I would like to give an update on what is happening in my own miles/points world. Maybe you will learn something, maybe not. I could have a gazillion links built in to help this SEO thing but they take too much time. TBB Buzz post will appear as scheduled on Monday (more like Sunday night).
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As you know, I am presently focusing my credit card action away from miles and points and more towards cash back and and proprietary bank points. Here is my current mode: My Blue Cash Amexcard earning 5% in drugstores/gas stations/supermarkets is my go to card. After that I am focusing on the Arrival card that can give me 2.2% (or 2.2696969 points=average of all the estimates from other bloggers who used to push their affiliate links) back on travel purchases. Along with that I am always looking to take care of the 5% categories in the Chase Freedom and Discover IT cards. I also use my Ink Plus cards for the 5% categories (cable, phone and office supply stores) along with some non bonus spending I have in automatic mode (electric, water, etc). I shop frequently at Panera, Whole Foods and Starbucks so I always go to Staples and buy gift cards for these stores to get me 5 points per dollar (and using Plink to get an additional discount which I cash in for Amazon gift cards). For my business, I use the Fairmont Visa exclusively to keep things simple as I need at least $12k spend on it to generate the free night each year. I cash in the points for Fairmont gift cards to spend on the properties for food, activities,etc and I am sitting on around $250 of them right now. I never got around to enroll my Visa or Mastercard cards in those Visa and Mastercard savings programs for an additional 1% or so reward, shame on me. I will get to that one day.
Doing the Vanilla Reload to Bluebird thingie comes easy to me. Thankfully, I am blessed with trusting relatives which accommodate my addiction. One of them is being treated for a night in the Hilton at the Paris CDG airport by me. Be kind. I also use my Vanilla Debit card to pay my estimated income tax payments and some other ways but I have slowed down a bit. I am too busy to go to Walmart these days, maybe after April 15 again.
I have also had most of the credit cards and have slowed down a bit on that front too. My wife has really slowed down as I have been holding off until I finally get my butt in gear to get my own affiliate links so she can apply through them so we can triple the TBB blog revenue in a month instead of relying on about less than a dollar per day through my Amazon affiliate link (thank you for all who are using it!). One day I will get to that (been saying it for a long time!). Last round we gave our apps to deserving blogs in the world famous “Blogs I Love” and “Blogs I Like” list. I encourage you do the same and reward bloggers who are doing it the right way!
Like clockwork, the US Air 10k anniversary miles showed up before the annual fee hit. And another 2.5k miles from a promo I had forgotten about! I closed the account only after reassigning the credit line to the Arrival card which now has a whopping $36k credit limit, woohoo! Mrs. TBB’s US Air card is coming up next…
This is what happens when you are not on top of your game. When I get a new credit card I very often get a pretty high credit limit, enough to not get into any real trouble reaching it in a month. So, for some reason I thought the Blue Cash limit was $17.5k. Idiot me! I go to my favorite convenience drug store and buy 7 lbs of vanilla ice cream (for newbies, Vanilla Reload cards: just google it and avoid the blogs in my Ignore list, they are always on the top of the search results dang it!). Transaction denied. Well, that was embarrassing. So, I called Amex from my little corner at the store and after holding for a while I find out it was only $7.5k! Oh the horror, what a major duh moment! So, I kindly asked to have some credit shifted from another card. Starwood card please? Negative as it is open less than a year, seriously? Ok, how about the Hilton Amex card that I have open since 2001? Yes, it can be done. Ok, shift all of it and just leave $1k on it (take that Hilton Honors, I just devalued you, how does it feel huh?). In the meantime, I talked to three different people at Amex as they hung up on me once. Amex used to be so excellent in customer service, no wonder Chase is eating their lunch! So, after 40 minutes in the store I get my Vanilla product and try again. Denied again, WTF! And then it hit me! The original “purchase” did register with the store’s 24 hour policy $5k limit. So, defeated and two cashiers pissed off at me, I smiled awkwardly as I exited the building walking and looking at my feet. For the record, I returned 25 hours later and got it all done because I am stubborn 🙂
Me and Mrs. TBB have a CitiBusiness card earning AA miles. At 10 months out I called about retention bonuses and was given two $75 statement credits. I proceeded to buy groceries and paid off the balances as I ALWAYS do. At eleven months out I called again and closed the accounts. “I am moving overseas and I need to simplify my finances” works very well to stop cheerful reps looking to retain me.
