In Episode 3 of Miles Ahead: The Canadian Points Podcast, Reed, Josh, Jeff, and Kirin dive deep into the art of redeeming miles and points for flights and hotels. The episode starts with the team sharing their standout miles and points redemptions and the strategies they used to book them.
Finding award flights can be one of the hardest parts of miles and points, so the team shares their strategies for searching and booking flight awards, including how they handle limited award availability and dynamic pricing. The team also shares their hotel redemption strategies, which vary depending on whether the vacation is focused on visiting an aspirational hotel or resort, or if they are focused on visiting a destination.
The episode wraps up with insights about redeeming bank loyalty program points, including how you can get the most out of your miles and points within those programs.
(00:50) The Team’s Standout Points Redemption & How They Made Them Happen
The Frugal Flyer team has made a number of fantastic redemptions recently and they share what they are, and how they went about booking them.
- Josh’s Japan Trip Redemption via Aeroplan, British Airways Avios, & Hilton Honors
- Jeff’s Lufthansa Allegris Experience via Aeroplan
- Read more: Lufthansa Allegris Business Class Review
- Kirin’s Historical Tour of Turkey via Aeroplan for Convenience & Lower Taxes/Fees
- Read more: Air Canada Aeroplan Loyalty Program Guide
- Reed’s Round-the-World Asia Trip via Aeroplan & Cathay Asia Miles
(14:21) Strategies for Searching & Redeeming Points for Award Flights
Earning miles and points is easy, but redeeming them can be hard, especially for flights. The team shares the tools and strategies they use to find award flight availability to make their aspirational redemptions a reality.
- Read more: How to Use Seats.Aero & Award Flight Searching Tool Comparison
- Read more: Guide to Positioning Flights
(23:13) Award Availability & Seat Availability Differences
Just because a flight has available seats, doesn’t mean that those seats can necessarily be booked on miles and points. Award availability can be limited and sporadic in availability.
(26:31) Common Pitfalls When First Redeeming for Flights
When starting out, many miles and points enthusiasts worry about finding the perfect or cheapest flight redemption. While this is a valid mindset that many of us started out with, this mindset has shifted over time as we have increased our knowledge and capacity to earn miles and points.
- Read more: Best Practices When Booking Award Flights
(30:03) Dynamic Pricing of Flight Awards
Certain frequent flyer programs, including Air Canada Aeroplan, use dynamic pricing for many of their award flights. This means that the specific date you are looking to fly on may be exceedingly expensive as a result, or having flexibility can pay off in finding a flight that has a low demand, and in turn, is priced lower than the rest.
(33:47) Hotel Redemption Strategies
The Frugal Flyer team explores their different approaches to booking hotels depending on whether they are traveling for a destination or a specific resort or hotel. Making a good hotel redemption is much easier than booking flights, except for a few outliers when looking for exceptionally aspirational hotels with limited availability.
- Read more: Hilton Honors Free Night Certificates & Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Certificates
- Read more: Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, & World of Hyatt
- Read more: Hilton Honors & Small Luxury Hotels of the World
- Read more: Marriott Bonvoy Free Breakfast Benefit
(41:53) Bank Loyalty Program Redemptions
Bank loyalty programs offer a ton of value, especially those that can be transferred to frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. Understanding how you can get the most out of your points with these programs is imperative in the world of miles and points.
- Read more: American Express Membership Rewards & RBC Avion Rewards
(46:56) Conclusion & Next Episode
If you have any episode-specific questions, leave a comment below. If you have any questions you would like us to answer on Miles Ahead, submit them here.
Join us for the next episode, where we will be doing a deep dive into the valuable British Airways Avios loyalty program.
Listen to Miles Ahead: Episode 4 – All About Avios.
Hi Reed,
I was planning to sign up for the AMEX – MB Card today however I notice I was directed to the American express page. I thought that MB was the card issuer. I was declined the Amex Cobalt Card last month.
So my question is will Amex automatically decline applications for any of other AMEX Cards if I apply now because of the 3-4 month window you must wait after being declined from the Amex Cobalt card?
Hi Mike,
I believe its only 30 days you must wait, but 3-6 months is recommended. They won’t automatically decline, however if its only been a month and you have two hard hits from your recent two apps, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same decision.
