Miles & Points in 2024: Year in Review

It’s been another year for Miles & Points, and as always, there have been many new developments, for better and for worse. As we saw in 2023, there have been devaluations, market exits, new terms & conditions to contend with, and more. But regardless, miles and points continues to be an extremely beneficial hobby for travel enthusiasts. 

Read on as each member of the Frugal Flyer team recaps the biggest wins and losses of 2024 in the world of miles and points, and we recount some of the growth Frugal Flyer is proud to have undergone this year too.

Frugal Flyer in 2024

Frugal Flyer saw growth in 2024 in numerous ways. 

We launched our podcast, Miles Ahead. As essentially the only miles & points podcast in Canada, this is a project we’re excited to continue improving and growing through 2025. Give our most recent episode a listen if you haven’t already:

We also completed our first promotional rebate event for Black Friday Week, where we offered elevated FlyerFunds rebates on four credit cards from Tangerine, Simplii, and BMO. Hopefully, you were able to take advantage and if not, keep an eye out for more promotional offers in 2025!  

Also this year we welcomed two new team members in Andy Leung and Kirin Tsang: 

• Welcome to the Frugal Flyer Team, Andy!
• Welcome to the Frugal Flyer Team, Kirin!

Both Andy and Kirin have been valuable additions to the team, both on the business side of things with the quality of content they continue to write for us, but also with their friendship and the miles and points knowledge they bring to the group.

With all of the above in mind, we have lots of developments to reflect positively on from 2024, and even more to look forward to in 2025!

Frugal Flyer Team: Year in Review

One of the neatest parts of this hobby is that the ups and downs can often be individual-specific, depending on travel goals and opportunities available. Read on as each member of the Frugal Flyer team highlights the best and worst parts of their 2024 when it comes to miles, points, and travel.

Josh’s Year in Review

My miles and points earning efforts in 2024 were mainly focused on US credit cards, as I looked to push the limits with no lifetime language offers and other fun tricks. However, my earning rate is now far outpacing my burn rate, so I’m aiming to travel more in 2025 to cut my points balances down to more reasonable levels.

One of my favorite developments for 2024 was the partnership of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) and Hilton Honors. While I haven’t stayed at any SLH properties yet, opening up many unique properties to Hilton Honors free night certificate redemptions and Hilton Honors points redemptions is a massive value add since they aren’t dynamically priced.

I’m disappointed that we have yet to see Aeroplan Family Sharing return, as I didn’t set it up when it was available. While accruing points on two separate accounts isn’t a huge deal, it would be so much more convenient to be able to combine and share the balances. The lack of action regarding this feature makes me think it won’t be coming back for a while.

Travel-wise, I got engaged at Le Meridien Maldives and was able to fly Qatar Airways First Class for the first time. While an eight-night stay in the Maldives may be too long for some, it was one of the most relaxing vacations I’ve had in recent times and excellent value from a points redemption perspective.

Japan was also a standout for me, so much so that I already have plans to go back in April 2025, including a side journey to Taiwan for a few days.

Reed’s Year in Review

Like Josh, I’ve spent most of this year accruing points through US Credit Cards. This is both out of necessity, as the Canadian market has in my opinion, deflated significantly in the past two years, but also out of opportunity, as the US market has simply always been more lucrative. For example, this year I was lucky to branch into the Chase Ink Business credit card ecosystem and earn over 450,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards. I am excited to make use of those flexible points in 2025.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

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Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

The Chase Ink Business Preferred card is a credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards and is available to sole proprietors and small business owners in the United States.

BONUS
90,000 Ultimate Rewards

MINSPEND
$8,000

NET VALUE
$1,435+

ANNUAL FEE
$95

FOREX FEES
No

EXPIRY
–

This was the first year I qualified for Marriott Titanium Elite status, and also the first time in a while I haven’t had any Aeroplan status. It’s great timing with the new reciprocal partnership between Marriott Bonvoy and Aeroplan, which grants automatic Aeroplan 25K status just for achieving Titanium. One of the most positive new developments in miles & points in my mind, I have no doubt I will make use of this feature in 2025. 

As far as travel goes, I was fortunate enough to take one of my most memorable trips to Singapore and Thailand with my significant other, where we flew on Turkish Airlines business class and Singapore Airlines business class, as well as Cathay Pacific First Class. 

We are doing another big trip in the latter part of 2025, where we’ll be flying to Morocco and returning from Portugal on Royal Air Maroc, and TAP Air Portugal, respectively. 

We are planning to visit two newly opened properties: St. Regis La Bahia Blanca Resort, in Tamuda Bay, as well as Dreams Madeira Resort Spa & Marina, in Madeira. The latter will be my first major World of Hyatt redemption. So between that and many other smaller trips, I have a lot to look forward to in 2025!