I have a Citi Amex card earning AA miles. At ten months out I called and was retained with a $95 statement credit and an extra 1k AA miles each month I charge $1k on the card ( I thought about it for a fraction of a second and said yes). I have been using this card for my $1k Amazon Payments allotment for the past three months. I am wavering whether to keep on doing it or just close the darn card to start the 18 month Citi cycle once again. Shifting that $1k to my AmexBlueCash card for 5% cold hard cash, you know, makes a whole lot difference.
Sometimes I wonder about Hyatt. I requested a Diamond Elite trial. I received the response accepting my IHG Rewards statement and going on to tell me about the trial and if I agree with it. I replied yes. I have heard nothing for the past week and my account still shows Platinum. I need to pick up the phone and call them.
On January 20, in my daily Award Wallet update, I almost had a heart attack when I saw my Hilton Honors balance go down by 225,000 points! I called them pronto and was told that there were redemptions for merchandise. Please NEVER redeem miles/points for merchandise. I told the rep that this is ludicrous and I have not had anything to do with it. A fraud investigation was launched after changing my PIN number. I called on February 20 to inquire about this because, you now, I hate seeing my balance so much lower and I was informed that the investigation is still pending. They could not tell me anything else. I have not been contacted by writing or phone call about this since January 20. Rep said they will inform me when the investigation is done. In my many years in this game this is a first!
The AMEX Platinum card $450 annual fee just hit my account yesterday. I have given my three top clients one of them and they love it. I have prepared the ground that I am thinking about canceling due to the loss of the US Airways and AA lounge access. I have not even told them how even Delta devalued its own lounge access! So questions for you: If I cancel, how long can the card work for access? I am assuming the Priority cards will no longer work…right? And what happens with Starwood Gold, does it stand for the rest of the elite year? Or does Amex notify Starwood to down grade us? I need to do some thinking about this. I am shocked Amex has not taken more steps to prop up the benefits! #developing I am also thinking of flying to Dallas to spend a day working/eating/drinking/massaging/showering at the Centurion Club 🙂
My Business Club Carlson Visa $60 annual fee hit my account. I think I am keeping it. I will make time to call to see if I can be “retained”. I put a few non bonus items on the card every month or so to keep Gold and because, you know, I like 5 points per dollar. But the reason I am doing it of course is because of the free award night which amazingly is still alive! I understand the anniversary points take a few months to show up in the Club Carlson account. I can live with that.
I have not been charged $12 monthly fee in my Bank Direct checking account I have my emergency fund cash in for several months. I did not call to ask them about it.
I have not had time to “garden” my reservations for the trip to Maui in April. I was concerned my Island Air interisland flights (from OGG to HNL) would not work as the connection onwards to the West Coast was just 57 minutes. Well, a schedule change happened on this flight (the third one so far!) which added another 41 minutes so I think we should be good. The flight back to the mainland was fixed as AA partner Alaska Airlines finally allowed award space to all four of us on a flight to San Jose (instead of Oakland). We can live with that. I will need a one way car rental from San Jose to Oakland which I still need to book.
I am excited about my October trip to Hong Kong. I have not looked at hotels at all! I have heard both the Intercontinental and Park Hyatt are great. I am getting into Hong Kong at 8.30 pm by the way. So, I am looking for some suggestions for 5 nights there. I am looking for the best bang for my money hotel points. I do have a free IHG Rewards night to use from Mrs. TBB’s Visa. I have not had the Hilton Reserve card (I know, I know, I am shocked too!) yet so I could get it for two free nights. But here is the thing. I am looking for the best value. I am not too concerned about where I stay when I travel alone. As long as the hotel is decent, it has a nice bed and a decent gym and good location for the sites and to/from airport I am good! If it was a family trip I sure want to maximize the hotel experience to contribute to lasting memories. Even though we don’t spend much time in them anyway! Oh, wifi is most important of course. Later on I will ask for things to do, it’s too early for that. Eating will be a major part of my time there!
This hobby could take over your life. You need to find the balance that works for you. You don’t have to jump in every little thing that pops up. Remember, the point is to see the world and save some money doing it. And please always tip the maid in your hotels a few bucks, put a smile on their face and be grateful with what you have.
