Good afternoon everyone, here is the filler post of the weekend. Enjoy!

Usually this time of year, we look back at the predictions we made at the end of 2015 or early 2016 and see how many things we got right and how many things we got wrong. It is usually a little depressing to look back and see how much has changed (for the worse) over the last 12 months. I wanted to put a positive spin on the predictions this year and turn it into a Christmas wish list for Santa. If Santa had the power to make travel hacker lives better, what would you wish for?

Grant’s wish list (in no particular order):

• I want Chase to create a “no 5/24 rule day” so everyone can be approved for the Chase credit card they really want (I have my eye on the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card).
• I want the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card to change the $300 travel credit (incidentals only) to match the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card $300 travel credit (paid airfare and hotels).

• I want Bank of America to offer the Better Balance Rewards Credit Card as a product change option for every Bank of America credit card.
• I want American Express to offer better AMEX Offers year round (this year the offers have been weaker than most – and bring back Small Business Saturday).
• I want American Express to add more Membership Reward transfer partners and to offer better transfer bonuses.
• I want the Citi Forward Credit Card to offer 5x at restaurants and bookstores again.
• I want the Citi AT&T Access More Credit Card to be 3x on “all online purchases”.
• I want AA award space for every seat, on every flight, on every route, every day of the year.  We are all sitting on thousands or millions of AA miles that we cannot redeem due to the current lack of award space.
• I want Alaska Airlines to status match with Virgin America (I have Virgin America Gold, so I should get Alaska Airlines MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75K).
• I want another airline to offer a points match similar to JetBlue.
• I want Southwest Airlines to extend travel credit from 1 year to 2 years for expiration.
• I want Marriott to not destroy the SPG award chart (long shot, but see what you can do).
• I want Club Carlson to change their free night certificates from only domestic hotels to all hotels worldwide (then I might spend $10,000 on their credit card).
• I want Marriott and Hyatt free nights to be applicable to all hotels, regardless of category.
• I want Centurion Lounges, better Priority Pass domestic lounges, and CLEAR to be in every major airport in the country.
• I want TSA security lines to move faster and the TSA PreCheck line to be on a moving conveyor belt so there is no stopping.
• Last but not least, I want easy MS opportunities that are widespread and last a long time.

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Whitney’s wish list (in no particular order):

• I want American Airlines to offer a status challenge to current elites.
• I want American Airlines to offer complimentary upgrades to elites in the same way that US Airways did.
• I want Hyatt to get rid of World of Hyatt and stick with Gold Passport.
• I want Citi to keep the Citi Prestige card benefits as is instead of devaluing next year.
• I want 1 free pass on the Chase 5/24 rule so that I can get the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
• I want Walmart to bring Kate back.
• I want Topcashback to bring back cash back on high dollar orders of American Express gift cards.
• I want the complicated threshold calculation to obtain 5% cash back on the Amex Old Blue Cash card to be simplified.
• I want all credit card companies to modify their websites or at least the credit card statements so that it is easy for us to audit our point/mile earnings.  Chase (personal cards) is a fantastic example.
• I want American Express to bring back the ability to send a secure message online.
• I want American Express to go back to the good old days when they were known for good customer service.
• I want Citi to honor the sign up bonuses on cards opened before the new rules went into effect.  (MilesToMemories wrote about this)
• I want to be able to buy an airplane seat (or use miles) for my dog.  English Bulldogs cannot travel down below due to death from overheating and they are too big to fit in a carrier under the seat.  (Did you know that the Target dog “Bullseye” travels butt-in-seat on Delta first class?  I was on her flight from ATL to CLT and met her in baggage claim.)

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Tonei’s wish list (in no particular order):

• I want Alaska to start flying to Mexico City again.
• I want the Alaska-Delta partnership to stay alive (woops, too late Tonei, Alaska Airlines is breaking up with Delta on April 30, 2017).
• I want my credit score to recover from Q4 spending.
• I want no foreign transaction fees on my Freedom and Freedom Unlimited cards.
• I want the Starwood Preferred Guest program to stay alive and strong.
• I want Lyft to expand to Mexico.
• I want to be able to book Aeromexico flights with my Alaska miles.
• I want more airlines to ditch fuel surcharges on award tickets.
• I want the US to stop having foreign airports like HKG and LIM search bags and confiscate beverages before long haul US-bound flights.

Did we miss anything?  What’s on your wish list this year? Please leave a comment below.  Happy holidays everyone!