This week we’ll learn about the “ultimate life hack”, we’ll gripe about how we’re being Bonvoyed every which way, and we’ll debate: is the points and miles game dead?
Main Event: The end of the points & miles game?
Watch here…
Or listen here… (You can click “Follow” on the player below to select your preferred podcast app instead. On mobile, click the three dots first, and then “Follow”.)
Giant Mailbag
(01:14) – Listeners respond to our “Points for the next generation” podcast Ep306 with some great life hacks…
You can find our “Points for the next generation” podcast Ep306 here.
(08:53) – Nick’s schedule change story
Read more about Nick’s schedule change story here.
FM Podcast Appearance
(16:17) – The Blackjack Apprenticeship Podcast
Find our guest appearance on the Blackjack Apprenticeship podcast “AP Life Skills: Maximizing Your Edge with Credit Card Rewards” on Spotify here or on Apple Podcasts here…
Bonvoyed
(17:43) – Hilton 200K awards: See: Hashing out Hilton’s Devaluation | Coffee Break Ep56 | 5-20-25 here
(18:45) – Bonvoyed: Marriott elites shouldn’t expect suites
(22:02) – Marriott’s Dearborn Inn Autograph Collection: No free breakfast for Platinum Elites
(25:16) – Citi Strata Premier, Prestige cashout drops to 0.75 (but with easy work-around)
(27:46) – Bilt: Reducing all non-Bilt cards to 0.5 pts/dollar (like Amex) when paying rent starting 6/21
(31:21) – St Pancras Chambers Club permanently closed
Awards, Points, and More
(33:57) – Virgin Atlantic award sale: Only 4,800 points to fly to/from UK through September 2025
(38:50) – Air France / KLM Flying Blue cuts redemption rates for 2026 Delta flights
(41:29) – Easy Money w/ ShopBack portal
Learn more about our Shopback portal promo here: https://frequentmiler.com/shopback-portal-promo-for-frequent-miler-readers-20-signup-bonus-20-when-spending-20-in-may/
(45:43) – New Kimpton Secret Password: “Social Sent Me”
Main Event: The end of the points & miles game?
(47:50) – Doomsday Events
(50:15) – On the other hand, welcome bonuses higher than ever
(51:58) – Category bonuses higher than ever
(54:00) – More opportunities for transferable points than ever before
(57:02) – Transfer bonuses very common
(59:27) – New award sweet-spots keep popping up all the time
(1:03:10) – Great tools make it easier to find awards
(1:10:09) – Valuable promotions pop up randomly
Question of the Week,
(1:17:45) – Do devaluations like Hilton’s feel like a bigger deal to non-bloggers (who maybe have fewer points?)
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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I dunno… the Hilton devaluation is a bigger deal for me than if they had capped the certificate. I have exactly one of those per year, and I usually don’t use it at maximum theoretical value, and if I did, the new higher rates would impact the expense of that stay anyway as I rarely stay just one night at a nice (=expensive) property. On the other hand, this devaluation pretty much seems to impact me all the time when I redeem points.
I am new enough to the game that I don’t remember the “good ol’ days.” But there still seem to be plenty of opportunities available. I jumped on the Virgin Atlantic business class deal earlier this year for a couple of great weeks hiking in the UK Lake District and just got back from 7 weeks in Australia courtesy of some pretty decent redemptions with Cathay and Singapore Air for business class. And we have Germany later this year with Condor business class booked with Alaska miles.
I do wonder if the landscape has shifted where flexibility is more important. Being retired I have the time to spend looking for deals and the flexibility to jump on whatever comes up. So, for example, dynamic awards can actually work in my favor in a way that wouldn’t have been possible when I would have needed to schedule time off.
Regarding the Simply Miles 240X donation, it was a limited opportunity and it would close after AA reached its donation objective. There were many naysayers who said a person would be a fool to participate. After about a week, AA’s objective was met and the offer was closed . . . and points started to post . . . and these naysayers complained that those who did participate “stole” the opportunity from everyone else. While everyone wants a deal, that episode exemplifies the entitled attitude of some who want things handed to them . . . who aren’t willing to do the analysis or put in the work.
Opportunities will always exist for those who do the analysis and put in the work. They might be opportunities that are different from what you expect . . . or originally wanted . . . but you will find them.
Welcome bonuses are higher, sure, but of a deflated currency…and you have to spend more MSR and pay higher AFs to get them, and play coupon book games to get max value. Not too long ago I could spend $4k with AF waived to get a free oneway J to Asia. Obviously that was unsustainable, but on the whole the return on MSR spend has gone way down, and even moreso inflation adjusted. Sure you could MS your way to whatever end goal you want, but that’s not risk, cost or time free, so I’m not interested in that route.
It’s unquestionably worse now, and will get worse in the future. I’s not dead, but the golden age is over. I now have to be much more judicious with my points burning, because I can’t count on earning an unlimited amount on demand.
So, give up and quit.
@Jack
Like you did with your life and career? No thanks. I already wrote what I plan to do.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e9mf3Bypyk8
“the golden age is over” Sadly, u r correct.
I came here to say exactly this. I often hear Nick talk about AMEX BP bonus of 250k as being unheard of prior to 2020 but he doesn’t mention with same frequency that equally unheard of prior to 2020 was min. Spend of $20k to get that 250k points. No offence to the blog or the guys here, but they often don’t look at the landscape from a common persons’ perspective, where spending 20k in 3 months is impossible for most folks to do, unless you have legit business spend.
I chucked yesterday when a lot of Canadian blogs posted an update about Canadian AMEX Aeroplan Reserve card (personal) improving its welcome offer to 130k Aeroplan points. When you look closely at it, is effectively 60k offer for $7.5k spend since the additional 40k points require a whooping $40k spend in the first year (mind you on a personal card in a country with lower acceptance rate for AMEX than in the US and median household income before taxes of C$73k), and the remaining 30k points only when you renew the card for second year and pay the annual fee (with no avenues or coupons, outside of some potential AMEX offers, to recoup the C$599 annual fee). So yes, on paper you can earn 130k bonus points, but in reality, you are earning only 60k bonus points for $7.5k spend whereas you’d previously earn 80k bonus for $6k spend.
I understand these blogs have a business to run and need to focus on the positives in order to keep ppl interested in this game, and hence keep the business running, however, it is undoubtedly getting more and more difficult for an average household to extract value out of this game, unless you have legit business spend or a way to create massive levels of manufactured spend, in order to earn these “massive welcome bonuses”, which are often needed to justify massive fee increases and massive redemption price increases.
Apologies if this WAS actually covered, but I have to admit thinking you were going to talk about the Dick Durbin Credit Card Competition Act in relation to “is this the end of the game”? If this wasn’t covered, any chance this will be an upcoming topic? TY!
Given the current political environment, it is unlikely the bill will pass.
“Well lean about the ultimate life hack?”
I think you meant “learn”.
I think you mean “we‘ll”
Fixed thanks