Sapphire scare
"Since this activity is prohibited, we have closed the account…" One of the best features of the Ultimate Rewards program is that points can be moved freely from one account to another. Families can...
How to maximize your Freedom 5X purchases
Every 3 months, the Chase Freedom card offers 5X on spend within different categories of merchants. This quarter (October through December), the 5X categories are hotels, airlines, Best Buy and Kohl’s. Here are...
The art of gift card churning @ #chicagoseminars
Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to present some of my wacky point-earning ideas to almost 500 new friends. We were at the Chicago Seminars, which is an annual event for frequent...
Bluebird takes flight and changes the game
American Express' new prepaid product, Bluebird, is now available and yes, it appears to be "all that". In the battle between banks for prepaid card supremacy, Bluebird has changed the game by making checking...
I survived the #chicagoseminars 2012
I spent this past weekend at the Chicago Seminars where 500 or so frequent flyer addicts got together to learn insider travel tips, to network, and to have fun. I had a fantastic time...
Prepaid musings
Bluebird I'm still excited to see what Amex has in store for us regarding the new Bluebird Prepaid product. Last week, they said that it would be available "next week" (which is now this...
The mad rush to $50K: Relax, don’t do it.
Recently I've heard from several people who are trying to max out the Ink Bold (or Ink Plus) 5X benefit before the end of the year. Don't do it. Slow down. Let me explain…...
Mid October Laboratory News
Its been just slightly over a month since I last posted a Frequent Miler Laboratory update (see “The Latest Laboratory News”), but there are a few interesting new nuggets I want to share… ...
Points for simple eats
Update: This post includes offers that were valid at the time of publication, but have since expired. Please click here to see the best offers currently available.
A reader contacted me recently asking how he can maximize points...
Something Interesting
Last week I posted how to “Win a chance to win a seat on the MegaDO.” That’s right, I and 29 or so other BoardingArea bloggers ran contests in which the winners get a...
Bluebird is coming. The sky isn’t falling
American Express and Walmart today announced a new prepaid card called Bluebird (see press release here). This replaces a product with the same name that American Express had beta tested through Walmart earlier...
Inking 5X: What’s safe?
In April, I posted “Why Chase cancels accounts (and how to protect yourself).” In that post I warned people about dangers in maximizing credit card perks (like the Ink Bold’s 5X office supply category). ...
The best cash back card?
I don’t usually get excited about cash back credit cards. I prefer to earn points and miles that can be used for first class travel around the world. No matter how much cash I...
American Express Campus Edition
Is this a worthy alternative to Vanilla Reload cards? For many months, the following proposed experiment has been listed in the Frequent Miler Laboratory: Amex Prepaid College Edition: Try to...
