Rewards that can’t wait

This week on Frequent Miler On The Air, Greg and I discussed the things you need to do now in order to take advantage of both benefits you’ll otherwise lose and opportunities you’ll want later. I found his IHG certificate play intriguing even if a bit niche and while we said that free night cert planning for summer 2021 travel can wait a little bit, don’t take that to mean very long. Watch, listen, or read on for more from this week at Frequent Miler.

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This week at Frequent Miler

End of year checklist: Do these things by Dec 31st

Time is running out: you have just a few days left to take care of business and make sure you tie up all your loose ends in time to make sure you don’t miss out on any of your various benefits, credits, and opportunities. From the obvious, like Amex airline fee credits, to the more obscure, like moving Marriott points from P2’s account now due to the calendar year cap, this post has what you need to do to be ready to ring in the new year.

Best uses for Marriott certificates in the USA

Best value Marriott hotels for your 35K free night certs expiring Aug 1

Best Marriott Resorts in the USA for your 35K Free Night Certs

Best Marriott Resorts in the USA for your 50K Free Night Certs

As Greg notes in the three posts above, competition for US hotels next summer is expected to be fierce. You’re going to be competing with the pent-up travel demand of millions of Americans assuming that life has returned to a semi-normal state by then. The time to plan for the use of 2021-expiring free night certificates is now. Already some of the properties noted in these posts have increased prices just in the days after publication and the likelihood of your chosen property rising in price (whether in terms of cash or points) likely only increases with each passing day. It’s worth taking a few minutes now to lock in what you can if you think you may be traveling next summer.

2020 bank account bonus tally: $4480 earned, $1725 more on the way

While the posts above are aimed at planning out what needs to be done next, this post takes a look back at my final 2020 bank account bonus tallies. I’d written a couple of times previously about the low-hanging fruit you can pick in terms of bank bonuses, so I wanted to add this update showing my year-ending results for 2020. More than four thousand earned and six thousand total expected goes to show that these are opportunities you shouldn’t be missing.

Happy Holidays! And… The 12 Months of Frequent Miler (During the Pandemic)

We hope you’re enjoying this festive season even if it may look a bit different than in years past! The entire Frequent Miler team wishes you and yours happy holidays and a happy, healthy, and bright new year.

Key Updates

PayPal Key virtual “master” card [Update: RIP Cheap tax payments]

I snoozed on the tax payments (planning to wait until the end of the calendar year) and you know what they say about those who snooze. Bummer.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Don’t forget to check out the year-ending last chance deals.

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