Free checked bags via credit cards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep353 | 4-10-26
Frequent Miler on the Air
Frequent Miler
4.9 • 640 Ratings
🗓️ 10 April 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this podcast episode, we'll talk about how Rakuten doubles select credit card signup bonuses, JetBlue polishes its previously lackluster Premier card, and how to avoid paying those increasing checked bag fees.
Giant Mailbag
(00:58) - Rick asks about EU regulation 261
Read our post, "$700 richer: My easy UK261 claim experience with United Airlines" here
Card News
(04:09) - JetBlue Premier Mastercard ($499)
Read more about the JetBlue Premiere Mastercard here
Awards, Points, and More
(07:04) - Rakuten offering bonuses on select Bank of America cards
Learn more about the Rakuten bonus here
Or learn about the Rakuten referral here
(11:33) - Rove adds Virgin Atlantic (and changes url to rove.com)
Main Event: Free checked bags via credit cards
(13:15) - Learn more about free checked bags via credit card here
(14:35) - General info about free checked bags
(16:34) - Strategy for infrequent flyers of a particular airline. Example: you don't usually fly Delta, but you have one flight coming up...
(22:15) - Which airlines require paying with a specific card to get free checked bags?
(24:20) - How many travel companions get free checked bags?
(27:08) - Do you get free checked bags on international trips?
(29:42) - Cheapest card for free checked bags by airline
(31:48) - Other ways to get free checked bags
(40:21) - Carry-on instead
Question of the Week
(44:55) - Turbotax has a higher fee for paying with a credit card. Is there a better way to pay with a credit card when filing with Turbotax?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a Voyescape podcast. You can find all of our travel podcasts from around the world at |
| 0:07.1 | voyescape.com. On today's show, Racketon doubles select credit card sign-up bonuses. JetBlue |
| 0:17.1 | polishes its previously lackluster, Premier card, and we discuss how to avoid paying |
| 0:23.9 | those increasing check bag fees. Frequent Milo on the air starts now. |
| 0:31.7 | Today's main event, free check bags via credit cards. Check bag fees are going up, up, up. We don't like it, but you don't have to |
| 0:41.8 | pay those check bag fees. We're going to show you on today's show how to avoid them. |
| 0:46.7 | That's right. My favorite price is free 99. So let's figure out how we can get those bags for free today. |
| 0:53.9 | And remember, if you want to jump ahead |
| 0:55.6 | to that or you want to come back and listen to a segment later on, you can always find the |
| 1:00.1 | timestamps in the show notes. Wherever you're watching or listening, don't forget to like this. |
| 1:04.1 | Give us a thumbs up. Leave us a review with some stars. We love to hear from you. Thank you very much |
| 1:08.4 | for that. Let's drag out this week's Giant Mailbag. |
| 1:11.8 | Today's Giant Mail comes from Rick. |
| 1:14.1 | Rick says about a month ago, Nick shared his experience getting compensation from EU Regulation 261. |
| 1:21.3 | I had a similar experience with Iceland Air. |
| 1:23.7 | We were flying to Prague from Raleigh, North Carolina on Iceland Air, and our plane departed an hour late. |
| 1:30.3 | We missed our connecting flight to Prague and ended up needing to stay overnight in Iceland. |
| 1:35.3 | Icelandair took care of lodging and food, but another traveler mentioned the compensation possibility. |
| 1:40.9 | So I submitted through Iceland Air's site when we returned. It was easy. They have a dedicated |
| 1:46.2 | page and I was able to enter my confirmation number, select the person for whom I was submitting, |
| 1:50.7 | and the flight that had the issue. I did this twice, once for my wife and me. Within a couple |
| 1:57.0 | weeks, I got confirmation. We qualified for 600 euros, just over $700 each. Not bad for a |
... |
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