We had a minor health scare in our household. Updated results are all clear. Phew! You never know how much longer we have on this planet. Cherish the people you are with and don’t be an asshole. If bloggers keep insulting you by beating you upside the head with moronic posts while pretending to be experts and/or repeated attempts so shove affiliate credit card links down your throat, well, I totally understand if you are having asshole like thoughts as it is a perfectly normal reaction 🙂
Best way to get rid of a cold? Go to a bootcamp session by personal trainer that makes you wish you were not born #feeltheburn
I have 3,190,011 miles/points. The number does not include the 225,000 Hilton Honors points I should get back, hopefully soon. This is ridiculous, don’t be like me. Burn, burn, burn!!!
I just want you to know that blog posts pimping away your credibility while adding absolutely nothing constructive to humanity make me want to go zzzzzzzzz:
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs I Ignore
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George
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
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first? second?
First, you da man!
And they say Gary Leff is verbose …
Lol, good one! I was carrying all that stuff in the vault so I just dumped it all at once. I prefer the Buzz posts adding my inflammatory comments to the links 🙂
Buzz is that the animals tail or is he having one hell of a sex dream?
I don’t know but I did have the same thought. It’s a meerkat
OK, I’ll settle for third.
And here I thought you had a gazillion points. I am glad to hear it is “only” 3+ mil. Especially glad to learn all is well with Mrs. TBB. We have two good friends/colleagues who are suddenly fighting serious illnesses. They were tooling along, doing just fine, thank you, and then they are on heavy-duty chemo. We all must count our blessings.
Which is why I am taking yesterday’s mini-flood and the resulting demise of our dishwasher as a good thing – it will help me make the $10,000 minimum spend on my new AA card. And given the sad CVS-lessness of my beloved home city, that’s a good thing, right? My husband was a little baffled (that’s OK, he is often baffled given he is so points ‘n miles challenged) when I mused, “Too bad it isn’t April; I think home improvement is a 5% cashback category then!” Depending on where we find the best dishwasher for us, I just might have to hot-foot over it to OfficeMax to load up on home improvement gift cards….
Meanwhile we really should be getting our taxes ready for our accountant. My husband is finding every excuse in the book to not work on them and I’ve heard rumblings of postponing it until the summer. It is true he is very busy, having taken over some of the work of one of the sick folks I mentioned above, and fighting the good fight against the evil provost at his university. There is even the possibility of a strike looming. So perhaps he is right.
We saw our financial planner on Friday. He knows about my hobby/addiction and always asks about my latest score. As a joke I put a copy of our AwardWallet balances in the stack of account statements I handed him, which got quite a rise out of both him and my husband…. Looks like we may be doing a no-cost refi on our mortgage. It will be interesting to see how that goes, given it was not on the horizon and I have the credit pulls to prove it.
OK, 2PM here and that is the hour at which we are supposed to finally work on the taxes. Ciao.
Well, I was third when I started the comment! Seventh.
You can go from 3rd to 7th in the speed of light around here 🙂
I used to have 7 million at some point. I used to slap myself when I let that number go over 5 million. As I am older I should have more time to travel but now with the blog I even have less. I need me to get a grip on this problem 🙂
Sorry about your mini-flood and dishwasher. It is always a comforting thought to have a card that needs minimum spending, it somehow feels a little better, doesn’t it?
Oh yeah, taxes and procrastination. I am actually driving to a client to pick up one packet. It appears most do not even start to think about it until March gets here!
CPAs accountant (along with engineer and laywer) types can be really good at this hobby/addiction. Something about their detail orientation 😉
I’ve shifted almost exclusively to Cash rewards on the MS side of life. But it hit me that work related international travel gets in the way. I am leaving a dozen Benjamins on the table this week. Normally I would be excited getting upgraded to business class on AAs spanking new 77W. And smoke pot and hang out with hookers in Amsterdam. But all I can think about is CVS, WM and depositing MOs. Was hoping I could max out Roth contribution by tax day.
Your comment made me laugh, especially ” But all I can think about is CVS, WM and depositing MOs” hahhahaahahahhaaha…bravo. I understand you!
