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From the Cockpit7 min read

Citi ThankYou Devaluation: The $300 Warning We Almost Missed

Citi ThankYou cuts Choice Privileges transfers 25% and Preferred Hotels 50% on April 19. Here's the math, what to do now, and why we almost missed it.

MileIntel

April 9, 2026

From the Cockpit

5 articles

Developer workspace with code editor and laptop

01From the Cockpit

Why I'm Building MileIntel (And Why I Can't Stop)

My wife is a surgical resident. I run a startup. We have almost no overlapping free time. This game, the miles game, is how we make the little time we have together count.

Aditya Badve

7 minMar 9

Airplane cockpit view at sunset with clouds below

02From the Cockpit

We Built an AI Travel Concierge. Here's What Happened.

I was standing in the United Club at O'Hare, 90 minutes before a flight to Tokyo, staring at two browser tabs. One showed my Chase UR balance, the other showed United award pricing. I needed a simple answer and couldn't get it.

Aditya Badve

4 minMar 6

Data dashboard with analytics charts on dark screen

03From the Cockpit

How We Track 47 Airline Programs Without Losing Our Minds

Last Tuesday, Delta quietly raised the floor price on SkyMiles business class awards to Europe by 15%. We caught it in 4 hours. The Points Guy wrote about it 3 days later.

Aditya Badve

3 minMar 3

Close-up of premium credit cards on a dark surface

04From the Cockpit

Your Wallet Is Lying to You (And We Built a Fix)

Last week, Chase launched a 25% transfer bonus to Hyatt that expired in 48 hours. Most people missed it. That's the problem we're obsessing over right now.

Aditya Badve

5 minFeb 28

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