Thrifty Traveler

1 day ago | thriftytraveler.com | Jackson Newman

Bilt Rewards just won't stop adding travel partners to its growing portfolio of airline and hotel programs. As of Tuesday, you can now send Bilt Rewards points to Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank – its 20th transfer partner, cementing Bilt as the first (and only) major transferable points program to partner with the Japanese carrier. After launching this morning, Bilt members can now transfer their points to JAL Mileage Bank at a 1:1 ratio – meaning 2,000 Bilt points get you 2,000 JAL miles.

5 days ago | thriftytraveler.com | Jackson Newman

You may have heard, Chase is currently offering a monster, limited-time bonus on its popular *chase sapphire preferred*. For a few more days, you can earn 100,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first three months. Let me repeat, you can currently earn 100,000 points – worth a minimum of $1,250 for travel – for spending $5,000 in three months. That minimum spending requirement isn't nothing … far from it.

6 days ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

This week on the show, we get to know co-host Kyle Potter a little better as Gunnar grills him on everything from his failed attempt at becoming an Uber driver that ultimately brought him to Thrifty Traveler, his punk/hardcore touring band days, and covering state politics as a journalist for the Associated Press (Kyle contains multitudes). Plus, we talk about some sizzling transfer bonuses and help a listener decide if she should transfer points to Emirates speculatively.

1 week ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

What the heck is going on at Newark (EWR), travelers? According to data from FlightAware, roughly 150 flights a day on average been canceled in and out of the airport since Sunday. Pulling data back to late April, aviation analytics company Cirium showed that 39 flights a day have been canceled – up from the April norm of just four cancellations daily. Even for those flights that aren't canceled, delays of two, four, or even eight hours have become the norm.

1 week ago | thriftytraveler.com | Gunnar Olson

Here's the current situation as it relates to summer domestic flight deals: The getting is as good as it's ever been, but the longer you wait, the harder it will be to find a stellar deal. There are several reasons for that, but here's the bottom line for you: After the month of May, there's going to be a ridge of flight pricing as airlines cut routes and, crucially, Southwest introduces its nasty new basic economy fares.