Magical Point Conversions

Did you know that your Ultimate Rewards points can still transfer to Amtrak? Or that Citi ThankYou points can become British Airways Avios? Want to effectively earn 8% back at the gas station and use those rewards toward massages or dinners at Caesars Palace? On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, we talk about why you might want to wave your magic wand too cook up a magical point conversion. Not all of these opportunities represent strong value, but it’s cool to keep in mind these indirect transfer options that might be useful in a pinch.

Elsewhere on the blog this week, we explore which Marriott card is best, the current trends for free night certificates, why the IHG cards might now be worth your big spend (we also discuss this on the show), and a lot more. Watch or listen to Frequent Miler on the Air or read on for more from this week at FM.

^{1:18 Giant Mailbag: Award availability disclaimers
5:33 Confession Time!
9:36 What crazy thing…did British Airways do this week?
12:22 Mattress running the numbers: Are the IHG cards worth big spend?
33:54 Main Event: Magical Point Conversions (First up: JetBlue to Amtrak)
38:04 The Avios Collection
42:30 Wyndham to Caesars Rewards or vice versa
44:33 Hyatt to LATAM / Aeromexico
49:40 Chase, Citi, Capital One, or Bilt to Hilton
56:51 Question of the Week: What hotel card combo do you recommend for free nights?}

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This week at Frequent Miler

Opportunity missed: Don’t forget about that JetBlue to Amtrak conversion

When Greg asked me if I was using Amtrak points to book my train ticket last weekend, I thought that I didn’t have any Amtrak points. However, I had forgotten all about a large pile of Amtrak points I had….that were sitting in my JetBlue account. By extension, that meant that I have plenty of Amtrak points locked up in currencies like Ultimate Rewards or ThankYou points that are just waiting to be transferred to JetBlue and onward to Amtrak. If you enjoy thinking about these indirect transfer options, you’ll want to check out this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air where we discuss other ways to turn your transferable currencies into miles or points you didn’t know you could via unconventional routings.

[Now Live] IHG Card Changes: New Biz Card, Higher Earning, Top Up Certs With Points & More

Changes have now taken hold on the IHG credit cards (and the business card has officially launched) and the news is largely very good. IHG cards now offer more reasonable return on spend, big spend bonuses that can be worth pursuing, and the ability to top off a free night certificate with points (only if you have the IHG Premier or IHG Premier Business cards). There’s no doubt that the IHG cards became a little bit more valuable this week, and that’s a sentence I wouldn’t have anticipated typing in 2022.

Are the IHG Premier cards worth our big spend?

I still can’t believe it, but during Frequent Miler on the Air, Greg just about convinced me that it is indeed worth (at least thinking about) spending tens of thousands of dollars on an IHG card(s). Think I’m crazy? Follow the math in Greg’s post. Unless IHG announces some really amazing program changes, I still couldn’t see myself dedicating this much spend on an IHG card, but at least those who do won’t necessarily be losing (much).

Which is the best Marriott Bonvoy credit card?

From an earning standpoint, the Marriott cards are all similar in that it doesn’t make sense to spend much money on any of them. Therefore, if you’re going to choose between the various Marriott credit cards, you want to pick the one that has the benefits you want. Any of them can be worth more than the cost of the annual fee, so beauty is in the eye of the (card)holder.

Best options for buying Visa and MasterCard gift cards

In this completely revamped resource, Tim covers all of the best ways to buy Visa and Mastercard gift cards. Tim did a great job with the extensive update here — he added several options that I hadn’t realized existed and/or that I’d known but forgotten about altogether. Whether this is your first time reading this resource or you’re returning to it, you are bound to find something useful.

Qatar Airways Now Using Avios; Book QSuites To/From Doha For 70,000 Avios Each Way

In what is probably the most surprising change in 2022 so far, Qatar Airways has discontinued its own loyalty currency and adopted the Avios system used by British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. One interesting by product here is that you can book QSuites via British Airways Executive Club for a not-distance-based price of 70K Avios each way. It’s been a weird week for Avios, but the outcomes are largely positive.

How To Transfer British Airways Avios To Qatar Airways Avios

Now that Qatar uses Avios as its loyalty currency, it is easy to move your Avios between Qatar and British Airways (and by extension Iberia and Aer Lingus). If you don’t yet have a Qatar loyalty account, you can sign up for one and get some easy Avios and then move them to your British Airways account as Stephen shows here.

R.I.P. PPK: PayPal Key Shutting Down On 4/20/22

In the most disappointing news of the week, PayPal announced that it is shutting down PayPal Key as of April 20th. I’m very disappointed, but also not very surprised as I could never make sense of how it made cents for PayPal. More surprising is the fact that PayPal gave about a month of notice. Stephen notes a few of the use cases that have popped up over time — if you have one that still works for you, enjoy it while it lasts.

Un”cert”ain: How program changes have affected the value of hotel free night certificates

Tim takes a look at the current trends for free night certificates from Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG in this post. While I mostly agree with his assessments, I noted on the show this week that I’m becoming more lukewarm on the idea of topping off free night certificates with points since it essentially means paying a surcharge to use your “free” award stay. I already get annoyed by having to pay “resort” or “destination” fees on Marriott stays when using a free night certificate — if I now have to pay $50 or $75 worth of points plus a bogus “destination fee” and a parking fee, those “free” nights will just feel a lot less free.

The 10 Best Awards Bookable Today

Quite a few readers asked about a way to see our New York Travel & Adventure Show presentation from home. In this post, Greg shares slides from the presentation with brief commentary. The Travel & Adventure Show is aimed at a broad travel audience, so we kept things pretty high-level, but this is a nice collection of awards you can find and book (at least sometimes) and links to more information on each.

Why I paid over $1000 to upgrade 3 no-fee Hilton cards without a bonus offer

I loved this post that Tim wrote because it kind of showcases how there isn’t one way to play the game and how cards with high annual fees can save you a lot of money in the right circumstances. It isn’t worth holding cards with high annual fees just because they might save you some money someday, so Tim had made the right call in downgrading — but he was smart not to cancel so that he could strike with an upgrade when the time was right. He probably missed out on some upgrade bonuses, but the money he saved was obviously bonus enough in this case.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s month-ending last chance deals as there are quite a few deals scheduled to expire at the end of the quarter this month.

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