Please tell us how to find business class awards

21

a man looking at a magnifying glassGreg recently had great success booking his ANA round the world award. In response, a reader made a request that we get quite frequently — “PLEASE tell us how to find business class awards!”. There are a number of things to keep in mind and tools to use when searching for business class awards and given that Greg and I have been pulling out our hair over diving head first into award searches lately, it was a timely topic for this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air.

Elsewhere on the blog this week, I write about why I am becoming so enthusiastic about Aeroplan, Stephen shares some Marriott discounts you may be missing, Greg answers a  number of reader questions, and a lot more. Watch, listen, or read on for more from this week at Frequent Miler.


00:28 Giant Mailbag
1:48 Mattress running the numbers: Daily Getaways Are any of these deals worth speculatively buying? Our analysis:
3:46 IHG points for half a cent each
4:35 Hilton points for half a cent each
4:47 Wyndham points for 1.17c each
5:30 Best Western at 0.55 cents per point
6:38 Choice points for 0.52 cents per point
8:35 Marriott gift cards for 20% off
11:31 #3Cards2Continents3Updates
23:34 Awards we booked this week
27:00 What crazy thing….did London Heathrow Airport do this week?
30:18 Main Event: PLEASE tell us how to find business class awards.
1:11:17 When is Ask Us Anything?

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This week at Frequent Miler

Round the World Award Booked! Lessons learned.

a man holding a glass ball

Greg has done it — he booked a round the world award with ANA for an impressively low number of miles. More importantly, he learned some great information that will save us all time and help us find success when we try to book this incredible sweet spot. On the one hand, I think that the Aeroplan award chart has some definitely advantages over ANA here (and certainly their partnerships represent advantageous possibilities), but I envy the fact that Greg found the magic time to call ANA and an ability to put an award on hold. See this post for the gems he has dug up in the process of booking what I’m sure will be an impressive award.

Aeroplan: Nick’s ace in the hole for #3Cards3Continents

a man holding a deck of cards

Gosh I’m loving the Air Canada Aeroplan award chart — or more specifically, it’s unique mix of partners and fairly flexible routing rules. To be fair, I have run into some frustrations since writing this post as I have attempted to bend and flex the rules and as a result I’ve run into some frustrating road blocks (and I have spent far more time on hold waiting to speak to an Air Canada Aeroplan agent than actually speaking to them — and I’ve had some long chats with agents). However, I’m learning as I go and should have some good tips to share soon. The bottom line is that with a sense of adventure and a willingness to fly out of your way, the Aeroplan chart makes it possible to build some incredible trips.

Marriott Rules for extending free nights

a book with glasses and ruler

Who knew there were rules? The agent with whom Greg spoke on his latest call for an extension, that’s who. Greg got some excellent intel out of the agent that sounds like an actual set of (behind-the-scenes) rules. Keep in mind that none of this is written into program terms, so always be polite when asking for a favor — and if the first agent isn’t going to grant that favor, it is best practice to politely say thanks and end the call before hanging up and calling again. I’m glad to see this is back to business as usual.

Have A Marriott Business Credit Card Or Elite Status? You Might Get Special Room Rates.

a hotel entrance with a street and a building

Marriott seems to have launched a new discount rate for those with business credit cards that is now appearing in search results on certain properties when logged in. I have previously noticed an elite member rate now and then (both as a Platinum member and Titanium member), though I only see it come up in results on rare occasions — whereas this business card rate appears to be more widespread. This is a good reminder to both log in for your hotel searches and check all of the other rates for opportunities to save.

How To Transfer Citi ThankYou Points To United On 1,000:800 Basis

a book open with a candle and a plant

This is just a quick tip post, but it’s a nice trick for those flush with Citi points who would rather have United miles, albeit at a slight sacrifice. Keep in mind that this trick could also work from Amex, but you wouldn’t want to do it that way since the poorer transfer ratio means you’d get 800 United miles for 2,000 Membership Rewards points, which is a poor deal.

Miles & points questions answered, comments shared.

a hand holding a puzzle piece

We get a lot of email at Frequent Miler and sometimes it takes us a while to get through the backlog — particularly as of late given the way that #3Cards3Continents has consumed our mental bandwidth during most hours of the day. In this post, Greg puts together a bunch of interesting and relevant reader comments and questions that have come in recently — responding and sharing for everyone.

Should this be allowed? #3Cards3Continents

a man holding a stop sign

Our first “rule clarification” post of the latest challenge — bust out your popcorn and head to the comments section! Seriously, this is reflective of many conversations we had in the time leading up to when we announced this thing. I found it surprising how many questions we came up with on our own before we even got started about what should or shouldn’t be allowed. Ultimately, readers will decide with their votes when you pick a winner.

Amazing: Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & Spa on Lake Como

a man and two children on a bridge over water

This incredible Hyatt redemption on Lake Como nearly left me speechless. I didn’t include in this post that a recent Google review of this place had pondered the question “What is perfection?” waxing poetic about how the staff at Grand Hotel Victoria know what it is. I thought that all sounded a bit flowery and over-the-top — until I stayed. I can not wait to go back.


That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep your eye on this week’s last chance deals.

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