Travel & Lifestyle

Maximize your rewards in 2025: Complete points and miles tasks now

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It’s time to start the new year, which might mean finally redeeming your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value.

Or, you can use American Airlines loyalty points to earn American Airlines AAdvantage status from your living room couch.

From choosing the best Marriott Collection benefits to choosing the right airline for your American Express Airline Fee Points, here’s an overview of some of the points and miles tasks you need to consider as you head into 2025.

Choose your Marriott Collection benefits

Suite at the JW Marriott Resort Mauritius. Kyle Olson/Point Guard

If you accumulate 50 or more elite nights through Marriott Bonvoy in 2024, you have until the February 1st deadline to select your Marriott Collection benefits. This is significantly more flexible than before, as Marriott used to require selections to be made by January 7th.

Once you reach 50 Elite nights in a calendar year, you can choose one of the following:

  • Five Elite Stay Points (to be used towards your 2025 Elite Stay)
  • Five nightly upgrade rewards
  • Get $1,000 off your favorite Marriott mattress
  • $100 charitable donation
  • Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite Membership Gift for Family, Friends or Colleagues

After accruing 75 Elite Nights in a calendar year, you will receive additional options. In addition to the options you’ll receive after reaching 50 elite nights, you can choose whether you want to gift Elite Gold status (instead of Elite Silver) or add the option of a free night certificate worth up to 40,000 points.

If you do not select one by February 1, 2025, Marriott will automatically select your nightly upgrade award.

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RELATED: Your Complete Guide to Using Your Credit Card to Get Marriott Elite Status

Change your airline to get an American Express card fee credit

Kyle Olson/Scoring Expert

Users with American Express cards that offer an annual airline fee credit must change their credit airline of choice by January 31 of each year. If you do nothing, your choices will be the same as the previous year.

Some American Express cards that offer annual airline fee credits upon registration include:

American Express says you can use airline fee credits to pay for “incidental charges such as checked bags, in-flight refreshments and flight change fees” that you pay with your registered card to the airline of your choice.

Note that American Express sometimes allows one-time changes to your airline of choice after January 31, especially if you can provide a valid reason, such as the airline no longer serving your airport or moving out of the carrier’s hub. You may make a request through the chat function on the American Express website or mobile application, but there is no guarantee that it will be honored.

Keep in mind that this no longer applies to the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, which now offers a more flexible $200 annual airline credit (divided into $50 quarterly increments; registration required). It’s not limited to incidentals and applies to eligible flights purchased directly with the airline or through AmexTravel.com.

Hilton Aspire Amex Card information is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Get the coveted Southwest Companion Pass

Kyle Olson/Point Guard

Whether you want to fly to Aruba, Jamaica, Hawaii, or Nebraska, generally speaking, the earlier in the year you get your Southwest Companion Pass, the better.

Southwest will award you a Companion Pass when you earn 135,000 Companion Pass qualification points or take 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.

Once you pass the threshold to earn a companion pass, your designated companion can fly with you on Southwest for free (excluding taxes and fees) for the remainder of the calendar year in which the pass was earned and the following calendar year. This means you can get your pass now and it will be valid until December 31, 2026.

If you’re trying to get a Companion Pass, it might be helpful to sign up for a new Southwest credit card. Holders of the Southwest Airlines co-branded credit card can earn 10,000 qualifying points per year, effectively reducing the total annual requirement to 125,000 qualifying points. Additionally, any points you earn through the Southwest Card’s welcome bonus also count toward Companion Pass eligibility.

Related: How to use the Southwest Companion Pass

Choose your Delta Select benefits

Kyle Olson/Point Guard

Like Marriott, Delta offers select benefits to its premium elite members. When you qualify for Platinum Medallion status, you get one choice; when you qualify for Diamond Medallion status, you get three choices.

Benefits include Delta upgrade certificates, SkyMiles awards, Sky Club passes, Delta travel coupons and the ability to gift Medallion status to others.

You can begin making selections once you achieve Platinum or Diamond Medallion status and must make selections when your status expires (January 31st).

