Although I’ve known many people who hated it, I’ve always loved the movie Midnight in Paris. I think that’s probably somewhat because I can identify with Owen Wilson’s character’s propensity for nostalgia and “Golden Age Thinking” — that sort of wistful “homesick” feeling for “the way things were”. But the part of the movie that always puts a smile on my face is when Wilson’s character travels backward through time to his “Golden Age” only to find the people of that time pining for a different “Golden Age” of years gone by.
When a program devalues (like the way Southwest gouged earnings this week!) or the persistence of time inevitably changes the value proposition (hello, incoming Hyatt category changes), I try to remember that we still have plenty of opportunities in this great hobby to get incredibly outsized value. While it is easy to mourn the coming loss of many Hyatt Category 1 or 4 properties, there will surely come a day when I look back fondly on the memory of using an award search tool to set an alert for a great deal on business class tickets to Tahiti or when I long for the chance to go back and transfer all my Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Miles so that I could make a few more great Alaska redemptions.
This week at Frequent Miler, you can read about both the losses we’ll soon miss and the great wins we can leverage right now, the tools we can use to strike while the iron is hot, and a lot more.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Reader tip: Programs to watch at schedule open for 4+ business class seats
A reader emailed us some great tips about programs that release multiple business class seats at schedule open that could be really useful for families struggling to find seats for 4 (or maybe even more) passengers. I was particularly excited to dig into the LATAM space here as I could definitely imagine positioning to Cancun or Punta Cana for the 35K lie-flat business class seats from one of those cities to Santiago.
The 5 Best Award Search Tools | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep296 | 3-7-25
If you’re struggling to find the awards you want, I can not recommend highly enough that you spend some time learning how to use search tools. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, Greg and I discuss the 5 best tools (and a couple of honorable mentions), highlighting the best for each of a few different use cases. The truth is that there isn’t just one “best”, but there are a number of really good tools. More importantly for anyone who has followed this stuff for a while, most of these tools have changed in significant ways over time, so it’s worth keeping up with them to stay on top of what each can do.
Falling in love with Alaska miles all over again
Over the past couple of weeks, thanks to using award search tools, I’ve come to regret not making a speculative transfer from Amex to Hawaiian during the final transfer bonus offered last year. I’ve recently made a number of redemptions with Alaska mileage plan that help demonstrate the opportunities that exist for solid value from the program — so much so that I might just send over most of the rest of my Membership Rewards points while I still can. I actually wouldn’t have thought to check Alaska for any of these redemptions were it not for stumbling upon them via Award Tool. Furthermore, at the time of writing I had only booked flights one way on Air Tahiti Nui for a trip to Bora Bora and I mentioned setting alerts for flights in the other direction. Just yesterday, I got a hit on an award alert for 2 seats to Tahiti. I booked those and now just need two more to complete the trip. It sure is a weight off my shoulders knowing that I don’t have to obsessively search since a tool can do that for me.
Predicting the Refreshed Platinum Card | Coffee Break Ep47 | 3-4-25 | Podcast
Rumors are floating around that Amex will refresh the Platinum card in 2025, so Greg and I couldn’t resist making some predictions. On this week’s coffee break, we agree that the price tag is likely to rise and coupons are likely to change. Listen to hear our guesses about what’s to come on the Platinum card — and let us know your own predictions in the comments.
Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée (France): Bottom Line Review
Tim’s review of the Hyatt Regency Nice notes that it is a perennial favorite among Hyatt properties in Europe. I also spent a night at this property a couple of years ago after one of my “free” European cruises. Within an hour of arriving, I said that my biggest regret of that trip was only planning one night at this property. The columns and view are stunning, the location perfect, and Nice was buzzing with activity during our summertime stay. Tim’s pictures make me hope that I’ll one day get a chance for a few more Nice nights one day.
Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels & Resorts (Book before March 25)
The Hyatt Regency Nice isn’t anywhere close to a Category 4, but there are plenty of nice Hyatt properties that are….though many of them won’t be for long. Beware the Ides of March: Hyatt’s annual category changes are coming in a couple of weeks. Numerous Category 4 properties will soon move up and out of range for your Hyatt Category 1-4 free night certificates. This post highlights the best Category 4 properties that you should book now before award prices increase.
Southwest slashes points earning on Wanna Get Away Fares with no notice
Southwest Airlines is in major cost-cutting mode and it is quickly becoming less and less recognizable to long-time Southwest loyalists like me. I would not have predicted that Southwest would reduce earning rates on their most popular fares, nor that it would be by 67% on Wanna Get Away fares and certainly not that they’d do it with no advance notice. While I’m sure we’ll still fly Southwest thanks to the Companion Pass, these changes are mostly a slap in the face of those elite members who have traditionally earned their pass “the hard way”. Those folks will suddenly need to spend a lot more money on Southwest flights to earn enough points for the pass.
Maximizing (and understanding) United Excursionist Perks
The United Excursionist Perk is a fun little benefit that can be leveraged beyond what United probably intended with a little bit of creativity. That said, despite having using this perk a few times years ago, I’d mostly forgotten about it since I so rarely find United miles to offer the best rates for booking the awards I want. That said, if you’re flush with United miles and it is a program with which you prefer to book your international awards, you should make it a point to learn about this perk and how to work it to your advantage.
How to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham points
While the value proposition has changed some for Vacasa vacation rentals booked with Wyndham Rewards points, this remains a sweet spot that I find really intriguing. I’ve got a stash of Wyndham points that I’m looking to use with Vacasa, so here’s hoping that the coming merger with Casago won’t put an end to the relationship with Wyndham.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Review (2025)
The Capital One Venture X card offers a great value. While the $300 credit is a bit of a pain since it needs to be used through Capital One Travel, the combination of 10,000 miles and that credit makes it pretty easy to justify the annual fee on this card even before considering its other benefits. The key hole on this card is a category multiplier (other than booking through Capital One Travel). I’d love to see Capital One add something like 3x dining or travel to differentiate the earning structure from the Venture card, though I don’t expect that we’ll see much added to this unless they decide to increase the annual fee — and I definitely don’t want to see that.
Nick’s experience with Holland America Luggage Direct: An awesome feature for cruisers
I recently cruised with Holland America and got to take advantage of their luggage service, which collected our checked bags the night before disembarkation and whisked them away to the airport, with Holland America checking the bags for us so we could completely skip the bag drop counter at the airport. It was incredibly smooth and, in my opinion, well worth the $25 per passenger.
Guide to Credit Scores, Reports, and Free Monitoring
While most who are active in the credit card hobby understand the importance of good credit, I find that there is often confusion centered around things like inquiries/pulls, new accounts, and utilization and more factors that can play a part in approvals. This guide runs you through what you need to know about those topics and how to monitor your own reports.
Wells Fargo Signify Business Cash Credit Card Review (2025)
The Wells Fargo Signify Business Cash card initially feels fairly unremarkable since there are a number of 2% cash back cards on the market that carry no annual fee. However, it’s less common to find that combination on the business side of things. When you consider the fact that the rewards can be combined with an autograph card to make the points transferable, it starts to look more appealing yet. See Tim’s full review for more.
Hilton Honors Complete Guide (2025)
Does Hilton offer a 5th night free or a 4th night free? While a Gold or Diamond member gets a food & beverage credit instead of breakfast in the US, are they still entitled to breakfast abroad? Answers to questions like those can always be found in our complete guides.
Current point transfer bonuses for March 2025
A number of new transfer bonuses are out this month. Don’t forget to bookmark this page to check back any time you’re about to book an award to make sure that you don’t leave a bonus on the table.
Current Hotel Promotions for March 2025
Any time that I’m about to book a paid hotel stay, I check out the current hotel promotions page to see if there’s one that might create enough extra rebate to tip the balance toward one chain or another. This is another good resource to bookmark as we update it every time we publish a new hotel promo.
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