Daniel’s Year in Review

Looking back on 2024’s earning opportunities, I’m encouraged by what I see south of the border and discouraged by what I see north of the border. In the US, another bank jumped into the transferable points eco-system, with Wells Fargo throwing their hat into the ring. Conversely, in Canada, MBNA really dropped the ball by choosing not to offer Alaska Mileage Plan transfers as an ongoing option. 

Also in Canada, Aeroplan made its stance on multiple welcome bonuses clear by issuing clawbacks of 10,000 points to even the most mundane points collectors. For example, a friend with only three credit cards (granted, they have the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite and CIBC version) lost 10,000 points to the ordeal. Compare that to the US market, where no lifetime language offers (NLL) are plentiful, and Amex actively encourages small business owners to open more cards. All this to say that if you haven’t started accruing US cards, now is the time. 

Reviewing my own travel in 2024, I’m pretty shocked by how much I did! Looking at my Flighty app, I flew 166,964 km over 94 segments to 46 airports on 29 airlines this year. It all started in January with a ski trip to the Swiss Alps with my parents, where we benefitted from a Lufthansa strike to fly Delta One on an Aeroplan ticket.

My wife and I also jetted around the globe to celebrate her 30th birthday in style in March. We stopped in Ireland during St Patrick’s Day and visited Vietnam to relax at the beach. We finished the trip with a bucket list item: Singapore Airlines business class on the longest flight in the world. 

During this jaunt, we stayed at two particularly fantastic Marriott hotels, Mount Juliet Estate, and the JW Marriott Phu Quoc. Both are very different experiences, considering Ireland is cold in March, and Vietnam is always hot, but ‘chaotic’ would be an excellent way to describe my travel habits this year.

The middle of the year was not to be outdone, with a last-minute trip in July to see Taylor Swift in Europe and some time at Disney World (including a stay at the gorgeous Swan Reserve Hotel) before the summer ended.

I thought I was finished traveling after visiting Mexico with my in-laws in October, but then SAS launched the craziest promotion in recent memory. I accepted the challenge to fly on 15 SkyTeam airlines for a reward of 1,000,000 SAS EuroBonus miles and successfully completed the task at the end of November after a grueling 15-day speed run around the world. 

I now await my 1,000,000 miles to be awarded sometime in January!

Jeff’s Year in Review

2024 was all about going full throttle on the “burn” portion of the “earn and burn” mantra for me. It was a year packed with several notable trips, including flying Starlux Airlines business class on a memorable trip to Vietnam with my wife, to setting off on a road trip through the Baltic states of Eastern Europe. I also crossed off a few bucket-list experiences, like flying Emirates A380 First Class and enjoying my first stay at a Ritz-Carlton Reserve property.

I have no plans on slowing down in the new year, as I make my way to Africa in January for what I hope will be another epic adventure!

I will remember this past year for what became an over-year-long saga involving MBNA and its partnership with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. The initial excitement was palpable when MBNA announced it would allow the transfer of MBNA Rewards points to the Alaska Mileage Plan at a 1:1 ratio. This announcement signaled that MBNA Rewards could become the newest transferable currency in Canada. With the loss of HSBC as a transferable rewards program, the Canadian market has been in desperate need of a fresh offering with something new.

However, all was for naught. After more than a year of anticipation, MBNA rug pulled the points and miles community by announcing that the ability to transfer MBNA Rewards to Alaska Airlines would be limited to a one-time use only. 

Although many members of the community took advantage of the offer and accumulated a significant number of Alaska Airlines miles, the entire episode felt like just another missed opportunity for a smaller player in the industry to set itself apart. Instead, MBNA now finds itself relegated back to obscurity.

This is, of course, completely on form for the Canadian banking sector, which appears to be life-threateningly allergic to innovation and any form of change. I’m hopeful in 2025 we’ll see some of the newer players in the space expand their co-branded credit card portfolio and introduce access to additional loyalty programs.

Quentin’s Year in Review

2024 has not been a typical year for me. I finished my PhD and started medical school, so I went from having income to no income, plus huge tuition bills. As a result, I’ve had to pivot my points and miles and credit card strategy to match my current habits. 

A huge addition to my wallet this year that has become a workhorse is the Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard.

Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard

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Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard

The Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard earns Canadian Tire Money and offers cardholders benefits such as complimentary gold membership to the Canadian Tire roadside assistance program.

Check out our Canadian Tire Triangle World Elite Mastercard review for more details.