Regarding the flight attendant discussion you mentioned a few days ago. I want to add something to Ramsey’s list; saving lives. A passenger had a cardiac arrest on my domestic flight. Fortunately they (FAs + nurse) acted fast and the plane had defibrillators. The passenger was alive when we landed at JFK. In this context, who gives a fcuk about the service in 1st class???
Thank you ABC i can tell you countless stories about my co-workers handling everything from crashes, hijackings, medical emergency s ranging from fainting and epileptic seizures (the most common) to heart attacks and dying of old age. Even a crew that saved a very new infant administering breathes with a straw when cpr breathes was not an option. I was lucky, the most severe pax medical issue I has was a 17 year old male with a burst appendix 1:30 hours out of Dublin. All students on board that day w/o medical personal to help. This kid screamed as loud a s you can imagine in pain laying on the 707 back galley floor all that time. We were lucky one of the f/a’s was a former Medic in the Army….Also google TWA f/a Uli Derickson, they made 2 movies about her. She saved the lives of many on that hijacked flight. But she doesn’t scrub toilets in F/C.
I knew about her but I had forgotten the name. May she rest in peace!
Yeah, good points. I have never had this happen to me other than minor stuff. In the grand scheme of things, bitching about trivial non important stuff like that is such non sense. What gets me really hot is complaining about the predeparture drink being late or not being served in a napkin. YOU WILL LIVE, GET OVER IT! At the end of the day, First Class seats should go to the ones who pay big bucks for them and sometimes to road warriors whose companies pay the big bucks buying them. We just have gotten so lucky over the years playing the game. Slowly but surely the airlines are learning to stick them to us. Go for the cold hard cash, we need to be one step ahead 🙂 Viva le hacking (french accent). Merci!
Buzz maybe this story of a pax dying on a flt will make you chuckle as I know you are a fan of the movie Vacation. A f/a I was working with told me she had wanted to call in sick today because she was still upset that a pax died on her last trip (LAX-PHX). “We came by with the drink cart and she wasn’t moving, the pax next seat said she thought this woman was asleep the whole time”. A doc onboard said she is dead. I said wow where did you put the body. She said the flight was completely full and they did not want to block an emergency exit with the body for landing. They moved her to a seat in the last row (727) and put a blanket over her, next to other pax…….Every time I see the movie Vacation, and dead Aunt Edna is sitting on Clarke Griswald’s station wagon roof with a blanket over her in the pouring rain, I think of this poor soul.
I can not imagine having to sit next to a dead person, omg. I will be scarred for life!
Hi George, I was fortunate enough to burn some free nights certs and an 5 night award at the Conrad Hong Kong before the devaluation last year — it was a wonderful stay, upgraded to the club floor, and personally escorted up to the lounge for check in. Great room, great lounge, wonderful staff. If you can swing some free nights or an award stay I’d highly recommend it.
BTW, I used your Amazon link to get some replacement heads for my toothbrush. It isn’t much but I appreciate what you do and I figure it’s better than nothin’! I see even G Leff is now hiding affiliate links in Amazon product posts w/o disclosure now 🙁
Great to know about Conrad. It may be too good for me traveling alone. But I sure have a bunch of Hilton Honors points I did not get to unload before the mega devaluation/massacre so who knows? Did you get the special treatment because you were Diamond (or Gold)? How is the location of it?
And thanks for the kind words and using the Amazon link. Helps to keep the “business” floating 🙂
As far as lack of disclosures go, it is all about them conversions—->more money. I still feel dirty even throwing that Amazon link in there. So, I just do it and do not let the $$$ affect what I do here. We ‘ll see how long I can manage, I am known to be stubborn! Thanks again.
Location was good… Near transit, and it’s a free stop for the Airport Express train’s shuttle bus. I was upgraded as a gold.
@ Hua: Thanks again. Conrad does sound good. I am scared to look at how many points it takes these days 🙂 Will definitely consider it now. I may split my time to two hotels. 2 and 3 nights in each.
@HUA man has to sell them credit cards or it will get taken away.
@Gorge since you are using cash back cards I would also look at local hotels, you can get good deals on them. Also try the Loyalty Traveler method of getting BRG and LNF and earning any bonuses that are happening that quarter.
I have so many hotel points that I feel awful spending my cold hard cash on hotels 🙂
I am not that patient and persistent for BRG claims but I will look into it down the road. I have plenty of time to book this baby.