Regards,
Reed
Hi Reed,
Okay, I’ll wait 3-6 months before I apply for the Cobalt card again.
Sorry for the confusion I’ve had 1 hard hit so far as I’ve only applied for the Cobalt card last month.
Hopefully I get approved next time for the cobalt card than I can work towards getting the AMEX – MB card.
Thanks for your advice though I really appreciate it.
Hi Mike – I believe you’d mentioned applying for an RBC card as well around the same time, which would be the second hit?
Hi Reed
Yes, you are correct. Forgot about that one.
Funny thing is my credit score has gone up since last month from 775 to 808.
Hi! I love your podcast. Just what we need in Canada!
I have already learned a lot of tips to use. But I am trying to figure out how you get text verifications to your phones for security reasons. I know that banks and credit cards are always verifying identity. Do you have an American phone or do you use Google or something like Numberbarn. This has been stumping me for awhile now as I didn’t think US companies would allow a Canadian phone number on their accounts. Thanx for everything!
Teresa
Hi Teresa,
Canadian phone number can definitely be hit or miss. With Chase I find I can get phone calls but not text messages. I use Google Fi flexible plan to do verification where my Canadian number doesn’t work.
Alternatively, I have also heard Paygo and Tello will work for this purpose.
Cheers,
Reed
Hey Teresa,
I will say that I have no issues using my Canadian number (with Koodo) on American Express USA. They won’t question the Canadian phone number typically in my experience and I have no issues receiving text messages from them.
Hi Reed,
The letter didn’t specify the exact reason just a list of reasons why I might have been rejected.
I did call in to inquire about the reason but basically the AMEX representative just repeated what was in the letter… and suggested I reapply in 3-6 months. I also asked if they can reconsider my application however the representative said that they dont have the option to do that..
On the same day I applied for the AMEX – Cobalt card I applied for the RBC platinum card and was approved right after RBC platinum card approval I applied the Cobalt card and was rejected… so possibly applying for both cards on the same day triggered something…. Also prior to applying my Credit score was 775.
I’ve since lowered my credit limit for some of my credit cards in hopes this increases my chances for AMEX – Cobalt approval.
Hello
Great episode,
Just wondering my application for the AMEX – Cobalt recently got rejected and I plan to reapply in 4 months. Is it advisable that during that 4 month window, I dont apply for any new credit cards so it doesn’t effect my chances of getting approved for the Amex- Cobalt card when I reapply?
I was hoping to apply for the Marriot Bonvoy AMex card but dont know if I should wait until I get approved for the Cobalt card then pursue the MB AMEX card.
Thanks Mike!
Hard to say, really depends on the reason you were rejected (did Amex provide any reason or were you able to call in and inquire?) and your personal credit situation. If you wanted to play it safe you could stick to applying for issuers that use Equifax since I believe Amex tends to favor TransUnion (although not exclusively).
I have been enjoying your podcasts a lot. Even though I know about 90% of the things you are discussing, its nice to have my understanding of the points game confirmed by your comments. And there is always the little nugget of information I pick up. As to your most recent podcast, while Seats.Aero is great for Air Canada, I really wish there was a corresponding site for Asia Miles and (in particular) the convoluted Avios galaxy. Searching through the Executive Club site for flights is such a PITA and really sours me on Avios. No, I really do not want to transit through LHR and give BA $1000 for the privilege.
Hey Chico,
Thank you for the kind words! We kept it basic for the first three episodes for more of an “Intro to Miles and Points” approach but for Episode 4 and onwards we will be covering various topics, including a deep-dive on British Airways Avios for Episode 4.
Jeff wrote a comprehensive piece on fuel surcharges and British Airways, might be worth a read if you want to go deeper on Avios here.
Hey Chico,
AwardTool will show availability for many Avios partners where seats.aero is lacking.
Aside from that, an approach that sometimes works is to just search for a given airline with Seats.aero knowing that airline is an Avios/oneworld partner and will show similar availability with other codeshare/or non-alliance partners. For example when I was looking for Royal Air Maroc seats recently, I would search on Seats.aero, and whenever it showed availability on Alaska miles I was able to also confirm availability with BA Avios.
Thanks for the kind words re. the podcast!
Reed