Rental deals for VIPs, Greg’s short-lived Premier, Carrie locks in 2X, and more (Week in Review)

Rental cars have quietly become our largest travel expense. This is compounded by the fact that we have several upcoming trips that will include five to eight people traveling together. We need larger vehicles or multiple vehicles for several trips. The costs have been adding up.

Several times this week, I was surprised to find that rental car pricing for a Priceline VIP Gold member beat what I could find anywhere else. I don’t yet know for sure whether that elite member pricing will stack properly with a shopping portal, but I’ll be interested to see whether my Priceline rentals track. However, Priceline wasn’t the only site I used this week. Capital One Shopping gave me a targeted offer for 33% back on rental cars at Trip.com.

I’d previously made a rental reservation through Trip.com and recalled that the purchase tracked within a day or two. Sure enough, I made a $600 booking (prepaid, but with free cancellation), and the next calendar day, my booking tracked with $200 in Capital One Shopping rewards.

I love that the Trip.com rental booking showed up as tracked right away. That’s useful not only for peace of mind, but also for comparison shopping if prices do change, since I need to consider expected portal earnings when comparing in the future. I’ve now got so many future rental cars booked that it would be almost impossible to compare new prices if I didn’t have the expected portal earnings recorded. It is annoying to keep up with a spreadsheet for car rentals, but given a few bookings like this one, I need to stay organized.

On the blog this week, Carrie gets an Amex card, Greg loses a Wells Fargo checking account, I waste time with an unhelpful agent, we talk about parlaying your hotel status into airline status, and a lot more.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Wells Fargo closed my checking account. Are my credit cards next?

Greg recently got notice that Wells Fargo decided to close his recently opened Premier Checking account. On the surface, that wasn’t the worst news. However, it has made him quite nervous about future prospects of his Wells Fargo credit cards and their associated points.

Some sort of technological limitation prevented Greg from being able to transfer to Choice Privileges, but I would say that was actually a win for Greg; a transfer to Choice wouldn’t have been particularly good value compared to the cost to buy Choice points right now.

Given the ability to buy Choice Privileges points on sale right now, transferring to Choice would be equivalent to cashing out for less than 1.2 cents per Wells Fargo point. I think Greg will be much better served by transferring to an airline program he frequently uses. Interestingly, a reader chimes in to note that the cause of this issue may have been logging in from abroad. Sure enough, Greg was traveling soon after having opened his Premier Checking account, so I wonder if the closure of the Premier Checking was simply tripped by logins from multiple countries. Maybe his credit card accounts will be safe after all.

Hyatt & Aeroplan launch partnership: Status challenges, redeem points for awards with other program, & more

It seems that Aeroplan is playing the field! While Air Canada Aeroplan notably already had an existing partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, whereby high-level Marriott elites get elite status in Air Canada Aeroplan, there are a number of reciprocal earning opportunities, we were surprised this week to learn that Aeroplan is now partnering up with World of Hyatt as well. It looks like this partnership might provide some interesting opportunities to go after Air Canada elite status for high-level World of Hyatt elite members. We don’t yet know the full details, but it’s interesting to see what may be coming.

Turn hotel status into airline status | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep367 | 7-17-26

Speaking of those tie-ups between Marriott or Hyatt and Air Canada Aeroplan, there are a number of ways to turn hotel elite status into airline elite status. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air. Greg and I highlight the best paths for turning your nights into status that’s useful for flights.

Family-friendly Las Vegas: Things we did, and ways we saved

Las Vegas probably isn’t at the top of many family vacation destination lists, but there is a surprisingly wide array of kid-friendly attractions available. In this post, I share how we saved on tickets to the Arte Museum, why I probably wouldn’t go back to the indoor mini golf course, my mistake in trying to save money on BattleBots tickets, the place I’ve wanted to visit for years, and more.

Marriott Bonvoy pros and cons | Coffee Break Ep114 | 7-14-26

Marriott catches a lot of flak for its numerous shortcomings, but there are bright sides to Marriott that are worth recognizing as well. On this week’s Coffee Break, Greg spends some time on the bright side, highlighting the things that there are to love about Marriott, while I lament the things that really frustrate us about the Bonvoy Program. Do the positives outweigh the negatives? You can weigh in with your comments.

9 ways to get CLEAR+ for less

After many years of resisting CLEAR, I finally got on board a few years ago. While I wouldn’t pay the sticker price for it, I have to admit that there have been a few times when CLEAR has come in really handy. Thankfully, there are quite a few ways to pay less for CLEAR. The obvious and easy shortcut is to get a credit card that covers the cost of membership, but in this post, we cover nine different ways that you can enjoy CLEAR for less than the sticker price.

How I wasted time with an unhelpful Alaska agent – and what I’d do differently next time

I had a poor experience with a chat agent in trying to get a relatively minor issue resolved, and it reminded me of my own advice: don’t waste time with an agent who doesn’t want to help. I would have saved myself both time and frustration if I had taken the hint that the agent didn’t want to help and moved on to a new agent sooner.

Which is the best American Express Platinum Card® in 2026?

There are a number of different Platinum cards on the market, but which one is best? I think many people will find the consumer cards more compelling than the business cards. Still, you have a few options on the consumer side, and which one is best for you likely depends on your situation. Read our updated post to figure out which Platinum card is the one you need to have in your (household?) wallet.

Traveling with pets: Hotel pet policies, which brands have no pet fees, tips, & more

After years of extensive travel with their pet pupper, the Peppers are probably the closest thing you’ll find to certified experts in hotel pet policies. If you plan to travel with your four-legged friend, you’ll want to read Stephen’s post explaining where to stay and what to know when traveling with a pet in tow.

“It’s a credit card and it works” | Ask Us Anything Ep88 | 7-8-26

Typically, the Frequent Miler team goes live on YouTube on the first Wednesday of every month at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This month, our Ask Us Anything got pushed back a week (due to the US team’s World Cup game on the first Wednesday!). Unfortunately, I was unable to make this month’s event. If you also missed the live broadcast, you can catch the replay either on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform, along with a list of the questions in the show notes.

Entering the Amex world without disrupting my $0 wallet (A Carrie commentary)

Carrie continues to expand her no-annual-fee wallet, now venturing into the realm of American Express thanks to a recent application for the Blue Business Plus card. I’m glad to see Carrie get a Blue Business Plus because it’s one of the best Amex cards to have long-term, both because it offers a great return on the first $50,000 in purchases every year and since it keeps your membership rewards points alive and transferable. Now, if Carrie does decide to try out a card with an annual fee in the future, she knows that if she laer cancels it, her Amex points will remain alive so long as she keeps the Blue Business Plus card open. Carrie can also earn transferable points from Rakuten by linking up her Membership Rewards account. This card ensures she has a terrific base rate of return on purchases that would otherwise be unbonused.  Maybe she should now consider an Amex checking account bonus in order to earn some more Membership Rewards points without an annual fee.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to make sure you scoop them up before they’re gone.

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