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Ryan Smith Latest Posts

Former Senior Editor
Distance Traveled in 2025
Visited in 2025

Ryan is a writer and editor who first wrote for AwardWallet team in 2021 but has been around points and miles for several years. He has written at Forbes Advisor, CNBC Select, Miles to Memories, The Points Guy, and USA Today Blueprint.

After someone at his hostel in China said “I flew here for free using points,” Ryan was hooked. In December 2023, he finished his goal of visiting every country and now plans to return to those that merit another visit.

His wife joins him on many of his trips, and they enjoy snowboarding, diving, and seeing animals in the wild. When not traveling, Ryan is probably answering questions from his family about how he travels so much and whether all of this is illegal.

Which Credit Card Offers the Best Baggage Delay Coverage?

Which Credit Card Offers the Best Baggage Delay Coverage?
Ryan SmithJess Farley
by Ryan Smith and Jess Farley
May 27, 2025
15

If you’ve ever been the last person standing at an empty luggage carousel waiting for your bags, you’ll understand the frustration of your checked bags getting delayed or disappearing. It can mean hours spent filing reports and on the phone chasing up the location of your bag, not to mention the out-of-pocket expense of purchasing essentials like phone chargers, a change of clothes, and toiletries. We've covered the essential policies to check out and the best cards to use for your trips to get built-in coverage.

Flying Blue Standardizes Award Rates Between US-Europe. Book Business Class for 50,000 Miles!

Flying Blue Standardizes Award Rates Between US-Europe. Book Business Class for 50,000 Miles!
Ryan SmithJT Genter
by Ryan Smith and JT Genter
October 25, 2023
0

Flying Blue — the mileage program for Air France/KLM — has always been a quirky program. Flying Blue previously priced awards by route. Now, Flying Blue seems to have ditched that complicated award pricing scheme. Instead, Flying Blue is now pricing all routes at the same minimum award rate. Now, you can book business class awards between almost any U.S. and Europe airport for as few as 50,000 miles each way!

Huge Delta Changes: More Difficult To Earn Medallion Status, Lounge Access Cuts

Huge Delta Changes: More Difficult To Earn Medallion Status, Lounge Access Cuts
Ryan Smith
by Ryan Smith
September 14, 2023
5

Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Delta Air Lines was going to massively overhaul its Medallion (Delta's elite status) program, with an expected announcement on September 14. The airline accidentally leaked the changes a day early. And the rumors were true: Delta is making sweeping changes to its Medallion program, lounge access, upgrade priority, Million Miler perks, and more. Here's what you need to know.