The US Bank Smartly card certainly looks pretty smart, but is it the new best no-annual-fee rewards card? Ever wonder how to apply Hyatt Suite upgrade awards, or whether you should transfer your Citi points to Choice or I Prefer to book that swanky boutique hotel? All that and far more in this Frequent Miler Week in Review.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Up to 4% Back Everywhere: US Bank’s Smartly Card | Card Talk Ep10 | 12-19-24 | Podcast
The US Bank Smartly card hasn’t gotten a ton of coverage, but it is certainly a beast of a card. With just $5,000 in the bank, this card offers 2.5% back everywhere — and if you can perhaps move an IRA or other retirement investments over to meet the requirements for 4% back, this card becomes really compelling and makes it seem hard to consider earning “only” 2x points. On this week’s Card Talk, we discuss all that an more.
Which is the best “no annual fee” credit card?
The US Bank Smartly card probably tops the list in terms of ongoing earn, but in this post I also took a glance at the best no annual fee cards for a great welcome bonus, benefits, and more. Which is your favorite no annual fee card?
Alaska’s fascinating premium card (Coming Summer 2025) | Coffee Break Ep37 | 12-17-24
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Alaska has unveiled some details of their coming premium credit card offering — and it could be pretty interesting. A lot will ride on additional details, but I imagine that some of that missing detail will be relevant to the crowd who may be interested in spending toward elite status. The Companion Certificates seem like a great idea to keep people excited about the program, though as Greg points out in this week’s Coffee Break, the annual companion certificate won’t be worth the annual fee on its own.
AAdvantage Aviator Silver Companion Certificate: First impressions
Speaking of companion certificates, I wrote this week about my initial impressions of the AAdvantage Aviator Silver companion certificate. While I think I’ll probably save some good money with the cert when I use it, I was instantly put off by drawbacks like needing to call to book, needing to find three seats not just in qualifying fare classes but all in the same qualifying fare class, and the huge quantity of blackout dates. I wouldn’t probably put $20K in purchases on the Aviator card primarily for one of these certificates in the future just based on the high likelihood that I might not even be able to use it….and if I have to cancel my trip, I won’t get it back.
How to apply Hyatt Suite Upgrade Awards online [Video]
One type of certificate that I like a lot more than the Aviator Silver companion certificate is a Hyatt Suite Upgrade award. These awards can be super valuable because they can be used at the time of booking to upgrade a reservation to a suite for a stay of up to 7 days so long as a standard suite is available. In fact, it gets a bit better: you might even be able to use these when a standard room isn’t available. There are no blackout dates (there are certainly times when it might be hard to find a suite, but if you find one there is no set of fiftysomething dates that you can’t use them like that Aviator Silver certificate above!). And the awards are easily transferable. This “how to” video shows you how to use them.
What are Preferred Hotels (I Prefer) Points Worth?
Perhaps slightly more difficult to use than Hyatt Suite upgrades are Preferred Hotels I Prefer points. But forget about the difficulty, what are points worth? In this post, Greg examines the value of I Prefer points and finds that they aren’t incredibly valuable individually — but when you consider the transfer ratio from Citi and the value you can get if you cherry pick, the news here looks mostly good.
Find Preferred Hotels bookable with points (easy searchable table)
Of course the flip side of the good news is that it isn’t terribly easy to know whether you can book a particular hotel with Choice or with Preferred Hotels and which would be the better option. Rather, I should say that it wasn’t easy — until Greg made an easily searchable table. See this post for more.
The 2024 Bonvoyed Awards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep286 | 12-20-24 | Podcast
What were the worst hits of 2024 from a points & miles and loyalty programs standpoint? On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, we discuss the devaluations that disappointed, the changes that vexed us, and the promises that weren’t meant to be as we work our way toward crowning a champion of the 2024 Bonvoyed awards.
Frequent Miler’s Favorite Flights of 2024
The Frequent Miler team has been fortunate to have the chance to travel widely in 2024. Apart from the public challenges we ran, behind the scenes, I can confirm that for stretches of the year it seemed like someone or everyone was traveling a lot of the time. The most surprising pick in here (at least to many people) will be Tim’s inclusion of British Airways Club World. That said, I totally agree with Tim — I find the seats to be very comfortable and the suites to be nicely private. My kids sleep really well in them and I’d gladly take the BA configuration over reverse herringbone seats or even JetBlue’s Mint to Europe.
Still waiting on flight #15 to credit (Stephen’s Million Mile Madness trip journal)
While Greg recently received notification that he is a SAS Millionaire-to-be, you’ve previously heard from me that it hasn’t yet come to pass — and I took a spontaneous trip to Mexico last weekend in order to pick up one more airline. Stephen is sitting at 14 airlines credited, but he’s sitting in suspense for #15. As I don’t think he’s going to leave Hawaii to try to pick up one additional airline, we’ll all hold our breath and cross our fingers that Kenya Airways credits for him after all.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to catch them before they’re gone!
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The smartly 3% ftf makes it a no go for me. I was already using Robinhood and the perks of the card with 3% makes more sense.
Greg, I was optimistic about the Preferred-Choice partnership. Given your experiences, I’ll wait until their relationship matures. Thanks for your reports.
Watching your podcasts this week, the biggest contrast to me was Smartly next to the Aviator Silver.
20k spend, one is $800, the other is 20k AA, two limited certs, less the $99 for each…
I have faith in Nick’s shrewd booking abilities… but so many hoops for what feels like marginal gain.
Also, shout out to Greg, I booked some Inn at Bay Harbor nights on certs.