Big United changes: Cardholders earn more, spend fewer miles | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep346 | 2-20-26
Frequent Miler on the Air
Overall take: smart business, mixed consumer impacts
Greg and Nick assess United's strategy favoring cardholders while questioning basic-economy earn removals.
In this episode, we'll talk about how Chase wants you to stay Calm and give a WHOOP, we'll talk about how Bank of America wants you to be a millionaire, and how United wants you to get its credit cards.
Giant Mailbag
(00:45) - Doug: Parking at a Bilt Neighborhood Parking garage on Hyatt award stay
Card News
(03:15) - It may be possible to product change US Bank Altitude Reserve
*NOTE* Shortly after we recorded, we learned that existing earning rates for Bank of America cards will last longer than we thought: Doctor of Credit has learned some positive news regarding changes for existing Preferred Rewards members: they will retain their current status until 3 months after their first anniversary date post-November 1, 2026. For example, if your anniversary date is 10/1, your 3-month clock won’t start until 10/1/27, and you will keep your current status level through 1/1/28 (provided you meet the current qualification requirements). That’s a bit of a band-aid on a broken leg, but it’s a much better timeframe than what we originally thought.
(07:26) - Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card offers (MUST ACTIVATE OFFERS)
(08:37) - WHOOP: Get $359 back after purchasing one year of WHOOP’s Life Membership (expires 5/12/2026.)
(10:45) - Bilt appears to be honoring 5x offer for many
Bonvoyed
(17:30) - Bank of America Preferred Rewards changes
Awards, Points, and More
(24:56) - FYI: How to pay taxes by credit card (Video)
Watch a video about this here: https://frequentmiler.com/how-to-pay-taxes-by-credit-card-video/
(26:43) - United Travel Bank may no longer trigger airline incidental credits
(29:53) - 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic
(31:30) - Use Virgin points for WestJet
Main Event: Big United changes: Cardholders earn more, spend fewer miles
(36:17) - Read more about this here: https://frequentmiler.com/united-mileage-plus-announces-huge-changes-to-earning-and-redeeming-miles/
(36:51) - Mileage earning
(41:27) - Using United cards to book flights
(43:19) - Redeeming Miles
(48:46) - Children benefit
(50:01) - Which United card is best for unlocking these features?
Question of the Week
(1:03:24) - Do you use AI to help you optimize your points and miles game?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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