When award search tools first hit the scene, I turned my nose up at them. I had put in the “hard work” to learn the various award programs and I knew how to find awards without the assistance of a tool. I quickly realized that I also knew how to walk and run but that a car is just a more efficient way to get from point A to point B. Think of award search tools as your transportation from start to search results in a far more reasonable amount of time that is well worth the cost. But most of us only have a one or two-car garage, so this week Greg takes a closer look at those tools again so you can decide which is the right fit for you.
Elsewhere on the blog this week, Tim has been hard at work updating our Reasonable Redemption Values for some of the most popular foreign airline programs and publishing or updating card reviews for some of the most popular credit cards on the market. For my part, I have survived a cruise ship norovirus outbreak and am about to disembark now. Read on for more from this week at Frequent Miler.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Bilt Rent Day for March: 150%-200% transfer bonus to Hilton Honors
I have long expected to see a big transfer bonus from Bilt to Hilton given the fact that the ordinary 1:1 transfer ratio yields such poor value. At the top end, this transfer bonus is as good as a 50% transfer bonus from Amex to Hilton. I’d not been excited about those until the partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the world and I’m still not very excited about this use of Bilt points, but I do think it is a reasonable redemption for someone with a great use of Hilton points in mind. That said, this one is valid today (3/1/25) only, so you need to get on this right away if you want to do it.
Which award search tool is best?
Greg has once again updated his award search tool comparison post to include the latest details and his evaluation as to which is “best”. Keep in mind the quotation marks around the word best — each search tool has its strengths, so there isn’t a universal answer to this question. Most people would be well-served to try out the free version of multiple tools to determine which is best for their situation. However, one way or another, you’ll do best by using one or more of these tools. As someone with the skills and knowledge to search multiple sites without the need for a tool, I can’t tell you how much time I’ve saved and how many times I’ve discovered a route I didn’t realize existed or a sweet spot I had forgotten thanks to search tools.
AwardTool: a powerful award search tool with up to 32 simultaneous searches
Greg takes a deeper dive into AwardTool, showcasing both the usefulness of being able to customize the number of searches while also being clear about the drawbacks. As someone who is equally willing to start an international trip from multiple US gateways and is often willing to arrive in one of multiple airports, I find the “32 simultaneous searches” feature incredible useful and it is likely the reason why AwardTool has become my go-to search tool. Still, it isn’t perfect, so you’ll want to read this and Greg’s search tool comparison post for a fuller picture.
Hilton has added 31 more SLH properties (Maldives, Austria, Chile, Greece, Colombia & many more)
Hilton continues knocking it out of the park with their integration of Small Luxury Hotels of the world (SLH). They have now added even more SLH properties across numerous locations, creating even more opportunities to use your Hilton points and Hilton Free Night Certificates to fantastic value.
Hyatt’s 2025 category changes: Particularly bad for mattress running & free night certificates
Does Hyatt intend to eliminate Category 1 from its award chart? The United States is set to lose many Category 1 Hyatt properties, and we also see a number of European Category 1 hotels moving up to Category 2, both of which eliminate popular cheap opportunities for elite night credits. Unfortunately, a number of popular Category 4 and 7 properties will also increase on price to slide out of bounds for “free night certificate” use. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Since Hyatt gives us advance warning, you have the opportunity to book places now before the increases or you’ll get an automatic refund if a place you book later decreases in award price. More importantly, Hyatt maintains its award chart.
How we use our Hilton credit card perks | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep295 | 2-28-25 | Podcast
If you’re going to carry a credit card with an annual fee, you ought to be sure that you’re getting enough value out of the card to justify the cost of admission. Greg and I both have Hilton cards in our households; this week on the podcast, we discuss how we use the various card perks to get good value while trying to stay ahead of the annual fees.
What a norovirus outbreak was like aboard the Holland America Eurodam
This morning, my family is disembarking the Holland America Eurodam, which made the news this week as yet another ship with an outbreak of norovirus (not the first from Holland America this year). The staff on this ship did a great job, but I question why Holland America wasn’t more transparent with passengers about the fact that an outbreak was happening or with details about what passengers should know about norovirus. A reader mentions that it would have made sense for the cruise line to provide a handout explaining simple facts to know about the virus at a minimum and I would have liked to have seen that.
Citi ThankYou Rewards Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners (2025)
Remember that we have resources like this one for all of the major transferable currencies so you can quickly reference the full lists of transfer partners and catch the key details about which are generally the most useful.
Marriott Bonvoy Airline Transfer Partners
Marriott Bonvoy points can be transferred to a wide array of airline frequent flyer programs, including to airlines that don’t partner with other major transferable currencies, like Japan Airlines Mileage Bank and Aegean Miles & Bonus. See this post for a full list of options and some quick hits on best uses.
How Greg uses his Delta Platinum credit card perks | Coffee Break Ep46 | 2-25-25 | Podcast
Greg enjoys having a Delta Platinum credit card, but he doesn’t use it much, except to use valuable card perks. In this week’s Coffee Break, we discuss how he uses those perks to make sure that he maximizes value with his card.
Aeroplan Family Points Sharing Returns
It’s great to see Aeroplan finally re-launch family points sharing as this is a really useful feature for families. I had long ago forgotten that I’d started to set up a pool back when the feature originally launched (and before it got suspended), so when my wife transferred Bilt points to Aeroplan to take advantage of a transfer bonus, I was initially surprised to see the points show up in my Aeroplan balance. However, that made it far easier for us since we both collect miles but I tend to be the one managing the redemption side. This makes it so much easier to manage multiple players within a family. Kudos to Aeroplan for bringing it back and continuing to offer the feature for free.
Ortea Palace Syracuse, Sicily (Marriott Autograph Collection): Bottom Line Review
Tim reviews what looks like a marvelous stay in Sicily at a lovely Autograph Collection property. This looks like one to put on your list if you plan to be in the area.
What are your points and miles worth?
Behind the scenes, we have long been discussing updates to our Reasonable Redemption Values for various airline frequent flyer programs. This week, we updated those RRVs for a number of useful programs. From perennial favorites like Air Canada Aeroplan and Alaska Mileage Plan to the more niche redemptions of Qantas points, how much value can you reasonably expect per point? See these posts for more on the answer for each one:
What are Air Canada Aeroplan points worth?
What are Alaska Mileage Plan miles worth?
What are Virgin Atlantic points worth?
What are Qantas Frequent Flyer points worth?
Credit Card Reviews
This week, Tim and Greg have written or updated numerous credit card reviews to provide a Frequent Miler rundown of key card features as well as our take on who might find these cards to be a fit and who might need to try another card on for size.
Ink Business Premier Review (2025)
Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card Review (2025)
Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card Review (2025)
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Review (2025)
Citi Custom Cash Credit Card Review (2025)
Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide (2025)
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