Episode Details

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

https://frequentmiler.com/ihg-offering-diamond-elite-members-free-points-transfers-to-other-members-but-not-the-other-way/

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

https://frequentmiler.com/huge-devaluation-of-hotels-com-rewards-new-one-key-program-only-giving-2-back/

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

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network