Abroaders Podcast

In the last two years, there has been fierce competition between banks to earn your business with their rewards-card products. As a result, we've seen a huge increase in the number of cards that offer additional points for purchases you make with specific types of merchants. These spending categories can mean a lot of extra points if you have the right strategy, but for some, it only makes earning rewards more complicated. In today's episode, we'll cover the top cards for spending on Travel, Dining & Restaurants, Groceries & Supermarkets, and Gas & Fuel. www.abroaders.com/236

IberiaPlus is back with a new flash sale offering 50% off award travel between now and April 15th. The deadline to book is Sunday February 10th, but those who can act quick could score business-class awards from North America to Europe for as little as 17,000 points each way. In today's episode, we'll cover all the promo details and dive into the IberiaPlus program. This week is the last chance to score the Southwest Companion Pass with a limited-time offer from Chase, the Citi Prestige card makes it's long-awaited comeback, and we say goodbye to the Amex SPG card forever. In program news, Citi launches a 25% bonus to Turkish Miles and Smiles, Lufthansa raises award prices, and everyone seems to have a new sale on buying points. www.abroaders.com/235

Singapore KrisFlyer has long been one of the favorite programs of miles enthusiasts, so the recent devaluation announcement is a big disappointment. Singapore is a member of StarAlliance, which makes it possible to use their miles to book on 27 different airlines within the alliance. The program also offers some unique features, like additional award availability for KrisFlyer members when booking Singapore or SilkAir-operated flights. It's easy to accumulate these miles quickly because the program is a transfer partner with Chase, Citi, Amex, Marriott, and Capital One. Although it's never good to see prices go up, this announcement could certainly have been worse. www.abroaders.com/233

Transferrable bank points are especially valuable because they provide multiple options for booking travel. The conventional wisdom is that you get the most value transferring to a frequent flyer program. But that isn't always the right advice. Today, we explore how to make the right choice when you can redeem points towards the cost of a paid ticket or book an award through a frequent flyer program. www.abroaders.com/232

Capital One had created a major shakeup in the travel rewards space by announcing the ability to transfer points to a dozen frequent flyer programs. They now join Citi, Chase, Amex, and Marriott in the realm of super-flexible, transferrable points. We've also got major positive updates to the Amex Business Gold card, more details on the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit, and a slew of new credit card offers to stack up points before the holidays. www.abroaders.com/230

Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands are among the trickiest destinations to reach from North America using miles—especially for premium cabin redemptions. Success depends on planning ahead, diversifying your points for maximum options, and knowing what routes to check. This week, we cover all the direct routings with Star Alliance, One World, Skyteam, and a few independent airlines you can book with the right miles. www.abroaders.com/229

Amex Membership Rewards is offering a 40% bonus on transfers to British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus through November 15th, 2018. These two loyalty programs can book flights with 29 different airlines—offering service to more than 1,000 destinations worldwide. Their pricing scheme is dramatically different from other loyalty programs, which means amazingly good deals on some itineraries, and horrible value on others. www.abroaders.com/228

AP 225 Checklist for Opening a New Rewards Card

Next week, we’ll be talking about our favorite websites and essential tools for travel hackers. Send us your questions and share your favorite resources at www.abroaders.com/218  

This weeks episode features an interview Mikkel Thorup, host of the popular podcast, "The Expat Money Show" and expert on living and working abroad. www.abroaders.com/216    

Air France / KLM takes a step towards pricing awards based on the cost of a paid ticket, Iberia launches an award sale on business class to Madrid and Barcelona, and we break down how to save miles booking Delta flights with partner miles. www.abroaders.com/210

Even when you use the right rewards card to pay for travel, sometimes it can be a ton of effort to get big companies to pay out the compensation you deserve when things go wrong. Today's show features an in-depth analysis of how to manage the claims process, and an interview with the CEO of a company on a mission to make filing for delayed flight compensation effortless. www.abroaders.com/207

