Now that the calendar has flipped to 2026, and as I approach my 1-year anniversary on BoardingArea, I wanted to look back and revisit my most popular posts of 2025. I really appreciate everyone who visited the site in 2025 and look forward to publishing more content in 2026!
#1 Just Say “No” to DCC
Just say “No” to DCC! – Travel Points Playbook – How to avoid wasting money when getting cash or making purchases in other countries.
TL,DR: Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) is a service that lets you pay for things in your home currency while you’re traveling abroad. However, it’s essential to be aware of the exchange rates being used, as it almost guaranteed not to be the most cost-effective way to make your purchases. Always decline the option to pay in dollars and instead just pay for that purchase in the local currency. Your bank account will thank you!
#2 Southwest Basic Fares Are Live: Price Analysis
Southwest Basic Fares Are Live: Price Analysis – Travel Points Playbook – As Southwest implemented their new Basic fares, along with several other changes on May 28th, how were prices impacted?
TL;DR: Southwest started selling their new Basic fare class today, with no changes possible, 6-month expiration of flight credits if you need to cancel, and no free checked bags and the results are disappointing. With fares essentially flat to pre-May 28th, the bag fees represent a true price increase.
#3 More Details Emerge on the Changes Coming at Southwest
More Details Emerge on the Changes Coming at Southwest – Travel Points Playbook – a March update to the then-coming-soon changes at Southwest Airlines.
TL;DR: We received an update on the changes coming to Southwest Airlines, confirming that additional travelers on the same reservations will get the baggage allowance of an elite member or cardholder, and that the changes will go into effect for new bookings on May 28th, but not much else at this time.
#4 No Regrets – Use this Trick Before Transferring Chase Points to Hyatt
No Regrets: Use this trick before transferring Chase points to Hyatt – Travel Points Playbook – a simple, but helpful tip to make sure you don’t lose award space when transferring from Chase to Hyatt.
TL;DR: Transferring Chase points to Hyatt for hotel award stays can be a great use of points, but transfers are one-way only. To be safe in the case where you are transferring a lot of Chase points or are worried about losing the award space, simply call Hyatt to confirm the space is real, have the agent hold it, transfer the points in real-time while you are on the phone and complete the booking.
#5 Use This Trick to Transfer Non-transferrable Southwest Flight Credits
Use this trick to transfer non-transferrable Southwest flight credits – Travel Points Playbook – this one is a legit hack that has saved me from stranding flight credits many times and is also more useful now that flight credits expire in 6-12 months based on fare class.
TL;DR – For flights booked until May 28th this year, Southwest flight credits no longer expire but flights booked as Wanna Get Away fares and then cancelled creates a credit that is not transferrable. A trick to convert those credits into transferrable credits is to use the credit(s) to book a Wanna Get Away Plus or higher fare in a similar amount and then cancel that booking if your plans change. The resulting new credit will be transferrable to a friend of family member.
#6 Earn 340k, up to 360k Atmos Rewards Points with These Current Offers
Earn 340k, up to 360k Atmos Rewards Points with These Current Offers – Travel Points Playbook – highlighting all the ways to maximize the sign-up bonus on the new Atmos cards when they launched, something that many of the “big” sites held back to get more referrals to the lower offers.
TL;DR: With the launch of the new Atmos Rewards program, now is a great time to boost your balance of these valuable points. There are 4 new public offers for a total of 340k points, but if you use the right approach, up to 360k in total is possible.
#7 Expensive Hotel Stay in Florida – Hyatt Points to the Rescue!
Expensive Hotel Stay in Florida – Hyatt Points to the Rescue! – Travel Points Playbook – not a sexy redemption but simple story of getting outstanding value (4.6 cents per point) from transferrable points.
TL;DR: Booking with hotel points can be a great option in cases where cash rates are inflated due to seasonal demand or special events in the area. In this case we would have had to pay over $400 a night for a limited-service hotel but instead booked the same room for 9,500 World of Hyatt points.
#8 Business Class to Europe with Four People: Tools I Used to Find and Book the Award Flights
Business Class to Europe with Four People: Tools I Used to Find and Book the Award Flights – Travel Points Playbook – step by step guide on how I found and booked a total of 8 business class seats to Europe and back.
TL;DR: Flying long-haul international business class is a great way to travel, but it can be challenging to find award space for an entire family. Using some helpful tools, and leveraging transferrable points and a current transfer bonus, we found a great option to get to Italy for spring break next year.
#9 One Card, One Trip: New Orleans
One Card, One Trip: New Orleans – Travel Points Playbook – one of many in a series that shows it’s possible to build an entire trip from the sign-up bonus of just one credit card.
TL;DR – We can build a nice long weekend getaway from Denver to New Orleans using the points from just one credit card sign-up bonus. With the transfer partners of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the flights (Southwest) and hotel (Hyatt) for two people are completely covered.
#10 So, About That Increased Flying Blue Award Availability
So, About That Increased Flying Blue Award Availability… – Travel Points Playbook – a real data deep-dive that unfortunately showed essentially none of the improved availability promised by the Flying Blue program after their last devaluation.
TL;DR: After a no-notice devaluation last week, Flying Blue has said more award space would be available. If true, that would lessen the sting of the devaluation but based on this deep dive analysis of over 3000 data points, that is far from the truth at this time.