BONUS
0 Canadian Tire Money

MINSPEND
$0

NET VALUE
$0+

ANNUAL FEE
$0

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
–

First, it offered a welcome bonus of $150 CT Money. This card historically NEVER offers a welcome offer so this was huge! I’ve been using the card to pay my medical school tuition using its free bill pay option – 1% back on $26,000 adds up quickly! While not my typical choice of travel points and miles, this is a great example of how to pivot when our spending and lifestyle habits change. 

As always, a huge part of my focus has been on the US credit card market. This was the Year of Chase for me because I’m deep in the penitentiary of Amex pop-up jail. The Chase Freedom Unlimited’s welcome offer of doubling all the Ultimate Rewards Points earned in the first year has been great for padding my UR points piggy bank. 

Air Canada’s dynamic pricing has been absolutely atrocious this year. The best example I can give is a redemption to go home to visit family in Sault Ste. Marie went from ~8,000 Aeroplan points to over 30,000 Aeroplan points. Needless to say, I did not redeem for that award, but instead, I used some old Air Miles collected many years ago to make a redemption on Porter Airlines. I hope 2025 will see the dynamic pricing settle down a bit, but unfortunately, I’m very skeptical.

Andy’s Year in Review

I’ve stayed relatively stagnant in terms of my credit card diversification. I still haven’t ventured into the US credit card world yet though it’s certainly near the top of my to-do list for 2025. I also went back to school which has really restricted my travel plans for the next year and a half.

The American Express Cobalt Card has always been my go-to card for purchases, especially when most of my expenses are from eating out or groceries. Though I am a little disappointed about the reduction of some of the card’s benefits, I still use it for the majority of my purchases.

American Express Cobalt Card

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American Express Cobalt Card

The American Express Cobalt card earns Membership Rewards points and gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 5x Membership Rewards on eligible restaurant, food delivery, and grocery store purchases.

In 2024, we selected this card to receive the award Best Credit Card for Grocery Purchases.

Check out our American Express Cobalt card review for more details.

BONUS
15,000 Membership Rewards

MINSPEND
$9,000

NET VALUE
$174+

ANNUAL FEE
$156

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
–

Similar to Josh, my trip highlight of the year would be going to Japan and Southeast Asia, redeeming 45,000 Aeroplan points twice for trans-pacific flights from Vancouver to Osaka in Air Canada’s Premium Economy cabin. Though not a business or first class seat, the redemption value and experience are still well worth it compared to being stuck in Economy for half a day. 

I was also able to take advantage of a Marriott Titanium Elite Status offer, in collaboration with Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer frequent flyer program. Flying 4 segments on any Singapore Airlines flight allowed me to obtain KrisFlyer Gold Status which comes with Star Alliance Gold Status, extending benefits to other Star Alliance airlines.

I was also able to stay at some new and unique properties this year as well, including The Osaka Station Hotel, Autograph Collection and the Madi Paidi Bangkok, Autograph Collection, both of which have high praise from me.

I’m quite excited about the future not only for travel, points, and experiences, but also for the development of Frugal Flyer as a whole. Though I haven’t been on the podcast so far, (though that’s about to change), I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. Cheers to 2025!

Kirin’s Year in Review

For my money, the hardest thing that’s happened in 2024 is that most banks have gone out of their way to tighten up both lending and signup incentive bonuses. This is particularly acute in Canada,  where we often see reduced welcome bonuses on cards that demand very large minimum spends, as well as holding the card for a second un-rebated annual fee in order to get the full reward.

Where there are problems, though, there’s always opportunity, especially in the form of the US credit card market. Not only have US credit card offers been red-hot in 2024 for wallets of every size, but there have also been cards (especially from American Express) with generous no-lifetime language available for any purchaser willing to brave the credit card game of the land of the free and home of the brave.

My favorite redemption this year was to see the lost empire of Byzantium with the host of the History of Byzantium podcast, Robin Pierson, and his celebrity tour coordinator Serif Yenen. Seeing the Hagia Sophia after a Turkish business class redemption flight was next-level.

I’m looking forward to 2025 with cautious optimism because I know with interesting political developments south of the border, we haven’t yet seen the last of their incredible loyalty market. I also hope to see our Canadian financial institutions try and stay in the same race if not the same league.

Miles & Points in 2024: Year in Review Summary

Below we’ve summarized the positive and negative developments of Miles & Points in 2024.

Conclusion

Things are always changing in the world of miles and points, and it’s always rewarding to reflect on the past year when it comes to earnings, redemptions, and trips that we have been able to take thanks to this hobby. We appreciate you taking the time to join us in our journey through the world of miles and points for 2024, and we look forward to continuing to share our knowledge in 2025 and onwards.