Things I do differently:
1. Put 1k of vanilla each on AA Amex/Visa.
2. It’s possible to take Amtrak from San Jose to the OAK Bart stop, then a BART bus to OAK. May or may not be less stressful/pricey. Dunno how to get from SJC to SJ train station.
3. Also not signing up for new cards over uncertainty over whether or not we’ll move soon. Still.
4. Word on FT is that lounge access dies instantly with closed Plat card. May pick up the MStanley version in summer (don’t remind me; I know) and give 2nd card to a friend in SF for Cent lounge access there. Only if Cent lounge is post security. We’re only interested in the bonus.
5. Do you see Amazon transactions? If so, we were the ones who bought the bottles drying rack yesterday. Friends in WI just were lucky enough to adopt a young baby girl, and we’re thrilled.
I am still using an AA amex card for an Amazon account to get me 2 AA miles per dollar.
I am landing in SJC at 10.05 pm. I think it will be too late to try to get to OAK to do the car rental pickup (and dropoff the next night). Should be okay for just one day rental. I may actually have some leftover Hertz points I could use.
You used to be able to use the Platamex card for a while for lounge access after you closed it. That sucks 🙂
Thanks for using my Amazon link, greatly appreciated.
I burned 15k BA Avios miles to fly on AA to Dallas and spend a day in the Centurion Club, coming back same night. Just before I need to pay the Platamex card annual fee. Going out with a Bang lol.
Hong Kong has great mass transit. I think it would be hard for any hotel to not be near a station!
Dishwasher shopping has commenced. Salesman in the first store where they make commission assures us knowingly that LG and Samsung are poorly made. Salesman at Home Depot who does not make commission assures us that LG and Samsung are now making fabulous dishwashers and he bought an LG for himself which Kathy – the little wife – loves. I will turn to online reviews for the real story and to find some prices that both can try to match.
During our inquiry, we are lectured about 1) how soap has changed in the last 8 years since we have bought a dishwasher; 2) how we should absolutely not rinse anymore (store 1); and 3) how rinsing is almost an instinct and people will do it regardless (Home Depot). I guess the little wife is a rinser. If anyone loves his or her dishwasher, feel free to chime in with make and model. We are looking at an Asko, an LG and a Whirlpool that range in price from $799-$999.
I ask about using multiple GCs at Home Depot and he assures me it is fine. “A guy came in once with a stack of GCs four inches high! Bought ’em online!” “Imagine that,” I reply as my husband rolls his eyes.
Taxes have begun as well but they are not nearly as exciting.
A good week to all!
My advice don’t trust anyone at Home Depot on the weekends. Start with consumer reports, I just go the following as it was the best of the options I had for our house: http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/major-appliances-1/dishwashers-2/dishwashers-3/-%5BKDTE304DSS%5D-406921/KDTE304DSS/. Bosch and Kenmore are two names I trust the most outside of Whirlpool family. Also remember all the stores will match each other prices.
Great advice, thanks.
“A guy came in once with a stack of GCs four inches high! Bought ‘em online!” “Imagine that,” I reply as my husband rolls his eyes.”
That made me laugh a lot!
No clue about dishwashers. I don’t even know how to work the darn thing. Me and the kitchen just don’t get along!
I think you should split up your HK stay between both sides of the harbor: HK Island and the Kowloon side. HK has the GH Hyatt and Conrad, and the Kowloon side has both ICs, Sheraton, Hyatt Regency TST, and some higher end places too.
Conrad and HR TST are convenient b/c you can reach the MTR stations without going outside (connected by a shopping mall.) If you have plenty of SPG pts, you can use them for a Towers upgrade at the Sheraton and get comp’d room service breakfast.
I think the Crowne Plaza Causeway Bay is a midrange gem…I actually got free breakfast on an award stay as an IHG Plat in 2012. The MTR station was close, and plenty of food within 3-4 blocks of the hotel.
I think you’re right re: splitting the stay. I would have loved to have stayed on the Kowloon side for half the trip.
Wow, thanks a lot.It never occurred to me to split the stay. Sounds like a good plan, too bad the Conrad and GH Hyatt are on the same side. I really transportation convenience so Conrad and HR TST are on the top of my list now. Thanks again!