A few of the top rewards programs offer seasonal or destination based discounts on award tickets. Today, we dive into American Reduced Mileage Awards, FlyingBlue Promo awards, and a few other discount programs that can help you spend fewer points on your next flight. www.abroaders.com/205

This week we dive into new routes to Africa, a new twist on IHG Points Breaks, and tips for monitoring award availability to snag your next flight. www.abroaders.com/204

Are premium travel cards with high annual fees worth it? Despite the high price tag, these cards offer benefits that far outweigh the costs for some travelers. Today, we’ll compare the Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Citi Prestige to help you decide if one (or more) of these high-end cards is a good fit for you. www.abroaders.com/202

Korean Airlines offers an elite business and first class product for travel from North America to Asia. Like Singapore and Lufthansa, Korean offers extra availability to members of their Skypass frequent flyer program. Today, we’ll cover how to use Chase Ultimate Rewards to book these tickets, and how to navigate Koreans unique award redemption process with minimal effort. www.abroaders.com/201.

Did you know your rewards card can reimburse you if your checked bags go missing or pay for your hotel a flight delay forces you to stay overnight? In this episode, Erik breaks down the 3 most useful types of travel insurance provided by rewards cards and helps you navigate the fine print to get the coverage you deserve. www.abroaders.com/200

How much you can expect to save on travel for each point in your account? The answer can depend on where you're going and whether you book economy or premium cabin tickets. This week, we break down the point valuations published by the Points Guy and compare the numbers from the Abroaders booking service for 9 of the top loyalty programs. You'll also learn about Delta's latest price increase, a major change for Discover cards, and the future of Marriott cobranded cards. www.abroaders.com/198

This week we take a look at one of the original frequent flyer programs—American AAdvantage. AA miles often get less than enthusiastic reviews from the points community, but our take is quite a bit different. Over the past 2 years, AA miles have been among the most valuable of any major airline currency, based on data from our booking service. They provide access to even the farthest corners of the globe, world class partner airlines, and reasonable out of pocket costs. www.abroaders.com/197  

Citi ThankYou Rewards adds Avianca Lifemiles as it's newest transfer partner, and opens up some great opportunities to save on StarAlliance awards. Not to be outdone, Chase Ultimate Rewards adds AerLingus AerClub and Iberia Plus to it's list of transfer options. Singapore announces a significant devaluation for Krisflyer miles on StarAlliance redemptions and gives members just over 3 weeks to book tickets before prices go up. www.abroaders.com/196

This week's top story is a rare opportunity to buy points for business and first-class travel at a big discount. We'll cover how you can combine two overlapping promos to buy international premium cabin tickets for as little as $750 each way. For the economy traveler, we've got awesome news on FlyingBlue promo awards, with four North American cities offering round-trip flights to Europe for 37,500 points. Lastly, United is shaking up short-haul travel with 8,000 point redemptions for short flights outside of North America. www.abroaders.com/195

United is raising business and first class award prices on November 1st. We'll break down the worst of the changes and what flights you should make sure to book before the devaluation. In other news, the Southwest companion pass gets easier for California residents and remains on life support for everyone else. With new flights to Hawaii in 2018, now is a perfect time to apply for the Southwest cards and get buy-one-get-one-free flights for 2018 and 2019.

Too good for business class? International first class is becoming less common, but there are still some ways to use miles to join the ultra elite and spend your flight enjoying the finest aviation has to offer. This week, we take a look at first class options for Europe and share strategies to maximize your chances of riding all the way up front.

Are Chase and Southwest trying to keep you from getting an extra year of the Southwest companion pass?

If you have American Express Membership Rewards, this is the last week to transfer points to British Airways with a 40% bonus. British Airways is a unique frequent flyer program with 25 airline partners, including American Airlines. In this episode, you'll learn how we booked a $902 flight from Brazil to Texas for just $59.