Dec 23, 2023
As we close out 2023, we take a moment to honor those loyalty programs that have dishonored their own members with the biggest snafus, most member-unfriendly changes, or other painful devaluations.
00:00 Intro
01:58 Giant Mailbag
04:51 Card Talk: Marriott Bonvoy Bevy & Bountiful cards
https://frequentmiler.com/bonvoybevy/
https://frequentmiler.com/bonvoybountiful/
10:41 What crazy thing . . . did Air France / KLM Flying Blue do this week?
https://frequentmiler.com/amazing-business-class-to-europe-from-13500-miles-one-way/
21:44 Award Talk: Bilt adds Avianca LifeMiles
https://frequentmiler.com/now-transfer-bilt-rewards-to-avianca-lifemiles/
24:48 Award Talk: IHG allows free point transfers between members....well, *some* members
27:27 Finnair Plus announces new award charts and info
https://frequentmiler.com/finnair-plus-announces-award-chart-changes-to-take-effect-in-march-2024/
38:19 Main Event: 2023 Bonvoyed Awards
The Nominees....
39:19: Marriott Bonvoys free night certificates
https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-rules-for-extending-free-nights/
41:19 Hyatt / MGM marriage goes bust
https://frequentmiler.com/hyatt-farewell-cheap-mattress-runs-status-matching/
43:51 Wyndham vacates their high-value Vacasa bookings
https://frequentmiler.com/wyndham-vacasa/
45:41 Delta dumps their devastation
https://frequentmiler.com/delta-elite-shortcuts/
47:52 Chase guts their Pay Yourself Back program
49:07 Air Canada Aeroplan's Etihad alliance goes astray
52:00 Hotels.com becomes 5x less rewarding
56:15 Nominee recap
56:42 Nick's pick for 2023 Bonvoyed Award
59:24 Greg's pick for 2023 Bonvoyed Award
1:02:41 Question of the Week: What is the best thing to do with 80,000 Membership Rewards points before we cancel Player 2's Amex Gold card?
Music credit: Annie Yoder