The lowest hotel ratings we're willing to book | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep335 | 12-5-25

In this week's podcast, we'll talk about how Citi Travel hides thousands of hotels, we'll describe our favorite flights from 2025, and we'll find out who on the FM team is willing to book a 3.5 rated hotel...

(Skip straight to the main topic here: 1:26:18)

Giant Mailbag

(01:51) - Hyatt Elite Status Hack See episode 334 "Super Stacking Stories " here.

Bonvoyed:

(07:07) - Citi Travel blocking hotel bookings in Egypt, UAE, Malaysia, and Indonesia (and maybe other places?)

Bonvoyed runner-ups

(10:15) - PSA: Wyndham book and cancel trick may appear to extend points, but then they may expire anyway

(13:02) - Turkish Airlines devalues Miles & Smiles redemptions for US flights

(17:52) - British Airways devaluation Dec 15

(18:54) - Capital One transfer ratio to Emirates will reduce to 1,000:750 (Jan 13)

Awards, Points, and More

(20:35) - Citi loses Aeromexico as transfer partner 1/25/26

(22:13) - Omni Hotels & Resorts added as Mesa transfer partner

(26:36) - Delta Leaves SkyMiles Status Requirements Unchanged For 2026, and Delta Choice benefits changes for 2026

(34:36) - United cardholders can earn 2x on rent with Bilt (3% fee applies)

(36:58) - Accor → Flying Blue 30% xfer bonus

Ask Us Anything, Live - Ep81

(40:51) - What were our favorite flights that we took with points and miles in 2025?

(50:17) - What are the FM team’s thoughts on the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card / Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card train derailing? It seems like the so valuable pool to earn our sweet Hyatt points is drying up.

(51:35) - A lot of good Bonvoy'ed options this week. Capital One/Emirates, Turkish, and British Airways... rank them from least worst to worst.

(55:52) - Do you have any insight on the United business partner awards between the US and Europe? I'm attempting to book via Aeroplan, but availability seems to have vanished.

(57:40) - ​​How the heck do I know what's actually going to earn rewards with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card? Does Chase give MCC codes?

(59:16) - Are any of y'all nervous flyers?

(1:03:02) - Have you guys ever thought about visiting every single country in the world using points/ miles as much as possible?

(1:10:51) - Do you have insight into what Sapphire status gives with Alaska when someone is flying with Alaska or another oneworld partner?

(1:17:28) - What would you value more….achieving Bilt Platinum status or ATMOS Gold status (I live in Charlotte, an AA hub)?

(1:20:10) - ​​Aloha! In yesterday's coffee break, you spoke about the great deals you found. How do you find when a great sweet spot becomes available? Are you setting alerts for 20+ locations? Scouring every day?

(1:23:56) - Now that the Turkish sweet spot to Hawaii has died, are there any other sweet spots worth seeking out in the Turkish program?

Read Nick's best use of Turkish Miles and Smiles here.

The lowest hotel ratings we're willing to book

(1:26:18) - How long is too long to spend comparing hotels on websites like flyertalk or reading reviews

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

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