Wild Card Challenge Destination 1 Check-In | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep376 | 9-25-26

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerGreg and Nick, along with Tim, are busy flying around the world for the Wild Card Challenge, which is going on now! That means they didn't have time to film our usual podcast episode. Not to mention, we want to make sure everyone gets the chance to hear an update for the first destination of the Wild Card Challenge, even if you missed the live stream last evening. In this episode, relisten to the Destination 1 travel summaries and scoring.(01:17) - Greg summarizes his Wild Card Challenge Destination 1(08:22) - Nick summarizes his Wild Card Challenge Destination 1(15:21) - Tim summarizes his Wild Card Challenge Destination 1(26:56) - Greg's scores(34:10) - Greg offers a rebuttal for his scoring(35:43) - Nick's scores(46:41) - Nick offers a rebuttal for his scoring(49:00) - Tim's scores(54:57) - Tim offers a rebuttal for his scoringSubscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerCiti has added a valuable new transfer partner to their collection: Japan Airlines. This is good news after a roller coaster of good and bad news from Citi, but even this good news comes with some bad news too.(00:17) - ThankYou Rewards: For the best transfer ratios, you need: Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, or the old Prestige card(00:41) - Citi ThankYou roller-coaster(02:11) - New: Added JAL but with lifetime language...(03:37) - Why JAL is amazing(09:02) - On the other hand...(09:42) - Citi advantages(11:37) - Citi disadvantagesSubscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerIs this points & miles hobby worth my time? Reader John asked this question recently, saying:Do you ever calculate the return on your time in the points and miles game? We spend a lot of time talking about return on spend and cents per point, but I rarely hear anyone talk about return on time invested. For me, points and miles are a hobby, not my job, so I sometimes catch myself asking whether saving an extra $200, or getting that credit or getting another 30,000 points is really worth two or three hours of my time. I tend to think about what my time is worth financially, but I also think about the opportunity cost. That might be time with my family (which really prompted this question) , working on my business (this honestly has much better return) , exercising, or just doing something else I enjoy.I know you guys sometimes go to extraordinary lengths because there is value in being able to report the results to your readers and listeners. But outside of the journalism side, do you personally put any value on the hours you spend playing the game?(01:04) - Why Greg's answer is "Absolutely!"(07:14) - Why Nick's answer is "Yes and no."We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Monday at 1pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to [email protected] out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerIn today's episode, we'll get a Wild Card challenge update (including some cool tips regarding Capital One travel), Greg reveals that he's considering a United status match, Nick reveals he's considering a Delta status match, and we discuss the latest huge Delta card offers and how they relate to status matching.Wild Card Challenge Update(01:22) - Learn more about the ongoing challenge here.(03:01) - Nick's Wild Card update(09:52) - Greg's Wild Card update(17:16) - Find the Wild Card challenge landing page with more information hereGiant Mailbag(17:39) - Patrick asks, "Do we make hay while the Amex sun is shining, or are we crazy to keep piling into a currency we’re already very rich in?"Bonvoyed: Amex/ANA & AwardWallet(22:43) - Amex/ANA(24:40) - Award Wallet is changing how expiration alerts workThis Week in Points(28:50) - Chase news...(35:04) - Qatar Airways removed restrictions that limited the ability to redeem Avios for other peopleRead more about this update herePersonal Points(37:25) - Efteling: Book it through any of the major channels. Theme park tickets included with your stay!(40:57) - Greg's considering the 120-day United status match(45:36) - Nick's considering the Delta status matchMain Event: Diving into Delta's huge card offers(49:58) - Through November 4, Amex has some of the biggest welcome offers we've ever seen for Delta credit cards... all the way up to 200,000 miles...(50:28) - Some notes before we dig in...(56:13) - Quick overview of the 6 cards we'll be talking about(1:01:45) - Gold card offersLearn more about the Consumer Delta Gold card hereLearn more about the business Gold card here(1:05:18) - Platinum card offersLearn more about the Consumer Delta Platinum card hereLearn more about the Business Delta Platinum card here(01:10:06) - Reserve card offersLearn more about the Consumer Delta Reserve card hereLearn more about the Business Delta Reserve card hereSubscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerMany hotel cards come with free night certificates each year upon renewal. That's great, but those certificates expire after 12 months. If you don't time your applications well, you may struggle to use those certificates...(00:17) - Greg's been considering getting the Hilton Aspire, but... is this the right time?(01:05) - Example Problems(03:55) - When do free night certificates post?