Maximize your rewards: Your points and miles checklist for 2025

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It's time to start the new year off right, and that may mean finally redeeming your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value.

Or perhaps you'll earn American Airlines AAdvantage status from your living room couch using American Airlines Loyalty Points.

From opting for the best Marriott Choice Benefit to selecting the right airline for your American Express airline fee statement credit, here's an overview of some points and miles tasks to consider as you settle into 2025.

Choose your Marriott Choice Benefits

If you accrued 50 or more elite nights with Marriott Bonvoy in 2024, you'll want to select your Marriott Choice Benefits by the Feb. 1 deadline. This is notably more flexible than before, as Marriott used to require a selection by Jan. 7.

Once you reach 50 elite nights in a calendar year, you can choose one of the following:

• Five elite night credits (toward your 2025 elite nights)
• Five Nightly Upgrade Awards
• A $1,000 discount on your favorite Marriott hotel mattress
• A $100 charity donation
• A gift of Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status for a family member, friend or colleague

You'll get an additional selection once you accrue 75 elite nights in a calendar year. Aside from the options you receive once you reach 50 elite nights, you'll also get to choose if you'd like to gift Gold Elite (rather than Silver Elite) status or add the option of a free night certificate worth up to 40,000 points.

If you don't choose by Feb. 1, 2025, Marriott will automatically choose Nightly Upgrade Awards for you.

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Related: The complete guide to earning Marriott elite status with credit cards

Change your airline for the Amex fee credit

Those with an American Express card that issues an annual airline fee statement credit have until Jan. 31 each year to change the airline they've selected for the credit. If you do nothing, your selection will remain the same as the previous year.

Some of the American Express cards that offer annual airline fee credits after enrollment include:

• The Platinum Card® from American Express (up to $200 per calendar year)
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (up to $200 per calendar year)

Amex says you can use the airline fee statement credits for "incidental fees such as checked baggage, inflight refreshments, and flight change fees" that you pay to your chosen airline using an enrolled card.

Note that Amex sometimes allows one-time changes to your airline selection after Jan. 31, especially if you can provide a valid reason — like an airline no longer serving your home airport or a move away from a carrier's hub. You can request this via the chat feature on Amex's website or mobile app, though there's no guarantee it'll be honored.

Remember that this no longer applies to the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, which offers a more flexible $200 annual airline statement credit (split into $50 quarterly increments; enrollment required). Rather than being limited to incidental fees, it's valid on eligible flight purchases made directly with an airline or through AmexTravel.com.

Earn the coveted Southwest Companion Pass

Whether you want to fly to Aruba, Jamaica, Hawaii or Nebraska, generally speaking, the earlier in the year you earn the Southwest Companion Pass, the better.

Southwest awards a Companion Pass after you earn either 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points or take 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.

Once you surpass the threshold to earn a Companion Pass, your designated companion can fly for free with you on Southwest (other than the cost of taxes) for the rest of the calendar year in which it's earned and the following calendar year. That means you can earn the pass now and have it through Dec. 31, 2026.

If you're striving to earn the Companion Pass, signing up for a new Southwest credit card can help. Holders of a Southwest cobranded credit card receive 10,000 qualifying points annually, effectively reducing the total requirement to 125,000 qualifying points annually. In addition, any points you earn from a welcome bonus on a Southwest card also count toward Companion Pass qualification.

Related: How to use the Southwest Companion Pass

Select your Delta Choice Benefits

Like Marriott, Delta Air Lines awards its higher-tier elite status members with Choice Benefits. You get one selection when you qualify for Platinum Medallion status and three selections when you qualify for Diamond Medallion status.

Benefits include Delta upgrade certificates, bonus SkyMiles, Sky Club passes, Delta travel vouchers and the ability to gift Medallion status to somebody else.

Selection opens as soon as you earn either Platinum or Diamond Medallion status and must be selected by the time your status expires (Jan. 31).

This means that Jan. 31, 2025, is the deadline for selecting your Delta Choice Benefits from the status you earned in the 2023 calendar year (if you haven't already done so). Conversely, if you qualified for Platinum or Diamond Medallion based on your Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) in 2024, that status is valid through Jan. 31, 2026 — which is also your deadline for selecting that year's Choice Benefit(s).

If you don't make a selection before the deadline, the option(s) will disappear entirely, never to return.

Related: Delta Medallion status: What it is and how to earn it

Use your travel and other credits

Some credit card travel credits reset with the calendar year, and some operate by cardmember year (i.e., when you were first approved for the card). Regardless, this is a good time of year to see when your available travel credits reset and put them to good use.

