It’s easy to get swept up in the magic — and craziness — of the holiday season. Between decorating, collecting gifts and preparing for the new year, there is a lot to plan and keep track of at the end of December. And it’s just those of us who don’t go on vacation and have to contend with things like crowded airports and long security lines.
At TPG, the end of the year is often the time when many of us take stock of the cards we have in our wallets and double-check what perks and benefits we haven’t used yet. This helps us make plans for next year’s cards and plan for future trips.
This got some of us thinking: What if making a wish list wasn’t just for kids this year? And so our 2024 holiday wish list was born.
Related: Our credit card predictions for 2025
Card-specific preferences
Because many of us travel frequently, we are not familiar with cobranded hotel credit cards. Some of our favorites include the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card and the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card information has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card information on this page has not been updated or provided by the card issuer.
Most of these cards are part of a range of products aimed at those who can stay at Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt properties – even if it’s just one or two nights a year.
Each card offers different ways to earn bonus points for stays at their hotel chains, among other benefits like free night award certificates and room upgrades. While these benefits are great, we think there is room for improvement. Other things we would like to see in 2025 include:
- World of Hyatt premium card enters the market
- Bonus categories on Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (except for current bookings with Capital One Travel)
- Capital One’s highly flexible $300 travel credit
- The premium Bilt Mastercard® (even if that means paying an annual fee) that offers solid benefits and salary levels
- Lounge access (preferably Delta Sky Club lounge access) – outside the caves – of Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card members
- The ability to consistently earn higher rewards rates (instead of rotating quarterly) on a Chase or American Express card for home improvement purchases. or home improvement retailers (such as paint, lumber, appliances, garden supplies, and light fixtures from places like Lowe’s or Home Depot, for example)
- Redemption of restaurant credit on Priority Pass credit card membership
- Any credit card issuer comes up with a premium rewards card for people who don’t live in the city (for example, Gopuff, Uber and Lyft credits are useless for those who live in a remote or rural area)
- Extended Lyft benefits on the Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Ability to join Chase lounge waitlists online (rather than at the door)
- True annual/anniversary loyalty bonuses on American Express cards
- Many categories of bonuses are open Platinum Card® from American Express
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Related: Our 2024 credit card predictions and trends – what we got right and wrong
Loyalty program with points and miles wishes
When it comes to airline and hotel loyalty rewards programs, TPG employees would like to see things like:
- Hyatt is doing away with the Club Access Awards for Globalists and replacing it with something more practical
- Additional benefits that come in handy at Hyatt’s Explorist level
- Wells Fargo Rewards and/or Citi ThankYou Rewards adds Air Canada Aeroplan as a transfer partner
- Free breakfast for IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite members
- Guaranteed late check-out by at least 2pm for Hilton Diamond, Wyndham Diamond and IHG Diamond Elite members
- IHG allows you to apply for suite upgrade certificates online instead of needing to call 14 days before your stay
- Hyatt offers an actual award calendar that shows availability instead of just listing prices
- Hyatt is removing the expiration of free night awards
- Delta is bringing back rollovers with Medallion Qualification Dollars
- Fifth or sixth night free on Hyatt award stays (even if it’s for cardholders or special members)
Related: How to travel safely with Christmas gifts
Additionally, some employees said they would like the ability to convert Citi ThankYou Rewards points to AAdvantage miles, while others would not because doing so could reduce the value of AAdvantage miles. We would also like to see Capital One add one of the four major US airlines as a transfer partner by 2025.
Bottom line
Credit card, loyalty program and points and miles are always changing. At TPG, we’re always speculating about what’s going on with our loyalty programs and the benefits featured on our wallet cards – especially at the end of each year.
As we all prepare for the busy holiday season, we thought we’d take the initiative to create our own holiday wish list to see what might stick around next year. Here’s to hoping a few of our wishes come true.
Related: 11 things the TPG team is excited about in 2025
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