Updated at 7am PT on 12/28/23: 1 correction made to the UA “Miles & Money” prediction. I am now up to 4 / 31 :)
Good morning everyone, I hope you are having a great holiday season so far! Now that we are approaching the end of 2023, it’s time to review my 2023 predictions and see how (badly) I did. Correct predictions are in green and incorrect predictions are in red.
My 2023 Airline Predictions (1 / 4)
- American Airlines or Alaska Airlines will be added as a transfer partner from a transferable points currency. – No, AA and AS were not added as a transfer partner in 2023, but AA is still a transfer partner of Bilt.
- British Airways will change their award chart to calculate the number of Avios needed on a combined distance flown, not on a segment by segment basis. – No, BA has not changed their award chart to calculate combined distance flown.
- Delta Airlines or United Airlines will introduce a “Miles and Cash” payment option for award tickets (pay 10,000 miles or pay 8,000 miles + $40). – Yes, UA does have a “Miles & Money” payment method that offers between 0.75 CPP – 1.0 CPP (Frequent Miler article).
- Southwest Airlines will work very hard to make up for their December 2022 travel nightmare by offering a transfer bonus from Chase and spending offers on their credit cards in January 2023. – No, SWA did not introduce any transfer bonuses in 2023.
My 2023 Hotel Predictions (2 / 7)
- Best Western or Sonesta will be added as a transfer partner from a transferable points currency. – No, Best Western and Sonesta are not transfer partners from transferrable points currency.
- Choice will convert Radisson Hotels Americas points on a 2:1 basis (ex: 100K Radisson Hotels Americas points = 50K Choice Privileges Points). – Yes, Choice converted Radisson Hotels Americas points on a 2:1 basis (read Radisson Hotels Americas Officially Joins Choice Hotels Family: My Plan for My Points)
- Hilton Free Night Certificates will be capped at 100,000 points, but you can top them off to book higher priced properties. – No, Hilton Free Night Certificates are not capped at 100K points.
- Hyatt will increase annual free night certificates to category 5 and allow them to be topped off. – No and no, come on Hyatt! Hyatt Free Night Certificates cannot be topped off with points.
- IHG will eliminate Ambassador Elite Status and Kimpton Inner Circle Elite Status and combine everything into IHG One Rewards. – No and no, IHG did not eliminate Ambassador Elite Status and Kimpton Inner Circle Elite Status.
- Marriott or IHG will allow free points transfers / pooling to combine points. – Yes, IHG recently allowed IHG Diamond Elite Members and IHG Business Rewards members to transfer points (Frequent Miler article).
- Wyndham will allow you to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals online, instead of calling. – No, you still need to call Wyndham to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals.
My 2023 Credit Card Predictions (1 / 10)
- American Express will create a “Pay Yourself Back” feature to get more than 1 CPP. – No, AMEX did not introduce a “Pay Yourself Back” feature where you can get 1.0 CPP or more.
- Bank of America will introduce a premium Alaska Airlines credit card with new perks and features. – No, Bank of America did not introduce a premium Alaska Airlines credit card.
- Barclays will revive the Barclays Arrival Credit Card family and add Wyndham Rewards as a transfer partner. – No and no, Barclays did not revive the Barclays Arrival credit card and did not add Wyndham Rewards as a transfer partner.
- Capital One will increase the annual fee on the Capital One Venture X Credit Card to $450 and charge for additional guests to visit their Capital One lounges. – No and no, Capital One did not increase the annual fee on the Venture X or charge for additional guests.
- Chase will expand “Pay Yourself Back” to multiple cobranded credit cards. – Yes, the “Pay Yourself Back” feature is now available on Southwest Airlines, Aeroplan, and United credit cards (Award Wallet article).
- Citi will increase the annual fee on the Citi Premier Credit Card, but bring back travel protections and introduce new perks. – No and no, Citi did not increase the annual fee on the Citi Premier Credit Card or bring back travel protections.
- Discover It Miles Credit Card will rebrand and offer 2x everywhere and 3x at particular merchants. – No, the Discover It Miles Credit Card did not rebrand or change bonus categories.
- US Bank will allow product changing to the US Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Credit Card. – No, US Bank has not allowed product changes to the Shopper Cash Rewards Credit Card.
- Wells Fargo will introduce a new credit card that has a transferrable points currency. – No, Wells Fargo did not introduce a new transferrable points credit card in 2023 (but it should arrive in early 2024 (Doctor of Credit article).
- FinTech companies like Brex, Nearside, and Point Debit Card closed / removed unprofitable customers. We will see similar actions by Betterment, Axos Bank, RelayFi, or Oxygen in 2023. – No x 4. Betterment, Axos Bank, RelayFi, and Oxygen did not close down or remove unprofitable customers.
There you have it folks, I was 4 for 31 this year, so there is a lot of room to improve next year. If you have any questions or comments about any of the predictions, please leave a comment below. I will consult with my crystal ball and work on my 2024 predictions soon. Have a great day everyone!
P.S. Click here to read last year’s prediction results: Let’s Review my 2022 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions.