Greg and Nick have been consumed with last-minute travel the last week and a half so it’s great timing for them to summarize 10 important tips for last-minute award travel.
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Main Event: Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel
Mailbag
(01:17) – Standing ovation for the annual challenge! (Mailbag)
Flying by the Seat of our Points… is done
(06:43) – Annual Challenge recap and overview
Watch the Stage 1 recap video here: https://youtu.be/bMt_NfuuINI?feature=shared
Watch the Stage 2 recap video here: https://youtu.be/gyJPtTZN1EE?feature=shared
Watch the Stage 3 recap video here: https://youtu.be/HTmEAicB3dw?feature=shared
Card Talk: Curve is Dead
(34:15) – Curve overview (Card Talk)
Find out more here: https://www.curve.com/en-us
Crazy Thing
Mattress Running the Numbers
Award Talk
(37:56) – Hilton SLH integrated testing phase (Award Talk)
(40:26) – Preferred Hotels / Choice devaluation (55K to 87K) (Award Talk)
(42:34) – Aero plan credit card & elite members status match to iPrefer Titanium (before June 28) (Award Talk)
(44:18) – Book Oman Air w/ Flying Blue miles (Award Talk)
(44:30) – Book El Al with Virgin points (Award Talk)
(44:51) – Points Path adds support for Air Canada & Alaska Airlines (Award Talk)
Main Event: Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel
(47:00) – General advice
(52:38) – Great awards often open last minute (ex: Lufthansa first)
(57:16) – Diversify. Having different types of points and miles helps.
(58:28) – Become adept at award search tools. Huge time saver.
(1:00:26) – Don’t rely entirely on award search tools. They don’t catch everything (no Virgin Atlantic on a couple, no BA / QR Avios, didn’t see LifeMiles for my redemption, etc)
(1:03:41) – Consider keeping stashes in programs you use often. This only applies if you have a lot of points and miles, but it could help avoid a failed transfer.
(1:05:27) – Watch out for transfer times
(1:08:10) – Get a good VPN. I wonder if some of my problems could have been averted if I’d used one all along.
(1:11:22) – Know that Aeroplan’s contact center isn’t 24/7. This can be a big pain when you’re overseas.
(1:12:37) – Beware the phantom menace. Tons of Swiss space that isn’t real.
(1:17:02) – Have some tricks up your sleeve. This could alternatively be called “persistence pays off”. Don’t give up right away. Examples include searching Avianca’s site multiple ways, forcing a stopover with Aeroplan to get a flight to show up, booking a refundable something as a backup, etc.
Question of the Week
(1:20:10) – How do you go about finding activities while you travel? (Question of the Week)
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
The post Podcast: Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep259 | 6-14-24 appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.