Frequent Miler on the Air

The Best Path to Priority Pass | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep248 | 3-29-24

Mar 30, 2024

Explore the best pathway to Priority Pass membership through high-end credit cards, discuss pronunciation feedback, analyze Hilton Honors Business Card changes, highlight United Airlines points pooling, maximize National Car Rental promotions, uncover regional flight sweet spots with Qatar Avios, and compare credit cards for Priority Pass access

01:16:01

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Quick takeaways

Qatar Avios offer great value for regional first-class awards on short flights with American or Alaska.

Choice Privileges now allows online bookings for Preferred Hotels, providing luxury properties at excellent value.

Consider personal preferences and loyalty benefits when choosing between hotels for a more satisfying stay.

Deep dives

Booking Regional First-Class Awards with Qatar Avios

Regional first-class awards can be booked using Qatar Avios for short flights on American or Alaska. With economy flights starting at 6,000 miles and first-class at 12,500 miles, this presents an excellent value for short flights within a specific radius. The availability can be checked by switching to map view and clicking on hotels to see the award booking calendar. Make sure to click on the dates of interest as the calendar may show availability that is not necessarily accurate.

Introduction

2min

Amusing Banter on Name Pronunciations and Listener Interaction

2min

Analysis of Changes to Hilton Honors Business Card Benefits

10min

United Airlines Points Pooling Policy Changes

8min

Maximizing Rental Car Promotions and Loyalty Programs

22min

Evolution of Priority Pass Benefits and Recent Changes

8min

Comparing Credit Cards for Priority Pass Access

21min

Factors to Consider When Choosing Between Points or Cash for Accommodations

2min

A number of high end credit cards give you Priority Pass membership. Full Priority Pass offers access to airport lounges, restaurants, and experiences (e.g. Be Relax Spa, Minute suites, Game Space etc), which can be pretty useful. But which of the current pathways to this membership is the best, (especially if you'd still like access to those restaurants)?

(01:52) - More feedback on the pronunciation of Qatar. (Mail Bag)

(03:45) - Hilton Honors Business Card, which will be increasing its annual fee from $95 to $195, along with some other changes. (Card Talk)

(14:03) - United Pooling appeared Friday, then disappeared hours later, then re-appeared (Crazy Thing)

(19:19) - You can't use pooled United miles for partner redemptions, only United & United Express (Crazy Thing)

(25:55) - National Car Rental double credit for registered users' weekend rentals between April 4 through June 8, 2024 (Mattress Running the Numbers)

Read more about this National Car Rental deal here.

(29:36) - Regional first class awards for 12.5K, 16.5K, 22K points thanks to Qatar Avios (Award Talk)

(32:00) - Read more about this regional sweet spot here.

(35:58) - Preferred Hotels bookable online

Check out the Preferred Hotels Coffee Break episode here.

(40:31) - Choice Privileges Experiences might be worth a look

Main Event: The Best Path to Priority Pass

(45:08) - Full Priority Pass offers access to airport lounges, restaurants, and experiences (e.g. Be Relax Spa, Minute suites, Game Space etc.)

(47:43) - Chase Sapphire Reserve & Ritz lose restaurants

(49:06) - Check out our Card Talk segment of last week's podcast episode 247 where we talked about the Ritz Card and its access to Priority Pass.

(51:38) - Wack-a-mole Alternatives to still get restaurant access with your Priority Pass

(52:48) - Venture X Biz (Read more about the Venture X Business card here.

(53:55) - US Bank Altitude Reserve (8 visits) (Read more about the US Bank Altitude Reserve card here.)

(55:43) - Business Altitude Connect (4 visits) (Read more about the Business Altitude Connect card here.)

(56:16) - Bank Of America Premium Rewards Elite (4 memberships) (Read more about the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card here.)

(1:00:15) - UBS Visa Infinite Business (Read more about the UBS Visa Infinite Business card here.)

(1:00:54) - UBS Visa Infinite (Read more about the UBS Visa Infinite card here.)

(1:01:25) - Citi Prestige (no longer available if you don't already have it)

(1:02:09) - Barclays Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard (Read more about the Barclays Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard here.)

(1:07:06) - Deciding between two hotels, one with cash (and therefore a Hilton points-earning opportunity) or paying Hyatt points. How do you make the choice? (Question of the Week)

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