PointsAndMiles

On paper the credits make it look like you’re winning. But in real life it turns into calendar reminders for Uber, Grubhub, Dunkin, forcing yourself to use Resy just so you don’t “waste” value. That mental load is real. Even if you come out ahead financially, it starts to feel...

I’m pretty new to Bonvoy and just realized I’ve got 50,000 points expiring in about 3 weeks. No hotel stays planned before then. What’s the simplest way to generate activity so they don’t expire? I saw you can link Starbucks. If I connect it and just buy a coffee, does that...

This feels like another small cut that adds up. Emirates changed the rules again for mileage upgrades to business. You still get the two carry ons, but now there’s no extra checked baggage allowance when you upgrade with miles. On paper it sounds minor, but this is exactly how...

Stayed at a higher end IHG property in Asia and had a pretty bad experience. Found seven live roaches in the room, all different sizes. Had to switch rooms in the middle of the night, which took over an hour. They were polite and upgraded us, but it was exhausting. The worst...

You’re not crazy. This does work cleanly on revenue tickets, but award tickets are a different story and JetBlue has never really fixed it. What you’re seeing is normal behavior unfortunately. The “change flight” flow often shows a 0 point difference even when the award price...

American is actually pretty flexible about this. You can use your AAdvantage miles to book award tickets for anyone, friends or family, and you don’t have to be on the flight yourself. It’s completely allowed. The only real rule is that you can’t sell miles or tickets as a...

Flying from Ireland to South America in April and planning to propose on the trip, so I’d love to upgrade us from economy to Premium Comfort or even business if possible. Cash prices are pretty steep, so I’m looking at using miles instead. I know you can’t usually mix cash and...

Booked a 3 night points stay at the Kimpton Ashbel for a Jan 11 check in. On Jan 6 I get an email from the property saying renovations weren’t done and that their relocation team would contact us to handle alternative accommodations. They explicitly said no action needed from...

This is honestly the clearest breakdown I’ve seen in a while. Someone called Amex support and got a full list of what does and doesn’t count for the Platinum $200 airline fee credit. Good to know the usual stuff still works: checked bags, seat selection fees, lounge day passes,...

I’m trying to simplify my setup and stop overthinking this. If you mostly fly one airline, what actually makes the most sense long term? Is it better to go all in on that airline’s branded card for perks and status, or use something like Amex or Chase and mostly redeem with that...

At check-in I was offered a €409 upgrade from Premium Economy to Business on MUC–JFK. Seemed like a no-brainer, so I took it without hesitation. What surprised me is that the points and status credit are still based on the original booking class, not Business. That feels pretty...

I use IHG mainly for lounge access and food and beverage rewards, and I currently have a bunch of F&B rewards to use. As a guest, it’s obviously great, but I’m curious how this works behind the scenes for the hotel. When I use food and beverage rewards, does the hotel get...

I keep seeing people act shocked when airlines kill sweet spots or cut partner availability, like AA or Delta should be afraid of losing us. Honestly, I don’t think they care about most award travelers at all. We’re not that profitable, our miles are a liability on their books,...

Booked Park Hyatt Sydney for a work trip using my corporate rate directly on Hyatt.com. Hotel emailed me asking that I cancel and rebook through my company’s travel portal or they won’t honor the rate. My employer allows personal card bookings for work travel, and I do this all...

Thinking about applying for the new Hawaiian Airlines credit card. Before the Alaska and Hawaiian merger, I remember people saying you could use basically any 6 digit in flight code to get the better offer. Does anyone know if that still works? Or does anyone have a recent in...

Just joined Flying Blue and sitting on about 65k miles, trying to figure out how people actually use them. Can you do a mix of miles and cash for a ticket, or is it mostly full award flights? And once you book a normal cash ticket, can you later use miles to upgrade? Still...

My wife’s been super stressed lately after we had another kid, and we don’t travel much these days. I’ve already canceled my Platinum, so I’m sitting on about 450k Amex points. I’d rather not waste them on poor redemptions, but a short staycation nearby sounds appealing...

Got 750k points from an international credit card that expire Dec 31 and I have to transfer them somewhere. All partners are 1:1. Options: Aeroplan, Flying Blue, LifeMiles, British Airways, Copa ConnectMiles, Etihad Guest, Iberia, and Turkish Miles&Smiles. I’m usually flying out...

I was bracing for the $895 annual fee after hearing about the increase, but turns out I’m grandfathered in for one more year at $695 since I joined in December. I’ve been trying to really use the credits smartly this year, and honestly it’s helped me cut down on random splurges....

Transferred 230,000 Avion points to British Airways on Dec 12. The transfer was canceled the next day and points were refunded. Then, on Dec 24, the same points were taken again and finally posted to BA. The problem is that I missed the 30% transfer bonus because the promo ended...