JT Genter Latest Posts

Editor-In-Chief
Distance Traveled in 2025
Visited in 2025

JT is AwardWallet’s Editor-In-Chief. JT originally joined the AwardWallet team in early 2020 as a freelance editor and writer, but he has been part of the points and miles ecosystem since 2014. Looking for a way to reduce the cost of a trip to China, he found he could sign up for just one credit card to get enough miles to fly round-trip for almost nothing out-of-pocket.

That experience prompted him to dive headfirst into the world of airline, hotel, and credit card points and miles. After working for a decade as a tax accountant, JT focused his analytical skills on writing about points, miles, and credit cards. He started contributing at The Points Guy in 2015 and published over 2,000 articles on the site before moving to AwardWallet in early 2020.

In June 2017, JT and his wife Katie sold or donated nearly all of their possessions to become digital nomads, proving firsthand how points, miles, and credit card rewards can drastically reduce the cost of travel. JT has logged over 2.1 million miles on 112 airlines, visited 83 countries, and maintains elite status with 6 airlines (including British Airways Silver, Turkish Elite, Asiana Diamond) and 5 hotel loyalty programs (including IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, and Marriott Titanium Elite)

Trailborn Joins the Marriott Bonvoy Program: What Travelers Need to Know About This Outdoorsy Brand

In December, Marriott announced a long-term agreement with outdoor-focused hotel brand Trailborn. Since then, Marriott has moved quickly to integrate the boutique hotel brand into its systems. As of today, Marriott Bonvoy members can now earn Bonvoy points on Trailborn stays and enjoy some elite perks. Here's what to know about this new addition to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

El Al Adds Online Bookings for Virgin Atlantic Awards, Launches Dynamic Award Pricing

Early this morning, El Al added the ability to book Virgin Atlantic awards through its website. That's a welcome addition for a partnership that previously required calling El Al to book. However, with this new addition, we are seeing dynamic award pricing for Virgin Atlantic awards -- instead of the published award chart rates. Here's the full breakdown of the El Al - Virgin Atlantic partnership.

Best Ways to Redeem Amex Membership Rewards Points for U.S. Domestic Flights (From 3k Points!)

American Express Membership Rewards are a notoriously powerful, transferable, loyalty currency. With generous category bonuses and periodic transfer bonuses, it isn’t hard to rack up Amex points. However, it can be difficult determining how to maximize Membership Rewards for simple U.S. domestic award flights. Thankfully by leveraging various airline alliances and partners, there are sweet spots for domestic travel.

I Applied for the U.K. ETA as a U.S. Citizen — Here’s How Long It Took and Which Card to Use

Starting this week, U.S. citizens must apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) or visa before traveling to the United Kingdom. Ahead of my travel to the Scottish isles later this month, my wife and I went through the process ourselves -- one on the website and one through the app. Here's our experience, including which method was faster and how the payments coded on our credit cards.

Offer Extended! Earn 10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® Bonus Miles with Bask Bank®

Bask has extended its offer to earn 10,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles when you open a new Bask Mileage Savings Account. On top of this excellent bonus for new customers, savers can earn 2 miles per dollar saved annually — which may be a far better value than earning interest through a traditional savings account. In this post, we'll show you how to use your miles and help you decide if you're better off earning cash interest or miles from your savings.

From Nightly Upgrade Awards to Annual Choice Benefits: 6 Changes to Marriott Bonvoy Terms

More than any other loyalty program we track, Marriott constantly changes its Bonvoy loyalty program terms and conditions. Some of these changes are minor tweaks. Other times, Marriott makes more substantial changes to its over 34,000-word terms and conditions. Today is one of those days. From changes to Nightly Upgrade Award upgrade windows to more time to select Annual Choice Benefits, here's what you need to know about these changes.

Points of Interest: Emirates Slashes Mileage Earnings, IHG Doubles Point Earnings, Marriott Inks New Partnership, And More

Airlines and hotels routinely make minor changes to their loyalty programs. Many of these modifications fly under the radar, as they're rarely shared with public and aren't objectively flashy. In our second installment of "Points of Interest," we'll introduce you to several changes that have occurred in the loyalty landscape within the past couple of months, including changes to Accor, Choice, Emirates, IHG, Marriott, and Wyndham.

40% Virgin Atlantic Transfer Bonus From Amex Membership Rewards

American Express just launched a new 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. You have until December 31, 2024 to get 40% bonus points when transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to Flying Club. This unlocks value on everything from short Delta domestic flights to flying business or first class to Japan! Here's a breakdown of when you might want to transfer Amex points to Flying Club during this bonus.

The Unwritten Restriction on American Airlines Companion Upgrades to Beware Of

American Airlines AAdvantage elite status members are eligible for first-class upgrades on domestic and certain short-haul international flights. And each status member can nominate one companion to upgrade with them. At least that's how it's supposed to work. Here's what to know about American Airlines companion upgrades -- and one unwritten restriction on these upgrades that I found from experience.