Resource: Award Travel Acronyms & Abbreviations

Resource: Award Travel Acronyms & Abbreviations

There are a ton of award travel acronyms and abbreviations in this hobby. This can seem confusing or overwhelming sometimes. Bookmark this article for later, so you can reference these abbreviations for later.

Award Travel Acronyms & Abbreviations

Here’s what all of these award travel acronyms & abbreviations mean, in alphabetical order.

A

A+ or AP – Barclaycard Arrival Plus

AA – American Airlines

AAoA – Average Age of Accounts

AF – Annual fee

AGC – Amex gift card

Amex – American Express

AO – Amex Offer

AOR – App-O-Rama, applying for several credit cards at once

APR – Annual Percentage Rate

APY – Annual Percentage Yield

AS – Alaska Airlines

ATW – Around The Web

AU – Authorized user

AW – AwardWallet

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B

B6 – JetBlue Airways

BA – British Airways or Boarding Area

BB – Best Buy or Bluebird

BB+ or BBP – Amex Blue Business Plus

BBB – Better Business Bureau

BCE – Amex Blue Cash Everyday

BCP – Amex Blue Cash Preferred

BGR – Amex Business Gold Rewards

BOA or BofA – Bank of America

BRG – Amex Business Rewards Gold or Best Rate Guarantee

BRM – Branch Relationship Manager (a position at Chase Bank)

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C

CB – Cash back or credit bureau

CBM – Cashback Monitor

CC – Credit Card

CF – Chase Freedom

CFPB – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

CFU – Chase Freedom Unlimited

CIC – Chase Ink Cash Business Credit Card

CIP – Chase Ink Preferred Business Credit Card

CIU – Chase Ink Unlimited Business Credit Card

CK – Credit Karma

CL – Credit limit or credit line

CLI – Credit limit increase

CP – Companion Pass from Southwest Airlines

CPM – Cost per mile

CPC – Chase Private Client

CPP – Cents Per Point, the monetary value of reward redemptions

CR – Credit report

CRA – Credit reporting agency

CS – Chase Sapphire

CSP – Chase Sapphire Preferred

CSR – Customer Service Representative or Chase Sapphire Reserve

CU – Credit Union

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D

DC – Debit Card or Citi Double Cash

DD – Direct deposit

DL – Delta Air Lines or Driver’s license

DM – Direct message, a private message sent on social media

DOB – Date of birth

DOC – Doctor of Credit

Double Dip – combining two benefits or promotions in a single transaction

DP – Data point

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E

Earn & Burn – slang for earning and redeeming reward points

ECON – Economy class

ED – Amex Everyday

EDP – Amex Everyday Preferred

EK – Emirates Airlines

EIN – Employer Identification Number, a business’ registration number for tax purposes

EQ – Equifax

EY – Etihad Airlines

EX – Experian

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F

F – First class

F9 – Frontier Airline

FA – Fraud alert or flight attendant

FACTA – Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

FB – Facebook or Flying Blue (mileage program of Air France & KLM)

FCRA – Fair Credit Reporting Act

FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FF or FFP – Frequent Flyer Program

FHR – Fine Hotels and Resorts (Amex)

FR – Financial Review

FT – FlyerTalk forums

FTF – Foreign transaction fee

FWIW – For what it’s worth

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G

GC – Gift card

GE – Global Entry

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H

HH – Hilton Honors

HP – Hard pull, an inquiry on your credit report

HT or H/T – Hat Tip (thanking and/or reporting a source)

HUCA – Hang up, call again (an approach to customer service not helping you)

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I

IHG – Intercontinental Hotel Group

IME – In my experience

Ink – Chase Ink business credit cards (also see CIC, CIU, CIP)

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J

J – Business class

JB – JetBlue Airways (also ‘B6’)

JAL – Japan Airlines

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K

KE – Korean Air

KL – KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines

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L

LCC – Low-cost carrier

LHRC – Luxury Hotel Resort Collection (from Chase)

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M

MC – Mastercard

Metal – Describing the airline company you’re flying on, not who you booked with

MGC – Merchant gift card

MCGC – Mastercard gift card

MO – Money order

MR – Membership Rewards, Amex points program

MS – Manufactured spend or minimum spend (how much you must spend to earn the bonus / welcome offer)

MSR – Minimum spending requirement

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N

NFCC – National Foundation for Credit Counseling

NFCU – Navy Federal Credit Union

NK – Spirit Airlines

NLL – No lifetime language, an American Express application not subject to its normal ‘once in a lifetime’ rule

NWTH – Not worth the hit (what you will get isn’t worth the hard inquiry on your credit report)

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O

OD – Office Depot

OM – OfficeMax

OMAAT – One Mile At A Time

OOP – Out of pocket expense

OOS – Out of stock (supplies are gone)

OP – Original poster (first person to post on a topic)

Open Jaw – A ticket where you fly to city A and fly home from city B

OTA – Online travel agency (sites like Orbitz, Kayak, Expedia, etc.)

O/W – One-way ticket

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P

P1 and P2 – Player 1 and Player 2, referring to the main person in this hobby in your family and the subsequent partners

PC – Product change, changing a card to a different type

PII – Personally identifiable information, such as your address, credit card number, birth date, etc.

PO – Post Office

POS – Point of sale

PP – Priority Pass or PayPal

PPK – PayPal Key

PYB – Chase ‘Pay Yourself Back’ program

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R

RAT – American Express Rewards Abuse Team

RC – Ritz-Carlton or recon call

Recon – the reconsideration line for credit card companies

Rep – Representative

RR – Rapid Rewards, Southwest points program

RT or R/T – Roundtrip flight

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S

SM – Secure message

SP – Soft pull, an inquiry on your credit that does not affect your score (as opposed to HP)

SSN – Social Security number

SUB – Sign-up bonus

SW – Southwest Airlines (also ‘WN’)

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T

T&Cs – Terms & Conditions

TCB – TopCashback online shopping portal

TIA – Thanks in advance

TPG – The Points Guy

TR – Travel Rewards or trip report

TSA – Transportation Security Administration

TU – TransUnion

TYP – ThankYou Points, Citi points program

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U

UA – United Airlines

USB – U.S. Bank

ULCC – Ultra low-cost carrier

USPS – United States Postal Service

UR – Ultimate Rewards, Chase points program

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V

VGC – Visa gift card

VS – Virgin Atlantic

VX – Virgin America

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W

WF – Wells Fargo

WM – Walmart

WMBP – Walmart Bill Pay

WN – Southwest Airlines

WOH – World of Hyatt

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X

x/24 – Asking someone their Chase 5/24 status

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Y

Y – Economy class

YMMV – Your mileage may vary

YQ – A type of charge added onto the ticket by the company you book with

YR – A type of charge added onto the ticket by the company you book with