(07:52) - Nick & Greg's thoughts/analysisSubscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerFor this challenge, our contestants will pick from wild card decks to select which hotel, airline, and transferable points cards will provide their points and miles budget, then they’ll select their travel destinations from another deck. And finally, they’ll select power-ups and obstacles to make their travels a little more realistic to the challenges our readers and listeners face.(03:45) - Destination 1 cards are drawn(08:12) - Destination 2 cards are drawn(18:03) - Airline credit cards are drawn(25:29) - Hotel credit cards are drawn(30:56) - Transferable points credit cards are drawn(36:46) - A surprise extra credit card is drawn(43:31) - Reader-submitted obstacle cards are drawn(51:13) - Power up cards are drawn(57:39) - Stephen reveals the final, third destination where each contestant will need to meet up(1:02:44) - Surprise! Contestants get a hail mary option they can choose to take...Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “swappin’ back n’ forth” by up @ nightCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerIn today's episode, listeners weigh in on Nick's pick for "best Hyatt Place breakfast", Hyatt breaks up with one airline and ties up with another, and we review Chase's refreshed Air Canada Aeroplan card.Wild Card Challenge Update(01:15) - Which cards did our contestants pick for the Wild Card challenge?Learn more about the ongoing challenge hereGiant Mailbag(09:02) - In our Hidden Gem Awards Ep373, Nick said Hyatt Place Amsterdam Airport had the best breakfast in the world... but do people agree?Mattress Running the Numbers(14:24) - Marriott Amex Offer: Spend $450 & get $200 back (targeted)Learn more about this targeted offer hereThis Week in Points(17:06) - US Bank adds Avianca LifeMiles as transfer partner(18:28) - Rove adds Copa Airlines as transfer partner, launching with 40% transfer bonus through SeptemberLearn more about Rove adding Copa here(20:13) - Hyatt dissolves partnership with AARead more about Hyatt's ending partnership with American Airlines here(22:27) - Hyatt adds partnership with Delta: https://newsroom.hyatt.com/DeltaAirLinesCard news(24:39) - Amex Bonvoy Business Card is coming(26:48) - Chase Sapphire Reserve enhances DoorDash benefitLearn more about this enhanced benefit here(29:34) - Chase IHG Premier Business anniversary free night certificate will increase to 50K points in 2027Personal Points(31:16) - Chase return protection success(35:54) - Atmos Summit $60K spendMain Event: Chase's disappointing Aeroplan Card refresh(38:25) - New Cardmember Offer(39:54) - The changes that really matter(52:20) - Quick summary of the good stuff and bad stuff(53:35) - Nick and Greg: Never got the card before. Is it worth it now?Subscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerGreg has just returned from a short trip to RiverView Ranch in Montana - probably the single most aspirational points stay available in the United States. Now, he'll tell us all about it.Loving RiverView Ranch(00:46) - RiverView Ranch Retreat & Western AdventuresLearn more about Hilton's flexible date calendar here(02:45) - Cancelation fees(03:28) - How to get free night certsRead: How to maximize your Hilton cards (with upgrades and downgrades) here(04:45) - Greg's pre-trip report(12:28) - Greg's trip report(14:49) - King Suite(19:04) - Dining(21:10) - Activities(26:19) - Wildlife(26:34) - Checkout(27:52) - Review(29:43) - How does it compare to Ventana Big Sur?(31:17) - How does it compare to Necker Island?Subscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerWhat to do when your credit limit is too low? Kris reached out with the following question about managing a low credit limit:On your recent podcast, you mentioned that banks don’t like you to cycle cards. I just got approved for the new Capital One Venture Business card, and upon approval, found out that they had given me a credit limit of $2000. This obviously is going to make it very difficult to make the minimum spend for the sign-up bonus, and obviously can’t if I don’t cycle the card. I did try to call and request an increase and pointed out that I have a personal Venture X with a credit limit of $50,000 that is paid off fully every month. I asked for a credit increase and offered to decrease my Venture X credit limit, but was declined.(00:57) - What is credit cycling?(02:38) - Why is cycling generally inadvisable?(03:55) - Is cycling ever OK?We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Monday at 1pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to [email protected] out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerOn today's episode, we'll talk about why Air Canada to Hyatt 2-to-1 transfers can be a good deal, how we won big on a 240x deal, the 250x deal that got away, and much more.Our apologies for Nick's lower-quality audio this week! We're working to fix it!Our biggest point gamblesGiant Mailbag(01:04) - Josh: Is the Hyatt/Aeroplan deal good for Canadians?Main Event: Our biggest point gambles(07:54) - When we took big risks to earn big miles...(08:04) - Nordstrom 36X (2012)(15:32) - Convert 90K SPG points into a 7 night Marriott stay + 120K Southwest points + Companion Pass for 2 years (2017)(19:43) - Marriott Travel Packages (2018)(23:40) - Iberia 90K (2018)(27:54) - Conservation International 240 AA miles per dollar (2021)(34:40) - Amex 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian Airlines (2024)(39:28) - SAS: Fly 15 SkyTeam, earn 1M SAS Miles (2024)(44:50) - JetBlue 25/25 (2025)(48:42) - Kate Spade 250X via British Airways portal (2026)Subscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.