Battle of the $350 airline cards: AA, Delta, United (and Alaska) | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep344 | 2-6-26

In this episode, we’ll take Hyatt on a mattress run, we’ll answer “Is Tyler crazy for liking the Bilt Paladium card?”, and Nick disagrees with our entire main event!

Giant Mailbag

(01:07) – Tyler disagrees with all the negative feedback that the Bilt program is getting

(06:01) – Read more about Greg’s thoughts on Bilt changes here

Card News

(08:18) – Atmos Ascent ($95 card) offer

Learn more about the Atmos Ascent card here

(10:24) – Southwest consumer card offers: Companion Pass + bonus points

Learn more about the Southwest consumer card offers here

Mattress Running the Numbers

(13:08) – Hyatt’s overlapping promos

Learn more about the Hyatt Bonus Journeys here

Learn more about the Hyatt House / Hyatt Studios promo here

Bonvoyed

(21:00) – Chase makes it harder to track Ink Business Cash® 5x spending

Learn more about this here

Awards, Points, and More

(22:09) – Capital One: 30% transfer bonus to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

Read about Japan Airlines sweet spots here: https://frequentmiler.com/best-uses-of-japan-airlines-mileage-bank-miles/

Learn more about the transfer bonus here: https://frequentmiler.com/30-transfer-bonus-from-capital-one-miles-to-japan-airlines-mileage-bank/

See our podcast episode 325 “Sweet-spot awards courtesy of Japan Airlines” here: https://frequentmiler.com/sweet-spot-awards-courtesy-of-japan-airlines-frequent-miler-on-the-air-ep325-9-26-25/

(25:26) – Citi is still allowing product changes between AAdvantage and ThankYou point cards

Learn more about Citi no longer allowing product changes between AAdvantage and ThankYou point cards here: https://frequentmiler.com/is-citi-no-longer-allowing-product-changes-between-aadvantage-and-thankyou-point-cards/

(29:03) – Rove “Built Better” promo

Read more about the Rove “Built Better” promo here: https://frequentmiler.com/rove-built-better-promo-7x-on-hotel-stays-bonus-earnings-free-miles/

Main Event: Battle of the $350 airline cards: AA, Delta, United (and Alaska)

(32:40:09) – Comparing $350 airline cards: AA, Delta, United (and Alaska)

(35:33) – Earnings on spend

(40:25) – All offer standard airline card perks such as free checked bags, priority boarding, Global Entry/PreCheck

See our complete guide to free checked bags here: https://frequentmiler.com/free-checked-bags-via-credit-card-complete-guide/

(41:57) – Lounge access

(42:55) – Elite status-related things

(48:12) – Companion tickets & flight discounts

(52:38) – Coupons and other stuff

(56:11) – Which “pays for itself” best without requiring much spend?

(59:52) – Which offers the best elite accelerators?

(1:01:08) – Which offers the best companion ticket?

(1:01:38) – Which is best for solo fliers?

(1:02:26) – Which offers the best earnings on spend

(1:04:44) – Which is the best of the best?

Question of the Week

(1:11:53) – Do you need to have 5 employees before you transfer miles with the Citi business AAdvantage card?

See our episode about the Barclays to Citi transition here: https://frequentmiler.com/barclays-aa-cards-planning-the-transition-to-citi-coffee-break-ep91-2-3-26/

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder