Award Travel Wishes For 2024
Last week Brian shared his travel wishes for 2024 so I figured I would join in on the fun and share my 5 award travel wishes for 2024 too. Side note, I hope Brian sat on Santa's lap, and did the whole thing, because I am on board with his wishes. Especially Hyatt online points transferring and booking Hilton free night certificates online. Those have been pet peeves of mine for years! Let's dive into my list.
Hyatt Enters The 2010's
First on my award travel wish list for 2024 is for Hyatt to enter the 2010's. While I think the consistency at their hotels is best in the business, as is their ToP tier elite status, they fall behind the competition in terms of technology. They made some improvements to that with their recent updates but there is still a ways to go.
Brian hit one such thing on the head, when he talked about moving point combining online versus the antiquated email form system they have now. I would also like to see them allow us to ToP off free night certificates with points, just like Marriott and IHG offers. I assume the holdup is on the technical side of things.
They should hopefully be moving suite upgrade awards booking online as well, which would be a nice improvement too. That, plus rolling out the varied booking options to all hotels for multi-night stays would be the tech improvement trifecta for me. That is when you can use a free night certificate for one night, points for another and cash for yet another. This is available at some hotels, but should really be available at all.
Bank Of America Enters The 1990's
Next up, I would love to see Bank of America spend even a little bit of money on their online portal. It is one of the worst in the business, and that is including local credit unions. Nothing is more painful than trying to make payments to your Bank of America business cards though. I found a semi workaround for it, but that only works if you have a checking account with them. Hopefully they will one day improve the system, and get rid of those confusing stupid corporate accounts. Make 2024 be the year Bank of America!
Wells Fargo Joins The Fight
My third wish is for Wells Fargo to join the transferrable currency arms race in a big way. They have been talking about adding some at the end of this year and have refreshed some of their credit card lineup. I would love to have another option to earn some meaningful currency with. That is if I could ever get approved for a card from them though! A problem for another day, let's get some competitive transfer partners rolling first.
Citi Adds American Airlines As A Partner (Or At Least A Limited Time Option Again)
I feel like I say this every year, but Citi adding American Airlines as a transfer partner would be excellent. ThankYou points have made a lot of improvements over the years, but they still lag behind Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards for most people. Adding American Airlines as a partner would change that for a lot of people. If not a permanent thing, at least offer it once a year like they did a few years back. I mean, if Bilt Rewards can figure out a way to get it done … speaking of Bilt Rewards.
Bilt Mastercard Adds Gas or Grocery
I have been sitting on the sidelines for the Bilt Mastercard so far, even if they have the best lineup of transfer partners out there. That is becoming harder and harder to do with their semi-regular Rent Day transfer bonuses. The main reason I have stayed on the sidelines is because I don't have a rent payment and it would take too long for me to rack up meaningful points. That may change if they add a 2x earning for gas or grocery, which would go up to 4x on Rent Day. That is a move that would get me off the sidelines and into the game!
Award Travel Wishes For 2024: ToP Thoughts
That does it for my stocking stuffer award travel wishes for 2024. I would love to see even one or two of these things become reality next year. Heck, I wouldn't mind if it was one or two of Brian's choices either! Let me know what your wish list is for the upcoming year in the ToP Facebook Group.
I hope you all are having an amazing holiday season!
