Points and Miles Required Reading, Vol. VI
In the dog days of summer, I figured it’d be nice to cover a few small-but-somewhat-interesting matters since the last time I wrote an article in this series back in the winter. Today’s primarily involve observations and experiences rather than any negative developments. Naturally, I find all my content useful, and I hope a section of points and travel hobbyists do, as well. Let’s jump right in for this latest installment of points and miles required reading.
The Latest Points and Miles Required Reading
An American Airlines Elite Benefit I Never Use
I’ve been an American Airlines Executive Platinum elite member ever since the first Loyalty Points qualification year. I’m currently closing in on Executive Platinum again, albeit slightly slower. Most importantly, I continue to receive the best perk of Executive Platinum status, complimentary upgrades, on a frequent basis.
But American certainly hasn’t upgraded me on all of my economy award bookings. And in those instances, I’ve never obtained the complimentary food and drink benefit. More specifically, AA touts that Executive Platinum members receive one complimentary snack and alcoholic beverage when traveling in the main cabin on flights of 1.5k miles or more.
Now, I’m not talking about the Main Cabin Extra benefit offering free booze – that’s worked out as expected for years. But I’ve never been offered the above snack option for Exec Plats when sitting in any part of the main cabin, nor have I received an alcoholic beverage when sitting in economy beyond MCE. In fairness, I’ve also never asked a flight attendant about the benefit. Frankly, I’m not interested enough, anyway. Rather, at this point, I’m more intrigued to see through this unintentional social experiment. Will they ever offer this to me? I doubt it, but I enjoy the suspense as the cart approaches my aisle seat.
Meanwhile, I’m having more luck with another airline’s elite benefit, still with a bit of inconsistency.
Flying Blue Platinum Cancellation Policy
I enjoy a variety of benefits as a Flying Blue Platinum member. One I’m leveraging more often these days is the waiving of cancellation fees. Flying Blue does muddy the waters here a bit, even telling me as a logged-in Platinum member that the cancellation fee may not be waived. Based on my experiences, though, this is just a website artifact with inaccurate terms. In each instance, I’ve received my award miles and previously paid taxes/fees without any penalty fee.
The good news is that I’ve received the miles back in my Flying Blue account instantly after initiating my online cancellation. The timing related to the cash is a bit unpredictable, though. Sometimes, I’ll receive the refund to the credit card within a couple days. In other cases, it’s been well over a week. When I called the Platinum line to discuss this, the kind rep said it generally takes 5-10 business days for the refund and “sometimes longer.” Luckily, I’ve never dealt with this last category.
The cancellation emails I receive are also inconsistent. Sometimes I’ll get one, other times I’ll get two or three. One other Platinum member I know has had to call in to resolve refunds not showing up; it’s never come quite to that for me.
Finally, I’d like to confirm that I’ve also received tax/fee refunds at no cost on partner awards booked with Air France currency. It’s something I figured would work but didn’t assume. Indeed, the best data points are your own!
A Net-Positive with the Splashiest Choice Titanium Benefit
I reached Choice Privileges Titanium elite status several months ago. My Choice activity has been pretty quiet since, and I clearly needed to brush up on some nuances I had forgotten. This next wrinkle has been in the Choice Privileges terms and conditions since the recent revamp of the program, but I think it needs more of a highlight. Arguably the best benefit of achieving the top Choice Privileges elite status is the Titanium Travel Award. This is a 50% coupon for an award stay of up to seven nights at a selection (larger than I initially expected) of Choice Privileges properties.
I recently noticed the Titanium Travel Award I received earlier in 2026 expires at the end of the year, and this is a stay-by rather than book-by date. That’s a fairly quick expiration during the year of qualification.  Read these terms:
If a Member achieves Titanium status mid-year, they will receive a Titanium Travel Award upon the awarding of their Titanium status, which will expire at the end of that calendar year if not used. For the following years, on January 1st, Titanium Members will receive a new Titanium Travel Award. A Titanium Member may not hold more than one Titanium Travel Award at any given time.
There’s a positive in those terms. But first things first – I wanted to double-check my Titanium expiration. Choice Privileges doesn’t helpfully spell that out online – not clearly enough for me, at least. So I called the Choice Privileges Service Center, and a rep confirmed that my Titanium status is good through 31 Dec 2027 if I do not requalify next year.
This means I’m able to book up to 14 nights at half the award price on one Titanium qualification, staying seven nights this year and another seven in 2027. With a bit of attention, Titanium members can do bigger things.
Conclusion
That’s enough minutiae for now. The key for me is paying enough attention on the last two while I generally give up on the first. I know I can’t do everything, nor do I want to. I’ll keep ignoring certain points and travel hobby noise so that I can focus my precious time on the angles that matter most in my situation. And, of course, everyone has different criteria there. But our diversity makes our shared fascination a more exciting one.
So then, what interesting observations have you recently made which I and other readers can benefit from?