Related: The top 11 credit cards with annual travel statement credits

In addition to the Amex airline fee statement credits already mentioned above, here's a look at some of the other travel-related credits you might have access to:

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: $300 annual credit for purchases made through Capital One Travel (resets when your card renews)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees): Up to $300 for travel purchases each account anniversary year (though it is based on a calendar year if you got the card before May 21, 2017)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees): Enjoy a $50 annual hotel credit for stays booked through Chase Travel
• Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card: Up to a $100 statement credit for qualifying airline incidental fee transactions annually
• Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite credit card: Up to $300 in annual statement credit for airline incidental fees
• Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees): A $100 credit once per calendar year for single-stay hotel bookings of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) made through the Citi Travel portal.
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Up to a $50 statement credit each calendar quarter (January through March, April through June, July through September and October through December) on flight purchases made through amextravel.com or with the airline directly; up to $200 in statement credits semiannually (up to $400 annually) on eligible purchases made at participating Hilton resorts with your Hilton Amex Aspire Card
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Up to $600 annual statement credit (up to $300 biannual) when you book a prepaid rate through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts with American Express Travel (this benefit can also be used on stays of two nights or more at properties in The Hotel Collection).

The information for the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

In addition, the Hilton Aspire, Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum offer up to a $209 statement credit toward an annual Clear Plus membership for expedited airport security (enrollment required; subject to auto-renewal).

You might also have travel credits with airlines. If so, now is a good time to make a plan for using these credits.

A few popular rewards cards have other nontravel-related credits that reset or renew on Jan. 1, such as:

• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Up to $50 Saks Fifth Avenue statement credit is issued twice yearly — once from January to June and then a second up to $50 statement credit valid from July to December. Enrollment required. There is a $895 annual fee (see rates and fees).
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Up to $150 each calendar year for U.S. Dell purchases and an additional $1,000 statement credit after spending $5,000 on U.S. Dell purchases with the same card each calendar year, up to $360 in annual statement credits with Indeed (issued as $90 per quarter), a $250 statement credit after spending $600 or more on U.S. purchases with Adobe each calendar year (subject to auto-renewal) and up to $120 in annual wireless provider statement credits (for U.S. purchases). Enrollment is required in advance for some benefits. There is a $895 annual fee (see rates and fees).

Related: Which travel credits are the easiest to redeem?

Use up your elite status perks — or request a status match

With many airlines and hotels, you must requalify for status by the end of each calendar year. But if you don't requalify, you often keep your status until the end of January or February.

In short, if you didn't requalify, you may still have a month or two of "free" status. As such, the beginning of the year is an ideal opportunity to use up elite status perks from the previous year, such as airline or suite upgrades. This is also an ideal time to consider a potential status match to another program since most require proof of existing status with a competitor.

If you're about to lose complimentary seat selection because of your expiring status, it's a good idea to book and assign any seats you can while you can.

Sometimes, you can even use upgrade certificates for friends, depending on the program's rules, so they don't always have to go to waste just because you aren't traveling in the next few weeks.

Related: When does airline elite status expire?

Label your cards to maximize your benefits

What are your award travel goals for the year? If you want to sip a mango smoothie in a Balinese rainforest or frolic down the Champs-Elysees, you may want to add a hotel credit card that offers an annual free night to your wallet.

Do you need more Atmos Rewards points to snag a great deal on a partner award? If so, time to crank your Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® Credit Card into regular rotation.

Maybe you're looking to spend your way to status for the first time — which means cards like the World of Hyatt Credit Card (see rates and fees), the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) or the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card could be great options for your everyday spending.

Brush up on your current bonus categories and goals for the year. You may want to reallocate your spending among the cards you currently hold. Or maybe you'll realize it's a good time to pick up a new travel rewards card and spend a certain amount to receive a generous welcome bonus.

Whatever travel goals and credit cards you select, it's helpful to label those cards with the benefit you're chasing and the card's bonus categories so you don't miss out on optimizing your spending. You'll then quickly know which is the best card to use when you open your wallet.

Related: Quick Points: Maximize Priority Pass benefits by labeling your cards

Bottom line

There's a lot to do at the beginning of the year to set the rest of the year off right — especially when it comes to points, miles and credit card rewards.

However, a little extra work now likely means you'll maximize your rewards in 2025.

For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum, click here.

Updated 8/20/2025