A huge haul in time for tax time, programs on the upswing, and more [Week in Review]

The tax man cometh, but have no fear: if you’ve got your eyes peeled for some of the bigger offers on the market, you can make your (tax) money work for you. Greg shows a couple of examples that worked out well in his household, but options abound. I certainly don’t like to pay thousands of dollars without earning tens of thousands of points (or more), so I’m also eyeing up some of the best offers in anticipation of a bill to come.

When it comes to favored rewards, it’s better to play the field than play favorites. Two years ago, nobody would have predicted that we’d be labeling Hilton on the upswing while Hyatt slides, but this week’s Coffee Break goes to show why you need to diversify your holdings — and tax time could be a great way to bump up a balance wherever you’re weak.

All that and more in this week in review.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

340K bonus points through pre-approved business card offers

Greg’s family made some nice scores over the past week, with pre-approved offers showing up in their business credit card logins that yielded a bunch of easy points. The less easy part of the equation for some would be meeting the minimum spending requirements, but as Greg points out, tax time can be a great time to earn a big bonus. We almost always open a new card or two at tax time with plans to maximize return on money we need to pay out anyway.

Getting started with points & miles | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep298 | 3-21-25

Greg is feeling good with his newfound 340,000 points, but if you’re at the other end of the spectrum and just starting out, that probably sounds pretty wild. All of this stuff can feel overwhelming at first and it is not uncommon to wonder where to begin. Greg’s analogy at the beginning of this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air was perfect: learning how to play a new game (board game, card game, etc)  often feels overwhelming — learning the rules and how to play isn’t anybody’s favorite part. But if you push through and learn the basics, it can be a lot of fun well before you’ve mastered it. Then, with some practice, anyone can become reasonably good at most games. Getting started with miles and points is incredibly similar, so check out this week’s podcast for a high-level overview so you can start having fun right away and get on the path to mastering this field.

Hyatt’s 2025 category changes: Particularly bad for mattress running & free night certificates

Keep in mind that Hyatt’s 2025 category changes are just a few days away. If you had in mind to book any of these properties, it’s time to get plans together and book before prices change.

Getting my (travel) life organized with TripIt

Speaking of getting plans together, I’ve recently taken a dive back into TripIt after going for many years without a good trip organization tool. Getting all of our travel plans in one place with easy one-tap access for both my wife and I has really lifted a weight off of my shoulders as it can be a challenge to stay on top of all of the arrangements, particularly as our family grows, our needs change, and we begin planning more multi-family-member trips. I further can’t keep cataloged all of our backup plans and duplicate reservations, so I’m glad to have everything at my fingertips again.

How to find impossible awards with PointsYeah

If you find the finding of award travel more difficult than the tracking of your trips, you need to add an award search tool or two to your tool belt. In a new Youtube video, Greg and I demonstrate how you can use award search tool PointsYeah to find awards that you might have thought impossible to get.

Get GigSky 15 day international data plan free w/ Visa Infinite & Signature cards + 10% off plans with a promo code

While this post is more of a quick deal, I thought it was worth including this week because it is so broadly applicable. Most people reading this site probably have at least a couple of Visa Signature cards and as a result could easily get a 15-day 1GB international data plan for free. Visa Infinite cardholders can get 3GB. And considering that it’s possible to do that more than once if you have multiple qualifying cards, this could be a really easy way for some folks to stack up some free data for an international trip. Even though my family has 5GB of free high-speed international data on our T-Mobile plans, I intend to get these set up for when some of us inevitably run out of data.

Loyalty Point Changing Fortunes | Coffee Break Ep49 | 3-18-25

If you stick around this hobby for a while, you’ll see that things constantly change. Some programs increase in value while others lose their luster. There’s no doubt that you set yourself up for success when you accept that things will change and you keep yourself open to finding the new positives. On this week’s coffee break, Greg and I discuss which programs we see on the upswing and which ones are sliding down a notch or three.

Savewise: An awesome shopping tool (compare portals + find stacks)

I spent some time this week checking out a shopping tool called Savewise and I came away very impressed. Savewise combines some of the best features of Cashbackmonitor and Cardpointers into a single tool that helps you compare the best shopping portal rates while simultaneously identifying card-linked offers for stacking opportunities. Savewise even has a product search in beta mode that helps identifying the different stores that carry a particular product so you can find the best combination of portal payout and card-linked offer, which I could see being a huge value add in the long run.

Bilt rent payment method is changing for many users – updates needed to continue paying rent

Bilt is making changes that affect those who do not live in a Bilt-affiliated building, so you’ll need to manually make adjustments by April 29th in order to ensure that your rent payments continue to be delivered as expected if you live outside of the Bilt network. That said, the changes happening here sound like they are in preparation for bigger things to come as the Bilt email hints both at mortgage payments coming this year and other types of bill payments as well. It will be interesting to see the continued evolution of the Bilt Rewards ecosystem — but be sure to read this and take action if your rent payment is affected.

Melio: Pay business bills by credit card

In other news related to paying bills with a credit card, Melio is shaking things up with a new subscription model. The good news is that there is still a free plan that offers payments via credit card for a 2.9% fee, but there are now some additional paid tiers that might make sense for those with more complex needs.

Hilton’s NoMad London – Bottom Line Review

Greg’s review of the NoMad in London (which is a brand now owned by Hilton) emphasized the breakfast several times. When I saw the photos (breakfast space shown above), I could see why. Starting the day in that space with some great pastries could certainly set the tone for a vibrant day. I’d not be terribly enthused by the lack of seating space in the room, but most folks going to London probably aren’t doing so to spend much time in the room anyway. It’s good to see a solid option for Hilton points or free night certificates that is well-located.

Best ways to get to cities in the US and Canada using miles (2025)

There are plenty of amazing things to see without leaving North America, but if you’re looking to use your miles and points, it can sometimes be a challenge to find award availability, particularly at peak travel times. However, if you’re able to travel during shoulder seasons or less popular days of the week, there are numerous mileage opportunities that could present an excellent deal for domestic travel or even to cities across the northern border.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep your eye out for this week’s  to catch those ending soon before they’re gone.

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