This week, I recorded a guest spot on the Milenomics Travel Stories podcast that should air in the next week or two (bookmark that link and check back). One of the questions that Trevor asked me on the show was whether Lifemiles is still worth the effort, noting that he has been avoiding it because of the various shortcomings and frustration points. As you’ll hear when that show publishes, I tried to convince Trevor that, despite its shortcomings, he shouldn’t sleep on Avianca Lifemiles.
One of the reasons that made my case for Lifemiles is the ability to subscribe to Lifemiles+ to get free changes and cancellations. I recognize that those aren’t “free” thanks to the subscription fee, but I broke it down as to how one could easily find the cost justifiable. The part I didn’t really address on the show was the fact that those “free” changes and cancellations come at the cost of having to call customer service.
However, a day after recording that episode, I called Lifemiles to change an award. I’ll have more about the process in a post next week, but the short story is that I was impressed with how easy it was to change my award. Avianca Lifemiles gets a bad rap for customer service, but I was pleasantly surprised. That’s not to say it was a flawless experience, but rather that I think it can sometimes make sense to find out for yourself whether the “hassle” is all it is made out to be.
On the blog and podcast this week, we covered the tools we use to plan/organize/win with points & miles, how to maximize your coupon credits, the pros and cons of Choice Privileges, and a lot more.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Tools we use to win the points & miles game | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep348 | 3-6-26
As the hobby has grown, the tools that can be used to win the points & miles game have continued to grow and develop. There are tons of great tools on the market, but on this week’s episode, Greg and I wanted to talk about the ones we actually use regularly. I was initially resistant to things like award search tools, thinking that I could accomplish the same tasks on my own with enough knowledge and patience – and willingness to invest the time. These days, I value my time more than ever, and I can’t begin to imagine the amount of time I’ve saved thanks to the various types of tools that make it far easier to plan, organize, find, and book great award trips.
What are transferable points?
When new readers land on Frequent Miler, it can be hard to know which way to go to truly get started. We’ve long wanted more robust beginner resources to help newcomers navigate their first forays into the hobby. Stephen has thus begun authoring a beginner series, and he starts with this post explaining transferable points.
American Express Membership Rewards Complete Guide (2026)
Speaking of transferable points, American Express Membership Rewards is arguably the best currency to collect for international premium cabin flight awards. On the other hand, it can be one of the more complicated programs if you want to share your points with a spouse or partner. Everything you have ever needed to know about earning, using, and managing American Express Membership Rewards can be found in this complete guide. Given both the plethora of ways to earn as well as great sweet spots to get top value when redeeming, Membership Rewards is probably my favorite single reward currency. Read more about why you should be interested in it in this post.
Maximizing American Express credit card rebates & credits
While I love Membership Rewards points, I don’t love the way that Amex annual fees and couponization continue to increase at a surprising speed. In order to continue to justify keeping the cards you want, you might need to find a way to use coupons that you don’t think you need. In this post, Tim covers some of the alternatives to make sure that you can make use of your card’s coupon credits.
Should you keep an airline’s consumer or business credit card?
A reader wrote in to ask which card they should keep when an airline’s consumer and business credit cards are almost the same. In this post, I examine the considerations that might lead you to keep one or the other, and which I would keep versus which I would recommend keeping.
Robinhood Platinum Credit Card Review: All the coupons, none of the fun
Robinhood announced a new ultra-premium credit card this week, but the only thing that seems particularly premium is the annual fee. Sure, it’s got some coupons that could be useful, but you could probably just pay cash for those coupons that you like and stay under the annual fee. There just isn’t a lot of upside here, unfortunately. Tim’s review highlights what you might use….and also why you might want to pass on Platinum.
How Nick almost missed American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum elite status
Forget about passing on Platinum — I nearly let Platinum (or rather the opportunity to achieve Platinum status) pass me by. Thanks to the relative ease with which it can be earned in one’s pajamas, I had set my sights on AA Platinum status for the new membership year. However, I nearly slipped up and ended up as a Gold member with 74,000 Loyalty Points. I caught the problem at what was quite literally the eleventh hour, and I successfully made a last-minute save, but it wasn’t the way I may have expected. Don’t cut things this tight — but if you do, hopefully this post will give you an idea as to what you might try.
Choice Privileges Pros and Cons | Coffee Break Ep95 | 3-3-26
Choice Privileges doesn’t get a lot of love, yet their points can sometimes be incredibly valuable for booking hotels, whether their own or through partnerships they share with Strawberry Hotels in Scandinavia or with Preferred Hotels & Resorts. On this week’s coffee break, Greg and I talk about some of the pluses and minuses of the Choice program.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to be sure you take advantage of them before they’re gone.
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