Columbus, OH

Frequent Miler

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. Watch the full episode below, or listen on your favorite podcast platform. You can click the timestamps below to navigate directly to a specific part of the episode within YouTube.

Podcast: Top 10 Tips for Last Minute Award Travel | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep259 | 6-14-24

Our 2024 team challenge Flying by the Seat of our Points will test our last minute award booking skills with a series of last minute travel challenges assigned and judged by Stephen and Carrie. Over the next week, Greg, Nick, and Tim will use their knowledge, points, elite standings, and even upgrade instruments to tackle each challenge with the best combination of frugality and luxury they can, all before the next assignments are given. Current Standings: See all updates in one place here.

Catching up with the Last Minute Travel Challenge | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep 258 | 6-7-24

Spend $200 via the Alaska Airlines shopping portal & earn 500 bonus Mileage Plan miles. During the “Summer Bonus” offer, which runs from 6/5/2024 through 6/14/2024 at 11:59:59 pm ET (the “Bonus Period”), Member will receive a one-time bonus of 500 Mileage Plan bonus miles on qualifying purchases made through the Mileage Plan Shopping mall or from purchases made through Mileage Plan Shopping in-store offers.

Alaska Airlines shopping portal promo: Spend $200 & earn 500 bonus miles

For years, people with Visa business cards could enroll in a program called Visa SavingsEdge. This program provided card-linked offers that gave statement credits for certain retailers, services, travel companies, etc. For example, you could earn 2% when filling up at Chevron, 4% on Wyndham and MGM Resorts bookings, 5% on Mailchimp subscription payments, etc.

New Visa SavingsEdge has launched; need to relink credit cards (but might not be worth it)

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Total Apex Sports & Entertainment

There are certain zodiac signs that most people are careful with because of their fiery and low tolerance levels. You can hardly mess with individuals with such signs without getting a backlash. Whether they are in work environments or family settings, they do not hesitate to set boundaries and protect them.

5 Zodiac Signs You Don't Mess With

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WyoFile

Within hours of the sighting on Wednesday, Frank van Manen caught word that there was a grizzly sow with five cubs in tow spotted in Yellowstone National Park. Five cubs following mom is so unlikely that van Manen, who leads the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, pondered an explanation.

Five grizzly bear cubs make the largest litter in Yellowstone-area history

There is a new (perhaps targeted?) offer out for the Chase Ink Business Preferred that is good for 120,000 points after $8,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. Danny the Deal Guru has published a direct link to the offer, but we don’t know the origin of the link so we recommend proceeding with caution.

120K points with targeted new Chase Ink Preferred bonus [YMMV]

This week, Greg, Tim, and I have been crisscrossing the planet on our 2024 Frequent Miler team challenge. If you haven’t been following on Instagram, see the post below about how to follow. Read on for more updates from our week on the road and find easy links in the table of contents below if you’re after the podcasts or more from this week at Frequent Miler.

Around the world in a flash: catching up on a wild week [Week in Review]

All three of the consumer Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit cards are now offering increased welcome offers of 85,000 Rapid Rewards points after making $3K in purchases within the first 3 months. These offers are the best, in terms of total points, that we’ve seen in at least several years. If you’re looking for a card and/or trying to earn a companion pass, these are certainly worth considering.

Southwest Personal Cards: Limited-time 85,000 Point Offers

Anika Jindal

A subtle sign of low intelligence is an inability to understand or appreciate complexity. People with low intelligence may have difficulty understanding abstract concepts or thinking outside the box. They may also be more likely to believe simplistic explanations or conspiracy theories.

12 Subtle Signs Of Low Intelligence

Yesterday Hilton announced that AutoCamp properties were now bookable through Hilton for both cash and points stays. To celebrate that launch, they’re also offering 1,000 bonus points per AutoCamp stay through August 12. The Deal. Earn 1,000 bonus Hilton Honors points when booking AutoCamp stays. Direct link to offer...

Earn 1,000 bonus Hilton Honors points on AutoCamp stays through 8/12/24

The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card has had a a bit of a topsy-turvy journey over the last few years, befitting its unusually wordy name. It began life known as the SPG Luxury card, the high end offering of the now-defunct Starwood Preferred Guest program and was launched at the same time that Marriott began its merger with the Starwood and Ritz Carlton reward programs.

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card Review (2024)

Several shopping portals are offering increased rates for purchases at GiftCards.com that yield between 2 and 4 points per dollar spent. Better yet, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines both have site-wide shopping portal bonuses ending today and tomorrow that would stack nicely to make for a great return on spend.

2-4x at GiftCards.com, stack with airline portal promos

This belongs in the “things we’ve been meaning to write about since the start of the challenge.” Last week, Prince of Travel discovered that it was now possible to book Oman Air flights using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles. One Mile at a Time lists Oman Air...

Air France/KLM Flying Blue adds Oman Air: Book the “world’s best first class” with points

Save 25% when booking Southwest award flights and using promo code SAVE25. Must book by June 17th and travel by November 20th, 2024. Book a Southwest® flight on Southwest.com or swabiz.com using your Rapid Rewards® points from June 14 through June 17, 2024 (the “Booking Period”) and receive 25 percent off when you fly between June 14-November 20, 2024 with travel blacked out July 6 and July 7 (the “Travel Period”).

Southwest Award Sale: Get 25% Off Points Bookings

Maine State

Idaho State

Shop with Me Mama

Why Idaho Ranks in the Top 10 States Americans Are Flocking To in 2024. A lot of Idahoans are saying 'Idaho is FULL! Go find somewhere else to live!'. With that said, MANY people and their families are flocking to this state and calling it home.

Why Is Everyone Relocating To Idaho?

In April, when Mr & Mrs Smith properties went live within World of Hyatt, the details didn’t exactly impress us. There’s not much in the way of guaranteed benefits and the properties (overall) are a poor value when booked as awards. Now, there’s at least some incentive to...

World of Hyatt credit card now earns 4x at Mr & Mrs Smith properties

Alexandria, VA

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Cheryl E Preston

The SBC has removed another church from it's fellowship. First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, is the latest casualty in the Southern Baptist Convention's war on churches that accept women pastors. The Independent reports that on Tuesday, delegates attending the SBC annual meeting voted 6,759 to 563 to oust the congregation.

A Historic Virginia church was expeled from SBC for asserting that women can be senior pastors

Virginia State

Margaret Minnicks

Many new laws become effective in Virginia on July 1, 2024. However, a law has always existed in Virginia, but some residents might not be aware of it. According to WSET, leaving grass clippings and other debris on Virginia roads is illegal.

It is illegal to leave grass clippings and other debris on roads in Virginia

During our Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge, my journal became quiet after the first couple of days. The truth was that I didn’t have a ton of stuff to share as my bookings went slowly and frustratingly for those first couple of days. That was largely circumstantial: if I had a few more hours or as much as a day beyond our arbitrary check-in times, options broadened considerably. However, they say that necessity is the mother of invention, and getting to the places I did within the necessary time frames did indeed necessitate a few creative tricks that can be more broadly useful the next time you can’t find the availability you need.

A couple of Nick’s booking tricks uncovered during Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge

NewsBreak

Podcast: Our worst travel challenge moments | Coffee Break Ep13 | 6-4-24

You know that sinking feeling when you know things are going wrong? With a brand new travel challenge just launched last night, we’ve got our past...

Podcast: Our worst travel challenge moments | Coffee Break Ep13 | 6-4-24

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