Frequent Miler on the Air

Hyatt is changing their award charts on May 20th, 2026, and it's pretty devastating with a new 5-tier pricing system and huge increases in prices. Today, we'll see if there's some good news in all of this.
(00:12) - New 5-level award charts: lowest, low, moderate, upper, top (prev: off-peak, standard, peak)
(02:08) - Is there any good news?
(06:59) - Some good news about premium suites
(11:49) - Thoughts and analysis
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
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Does product changing ruin trip protections? Frequent Miler reader Jay P wrote in saying:
"I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to book a flight and hotel for a future trip. Now, I would like to product change my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card before that trip. Are there any negative impacts if I product change before travel?"
We've been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Starting this week, we're turning the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Monday at 5pm 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].
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com.

If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Voyascape Podcast Network

In today's episode, we'll talk about Amex Platinum shutting down paths for earning Delta airline fee credits, Google Hotels adding price drop alerts, and all the many paths that still exist for free cruises in 2026.
Main Event: Cruising for free
Giant Mailbag
(01:07) - Greg gets corrected about Bilt point accelerator vs Rent Day...
Crazy Thing: Capital One Shopping
(03:27) - Capital One brings Gmail to a crawl
Read more about the unfortunate Capital One slow gmail issue here
Bonvoyed: Amex Airline Fee Reimbursements
(08:48) - Delta tricks are dead
Read our resource for Amex airline fee credits and what still works
Awards, Points, and More
(13:15) - Google Hotels adds price tracking
(17:02) - Melio (pay bills with credit card)
Learn more about Melio here
(19:01) - Chase Travel℠ Points Boost increased to 2.5cpp for a few select properties
Read more about Chase Travel℠ Points Boost increase here
(21:21) - Guide to booking Preferred Hotels with points (Updated)
Find our updated resource for booking Preferred Hotels online here
(25:24) - Tools for finding point-bookable events (auctions and buy it now)
Visit the discover tools Pointsevents.com and Pointauctions.com
Main Event: Cruising for free
(29:33) - Learn more about cruising for free in 2026 here
(30:44) - There are three main options for free cruises in 2026
(31:08) - Land-based casino loyalty programs & matches
(36:26) - Why do casino elite statuses matter for free cruises?
(49:00) - Cruise line direct match opportunities for “free” cruises
(1:07:09) - Gambling on board might yield a free cruise
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit FrequentMiler.com
Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free.
https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com.

If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Voyascape Podcast Network

Airline fuel surcharges are going up! We've recently seen Air France KLM Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic increase surcharges on their awards and it's looking like a trend. In this podcast episode, we'll talk about the different ways you can avoid them.
How to avoid airline surcharges
(02:02) - Booking with an alliance partner that doesn't pass along surcharges
(02:15) - Air France KLM Flying Blue booked with Virgin Atlantic or Japan Airline Mileage Bank miles
Learn more about going to Europe starting on Air France or KLM Business Class using Virgin Atlantic points here
Learn more about Air France without surcharges via Japan Airline Mileage Bank miles here
(04:02) - Rove miles
Learn more about using Rove miles here
(07:04) - Lufthansa booked through other Star Alliance partners
(07:41) - One World is tricky...
(11:38) - What can you do about high taxes coming back from the UK?
(12:45) - For travel to and from Europe, consider JetBlue's flights booked through Qatar Avios
Learn about booking JetBlue with Qatar Avios here
(16:34) - SAS
(17:51) - Airlines that don't charge surcharges in the first place
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 – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
Mentioned in this episode:
Visit FrequentMiler.com
Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free.
https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com.

If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Voyascape Podcast Network

In today's podcast episode, we'll watch as Capital One ventures into business, we'll discuss the best of the best award search tools, and we'll talk about how Wells Fargo is on the upswing.
Giant Mailbag
(01:00) - Nate has a tip to add to our Free checked bags via credit cards podcast Ep353
Card News
(04:41) - Capital One Spark Miles rebranded to Venture Business
Learn more about the Capital One Spark Miles rebranding to Venture Business here
Crazy Thing: Choice Privileges
(09:42) - Choice doubled points to Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Read more about the Choice Privileges transfer bonus here
Bonvoyed: AA
(13:03) - AA bonvoys elite members flying basic economy
Read more about American Airlines doing away with basic economy for elite members here
Awards, Points, and More
(16:42) - We've updated our resource "Which award search tool is best?"
Find our "Which award search tool is best" resource here
(26:05) - Amex changes referral limits to 5 per year, per card
Read more about American Express' referral limit changes here
(29:01) - Wells Fargo adds new transfer partner: Wyndham 1 to 2
Read more about Wells Fargo's new transfer partner here
Main Event: Wells Fargo journeys forward
(31:13) - Wells Fargo Rewards was a 3rd tier transferable points program
(31:46) - That's starting to change...
(32:46) - Wells Fargo Rewards advantages
(34:09) - Transfer partners
(37:22) - Wells Fargo rewards credit cards
Learn more about the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card here
Learn more about the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card here
(43:50) - Wells Fargo cash back cards
(54:45) - Weaknesses
Question of the Week
(58:07) - Nick wonders... if Greg had the capacity to spend towards one single elite status, which would it be?
Subscribe and Follow
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 – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world
This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com.

If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.
Voyascape Podcast Network
Visit FrequentMiler.com
Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free.
https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/