IHG Priceless Surprises on track for more than 40K points despite hiccup
In November I wrote about an opportunity to earn tens of thousands of IHG points by filling out and mailing in 3X5 cards to enter the "IHG Priceless Surprises" contest: More than 40,000 IHG...
Analysis of Marriott Travel Packages: 5 Night vs. 7 Night
Last week I wrote “Marriott 5 Night Travel Packages exist, but they’re secret.” 5 night Marriott Travel Packages aren’t advertised. They’re meant only for Marriott Vacation Club owners. But, in some cases, Marriott Rewards...
Choice Privileges point expiration policy improves. Here’s why I’m excited.
Choice Privileges is the loyalty program for Choice Hotels which includes mostly low-end brands such as Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Econo Lodge, etc. I can’t remember the last time I’ve stayed at a Choice...
Marriott 5 Night Travel Packages exist, but they’re secret.
UPDATE: Since this post was originally written, it has become increasingly difficult for those who are not Marriott Vacation Club owners to book 5 night packages. People still report success every now and then,...
Fidelity FlexPerks? Is the Fidelity Visa Signature 2% card better than we thought?
A couple of weeks ago, I announced that Fidelity’s new no-annual-fee 2% cash back Visa Signature card is now available. Cards offering 2% cash back with no fee are rare enough, but could the...
Crystal Visa Infinite: The best card you can’t get
I signed up for the Crystal Visa Infinite card late last year because of its 100,000 point signup bonus and waived first year fee (no longer available). The signup process turned out to be...
Bet You Didn’t Know: A Repeatable Companion Airfare Discount with the CNB Crystal Visa...
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate...
In my experience, one of the most overrated credit card benefits is the companion airfare discount. It seems these deals always manage to feature a slew of caveats that make the...
A motion sickness cure that actually works
A couple of days ago I told the horrific story of my latest boating adventure (please see: Learning Scuba and feeding fish). I had spent the better part of a day puking off the...
Barclaycard’s 15,000 mile anniversary incentive
My wife and I have a total of four Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red MasterCards (we have two each). The cards began life as US Airways cards before the big airline merger. Three out of...
Learning Scuba and feeding fish
While I puked off the side of the boat, someone was kind enough to hold onto the air tank strapped to my back. Air tanks are heavy. The guardian angel at my back lifted...
How bad were my 2015 predictions?
I probably should have just swept these predictions under the rug and forgotten about them. In January, I published my predictions for 2015. Every one of my 2014 predictions had come true, at least...
My final AA mileage run involved actual running. Here’s the story.
In the recent post, “How I screwed up my end of year AA mileage run,” I told the story of what I thought would be my last mileage run. I had calculated my last...
The best way to use Chase points to book hotels
A reader recently asked me about booking a hotel with Chase Ultimate Rewards points. She had found a Marriott property that had good reviews and was available for a free night award for 30,000...
To Heathrow and back — AA vs. BA business class. Which was better?
The weekend before last, I flew to London Heathrow airport on Saturday and returned home on Sunday… on purpose. My goal wasn’t to visit London (which is a great city to visit, by the...