This means January 31, 2025 is the deadline to select Delta Select benefits based on the status you earned in calendar year 2023, if you have not already done so. Conversely, if you achieve Platinum or Diamond Medallion status based on your Medallion Qualification Bonus (MQD) in 2024, that status will be valid until January 31, 2026, which is the year you select the offer. expiration date.

If you don’t make your selection before the deadline, the option disappears completely and never returns.

RELATED: Delta Medallion Status: What It Is and How to Earn It

Use your travel and other points

Zach Grieve/Point Guard

Some credit card travel points reset based on the calendar year, while others reset based on the card membership year (i.e. when you were first allowed to use the card). Regardless, this is a good time of year to see when your available travel points reset and make the most of them.

Related: Top 11 Credit Cards for Annual Travel Bill Points

In addition to the American Express airline fee credit already mentioned above, here are some other travel-related credits you may be able to qualify for:

In addition, Hilton Aspire, Amex Platinum and American Express Business Platinum Card® Each service provides up to $199 in bill credit towards expedited airport security with an annual Clear Plus membership (auto-renewable).

Premium Rewards Elite, Citi Prestige and Hilton Aspire card information is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

You may also have travel points from the airline. If so, now is a good time to make a plan to use those points.

Some popular rewards cards also have other non-travel-related points that reset or renew on January 1, such as:

  • American Express Platinum Card®: Saks Fifth Avenue statement credits of up to $50 are issued twice a year – once from January to June and a second statement credit of up to $50 from July to December. Registration required.
  • American Express Business Platinum Card®: Through June 30, 2025, you can enjoy up to $400 in annual statement credits per calendar year ($200 twice per year) on U.S. Dell Technologies purchases, up to $360 in Indeed annual statement credits ($90 per quarter), and up to $150 per year. USD Statement Credit on select Adobe purchases made through June 30, 2025, plus up to $120 in annual wireless provider statement credit. Some benefits require advance registration.

Related: Which travel points are easiest to redeem?

Use up your elite status benefits – or request a status match

Kyle Olson/Point Guard

For many airlines and restaurants, you have until the end of each calendar year to requalify. But if you don’t requalify, your status will usually remain until the end of January or February.

In short, if you don’t requalify, you may still have a month or two of “free” status. Therefore, the beginning of the year is an ideal opportunity to use elite status benefits from the previous year, such as airline or suite upgrades. This is also an ideal time to consider potential status alignment with another program, as most projects require proof of existing status from competitors.

If you’re about to lose your free seat selection because your status has expired, it’s best to reserve and assign any seats you can.

Sometimes, you can even use upgrade certificates for friends based on the program’s rules so they don’t always have to waste them just because you’re not traveling in the next few weeks.

Related: When does airline elite status expire?

Label your cards to maximize your benefits

Kyle Olson/Point Guard

What are your incentive travel goals for this year? If you want to sip mango smoothies in the Bali rainforest or frolic on the Champs Elysées, you might want to add a hotel credit card that adds an annual free night to your wallet.

Do you need more Alaska Airlines miles to get great deals on partner rewards? If so, it’s time to launch your Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card Enter regular rotation.

Maybe for the first time, you want to earn status through spending—that means something like the World of Hyatt Credit Card, Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card Could be a great choice for your daily expenses.

Review your current bonus categories and your goals for this year. You may want to reallocate your spending among the cards you currently hold. Or you might realize that now is a great time to get a new travel rewards card and spend a certain amount to get a nice welcome bonus.

No matter what travel goals and credit cards you choose, it can be helpful to mark the benefits you want on those cards as well as the card’s rewards categories so you don’t miss out on opportunities to optimize your spending. When you open your wallet, you’ll quickly know which card is best to use.

Related: Quick Takes: Maximizing the Benefits of Priority Pass by Labeling Your Cards

bottom line

There’s a lot to do at the beginning of the year to get ready for the rest of the year—especially when it comes to points, miles, and credit card rewards.

However, doing a little extra work now could mean you get the biggest bang for your buck in 2025.

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