A reader pointed out to us that we had written a post about the best deals of the year for 2018 but hadn’t done so in 2019 and wondered whether we would bring the idea back this year. We one-upped writing a post by instead opting for a live (errr, now recorded) free-flowing discussion about the best deals we remembered form 2020. We ultimately narrowed the list down to two deals after deciding on semantics to separate deals from program features, eventually agreeing that which of the two best deals was better for you is situational. We had a lot of fun remembering some of the great deals we’ve seen this year (despite 2020 being such an awful year in many ways, there were so many notable deals that we almost completely forgot what was arguably the best deal of the year as you’ll see in the discussion). We also discuss the crazy thing Marriott did to me, whether you should pick up easy points via the Motley Fool, and more. Watch on Youtube or listen in podcast form below and read on for the rest of this week’s highlights at Frequent Miler.
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This week at Frequent Miler
Frequent Miler’s 2020 Recap | Video
If you are a fairly regular Frequent Miler reader (and especially if you’ve followed our Youtube channel), you have got to see the 2020 recap video that Carrie put together. It’s short, it’s fun, and it’ll probably make you giggle at least twice. See the post and video here.
In predicting the future (and reviewing the past)
Greg, Stephen, and I each reviewed and scored our 2020 predictions (and wow did it ever feel like a blast from the past revisiting those!). We then went on to boldly predict what will happen this year, ignoring our poor 2020 results and confidently asserting what will surely transpire in 2021. Here are our prediction pieces:
Welcome to 2021! Here’s what will happen next…
Nick’s picks: Predicting 2021 is as easy as . . .
Stephen’s 2021 Predictions – What’s (Hopefully) On The Cards?
And you can review our 2020 results here for fun:
Greg’s 2020 predictions: More right than wrong (sort of)
Stephen’s 2020 Predictions – Here’s How They Went
Nick predicts….almost nothing correctly in 2020
In credit cards
Chase buys cxLoyalty Group, will bring travel agency back in-house
This could be great news for cardholders if Chase intends to leverage their new travel agency business to bring meaningful travel enhancements for cardholders. The switchover to Expedia handling the back end was fairly unpopular, so it’s good to see Chase taking the bull by the horns and even more fun to imagine what they have up their sleeves with this.
Loyalty Alchemy: Convert Citi to Choice, 9K to 15K
This is what I meant the other day when I said that those who play for the love of the game will continue to find surprising opportunities. Greg unearthed something really interesting here even if you have no interest in Choice Privileges. Just watching the process to see how he got from A to B is most of the fun and is a good reminder to think outside the box and look where nobody else is.
Random Reads worth your time
My experience with a Google store mail-in repair of my Google Pixel 4a 5G
After my great experience with Amex purchase protection, I was in the market for getting my Google Pixel phone repaired. The most cost-effective option was shipping the phone to Google or an authorized repair service center. This post is my experience shipping it in to Google for repair, which turned out very positive.
The Deal of the Week
New Year, New Chase Spending Offers In Q1 (5x At Grocery Stores, Gas Stations, Drugstores & Other Offers)
Chase is back yet again with 5x offers on co-branded cards. As we discuss in the question of the week segment of this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air above, these 5x co-branded offers may be eclipsed by other options in your pocket, in which case you may give these a miss. On the other hand, if you do any manufactured spending and you’re looking to diversify spend a bit over a few credit cards, this could be a good deal for you. I’ve been happy to pick up a decent return in Marriott points on grocery spend as of late and I’ll be happy to continue to pad my balance at least a bit since I know I can’t go too hard on gift cards with that 10x Platinum card offer.
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Check out this week’s last chance deals to make sure that you don’t miss what’s ending soon.
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Greg has one too many rubber duckies in the background, maybe he can loan some to Nick?
Thank you for doing the top deals of 2020. It is a great way to look back at what we scored and what we missed. The Amex plat elevated offer is a great deal indeed.
[…] Miler on the Air podcast this week (you can find links to watch it in video form or podcast form in this post), we determined that for many / most people, the Amex Platinum 100K + 10x offer was the deal of the […]
only a Fool would get thier investment knowledge from the Motley Fool
That’s not what we debated. We debated whether it was worth subscribing for the points alone (in fact assuming that you don’t value / want the subscription at all).
It’s a GREAT deal for me — I work for an investment research firm and have educational stipend money to spend each year. My manager told me I could get reimbursed for a Motley Fool subscription, so it’s basically 7,500 free UR points.
To me, the deal of the year was CSR 10x UR points for Apple gift cards, up to $1500. I was able to load up, then shortly thereafter order my wife an iPhone 12 Pro when it was released. At a valuation of 1.5 CPP, it was a $225 discount on the newest iPhone.
BTW, it was a long podcast, so I don’t know if you brought it up in there. My apologies if you did.