to use those announcements to build interest in their program. While the transfer partners at launch are thin, I think this card has long-term potential to be a nice alternative to the Citi Premier if they add more partnerships as I expect they will. And just like with Citi, Wells Fargo points transfer 1:2 to Choice Privileges, so this card can be a good option for those interested in collecting Choice Privileges points for those Preferred Hotels properties.

Which hotel award search tool is best?

Speaking of excellent hotels, if you want to find availability at the most desirable hotels for award bookings, it can be tough. In this post, Greg reviews some of the best tools for seeking out and setting alerts for availability for sought-after hotel awards. As he notes in the post, each tool’s search results are limited by the fact that it is impossible to monitor each hotel’s availability in real time, so the real use case here is for the alerts. You’ll want to be sure to set alerts for the places you want to monitor in order to nab an award as soon as it becomes available rather than hoping you’ll see cached search results while the availability is still there.

Best ways to get to Europe with miles or money

If you want to visit Europe using your airline miles or credit card points, this post offers up your best options for award flights between the United States and Europe, whether in economy class or business class (and even includes a few helpful tips for cash tickets). Times have changed and we’ve made extensive updates to this resource post, including adding new options like using Qatar Avios for JetBlue and Alaska’s new attractive pricing for flights between the northeastern US and Europe.

My final ANA sweet-spot award booking

Speaking of those sweet spot awards to Europe, Greg just booked what is arguably the sweetest spot among them (though Greg may in fact argue with that assertion!). He finally used up the ANA miles that had been languishing in his ANA account for years (thanks to COVID-era extensions). I was impressed with his strategy here — and if you can follow the logic as to why he booked this trip the way he did, it’s a great road map for what to do if you ever find yourself in the unenviable position of having soon-to-expire ANA miles. Beyond that, it showcases one of ANA’s best features: free changes. Just make sure to pick a route where you know you’ll have good change options.

(Maybe not) United Airlines will soon allow friends and family to pool miles

While ANA allows free changes, United Airlines allows free changes and free cancellations, too. It turns out that United even extends free cancellations to its own ideas. You might have seen the news this week (or heard us discuss it on the podcast!) that United was expected to launch points pooling to make it possible to pool miles with your family members. It turns out that United must be a big fan of the old Mission Impossible, because they launched this feature yesterday and that baby was set to self destruct in a hot minute. Yep, they both launched it (with lame limitations) and pulled it in the same day.

Free Credit Scores, Reports, and Monitoring: Complete guide.

Greg has put together a quick and easy guide full of ways to monitor your credit and credit score and reports. There’s great information in this post, but I’ll chime in with a subjective opinion and say that it can be easy to obsess over small details here and worry over a change from, say, and 830 score to an 805 score when in reality, either of those scores are going to have access to the best loan rates and be highly likely (but not guaranteed!) to get approved for most credit cards. Keep in mind that both scoring algorithms and credit card approval algorithms are still incredibly complex, so don’t sweat it too much if you have a high score and yet Bank X still doesn’t approve you for a card (so long as you’re monitoring to make sure that there aren’t mistakes or fraud on your report). Sometimes, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Big spend bonuses Nick plans to pursue in 2024

So far in 2024, I’ve had a number of expenses and abilities to hit big spending requirements. Beyond welcome bonuses, there are some big spend bonuses that I intend to pursue this year. Since I upgraded ton the Aviator Silver card, I should surely hit the spend on that card and I’ve already completed spending for a Hyatt free night certificate. I’ll have to carefully plan out my timing on spending to a Hilton free night certificate, though we’ve got a stay coming up soon where we’re using two Hilton certificates to good value, so I anticipate that we’ll probably be happy to pick up a new certificate even if we aren’t ultimately able to use it for an SLH property.

(Reminder) Ouch. Hyatt’s 2024 devaluation has been announced & it’s not pretty

I’m including this post in the week in review to remind you to book your qualifying Hyatt reservations while you still can if your chosen property is increasing in award price next week. I was able to take advantage of a couple of bookings at a Category 4 property using free night certificates that will soon be moving up.

World of Hyatt: Complete list of all-inclusive properties in Mexico and the Caribbean

With Hyatt’s coming category changes, Tim updated and republished the list of all-inclusive properties in Mexico and the Caribbean that you can book with World of Hyatt points. A few of these properties are increasing in price in just a few days, so book now to lock in the current rates before those go up.

Podcast: Mastering Marriott’s Madness | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep247

This week’s full-length Frequent Miler on the Air episode is all about Marriott’s rewards program. There’s no doubt that Bonvoy can be a bit bewildering, but don’t bemoan the baffling benefits, just become a Bonvoy master thanks to our beguiling b– ok, enough of Marriott’s B’s. Listen to the episode for a full rundown of everything you need to know to master Marriott.

Podcast: American Airlines vs. Alaska Miles – Which are Better? | Coffee Break Ep04

Are you better off with American Airlines miles or Alaska Airlines models? That’s actually not an easy question to answer. Both programs have their strengths, and on this week’s short-form coffee break podcast episode we lay those out and discuss our opinions about which is best. I’ll admit to being a bit biased by my location in the Northeast.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Don’t forget to keep an eye on this week’s month-ending last chance deals to make sure you don’t miss any before they expire.

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