Award Travel 101

We are less than a month away from this year’s Chicago Seminars, the oldest and largest gathering of points and miles aficionados. Joe and Mike talk about the event and give a preview of lectures both Joe and I will be giving. There is also a survey  Also discussed are strategies to prepare for a potential Alaska and Hawaiian airlines merger now that the USDOJ has green lighted the deal. Lastly should we be putting more focus on the Marriott Bonvoy program and it's mid-tier Platinum status? Our moderator Maria thinks so.Links to Topics DiscussedIncreased Ink welcome offer coming to an endChoice Hotels Adds New Sweet Spot Rewards starting at 5k pointsBilt Rewards Hawaiian Airlines Transfer PartnershipPermanently Ends How To Create a Travel Rewards Credit Card Strategy for FamiliesPodcast Episode 19 - The Tools of TravelVisit the Chicago Seminars site for tickets. Use code MikeZCS10Discount for $10 offAward Travel Survey Date to be compiled and presented at Chicago Seminars.Where to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

Meetups are one of our favorite aspects of this hobby which allow us to interact in person with those who share our same passion/obsession. Angie and Mike are fresh off the latest Award Travel 101 meetup in Seattle where they interreacted with almost 50 other members of the community. They detail the experiences of the weekend and reiterate the benefits of attending meetups and how sometimes it's nice to converse with others who suffer the same affliction as you.Links to topics discussedFontinebleau Las Vegas Status MatchCurrent Capital One Spark Business Offer5 issuers raise Global Entry credit to match fee increaseQatar Avios Devaluation, significantly affects American and Alaska domestic US award.Amex announces forthcoming Centurion Lounge in Salt Lake City (SLC)Photos from the OUT to SEA meetup in Seattle (Award Travel 101 Facebook Group)Where to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

As part of our "Meet The Mods" series Mike talks with April about her background, travel style and of course love of Hyatt. They also discuss the nuances of being native New Yorkers where it's seemingly required to vacation in Florida nearly every year. Further discussion ensues about important credos such as " book early, book often" and "the phone eats first."Links to Topics DiscussedHyatt PromosHyatt Fast Track, trough AA status matchEnhanced offers on Amex Bonvoy CardsRooms.aero compared to other hotel award search enginesWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

Angie, an award travel expert, and Mike, a knowledgeable muggle navigator, share insights on conversing with those unfamiliar with travel rewards. They discuss the launch of Hyatt's glamping brand and exciting transfer bonuses from major credit cards. The duo emphasizes strategies for maximizing loyalty points and credit card benefits. They also detail planning a memorable trip to Alaska, filled with personal anecdotes. Finally, they tackle the challenges of educating 'muggles' about the magic of award travel and urge community engagement.

This week Mike talks with Joe who has just logged his latest entry in his "Summer of Travel" logbook by traveling Japan Air Lines Business Class JFK to Toyko, intra-Asia flights to Korea and back. Then the culmination of Etihad business and first class from Tokyo to Abu Dhabi back to JFK. Hyatt and FHR stays throughout.Links to Topics Discussed:Southwest Eliminating Hallmark Open Seating Policy, plus other changes in the works.Amex Gold Card Changes, $75 AF increase, more "coupon book" creditsWorld of Hyatt, how most of Joe's hotel bookings were madeAmex Fine Hotels & Resorts Program, where some other bookings were made through.Where to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

Angie talks with new moderator and Ohio native Cameron about his background, travel style and favorite trips. He details his passion for travel for both himself and to show his family the world and how points and miles made it all possible.Links to topics discussed:Temporarily can not can book AF/KLM through Virgin (until August)New Amex Centurion Lounge at DCAElevated Capital One Venture Welcome Offer- 75k +$250 statement credit for $4k spend.Charles Schwab Amex Platinum Cash Out Limit ChangesWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

 In this week's episode Mike and Angie discuss some of the recent hotel card offers then get into the main feature of handling major changes in their life such as a new house and a new job and how it affects their award travel strategy. Links to Topics Discussed in This Week's Episode:Chase Ink Preferred 120k OfferIHG Premier Card 5 Free Night Award offerChase Bonvoy Bold mediocre refreshChase Sapphire Reserve giving 3 months of Bonvoy Gold status... mehHilton rolls out 400 more SLH properties. Some good deals are to be foundDouble points on stays at Hyatt Place/Hyatt House Post of the WeekMember David talks about mobile phone service abroad.Where to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

In this podcast episode, they review their travel adventures of 2024 so far, including booking flights using award points. They discuss finding great deals like Business Class to Europe for 38K points and JetBlue Mint to Caribbean for $968. They also talk about recent news in the award travel community and offer tips on maximizing rewards with credit cards.

Award Travel 101 moderator, digital nomad and foodie Anthony Cave talks with Mike about his background, what got him into award travel and how he found living a nomadic life was more cost effective and fulfilling.Later on Mike and Anthony discuss their love of airport lounges, their most/least favorites and the best ways to access them.Links to news and topics discussed:Flying Blue status match for U.S. residents Alaska status match until the end of 2025Chase Freedom Flex Q3 Bonus CategoriesMore Escape Lounges Join Priority PassSpacious Delta One Lounge at JFK T4 is OpenCapital One Lounge Coming to JFKStrawberry Hotels Summer PassQatar Airlines CardBest Lounge Cards:Chase United Club- Best for Star Alliance fliers plus some great perksWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

In this episode, Angie and Joe cover news of the week along with mistakes we’ve made or we’ve seen friends and family make.Links to Topics DiscussedLifeMiles showing $1,000+ fees on awards (even in economy)Virgin Atlantic is having a 40% off award sale!No notice devaluation of Choice hotelsAeroplan has (again) paused points expirationWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.