Greg joined in from the Miraval Arizona Desert Suite while Nick soothed his frigid jealousy with a massive cup of coffee (57:36). This month’s “Ask Us Anything” also brought up new concerns about the future of hotel loyalty programs (10:05), what to do with all those Amex Membership Rewards Points (and how much is too much…(25:30), and an update from Greg on what Miraval Arizona’s activity roster is like during Covid (55:32).
Watch the full episode below or click the timestamps for reach individual question in YouTube, and don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next episode on February 9th, at 9pm Eastern Time.
Click the timestamps below to navigate to each question in YouTube:
6:58 – My family has Citi Premier but I am unable to locate the Citi Merchants offers.
10:05 – Hey guys. Why does it seem the future of hotel loyalty programs are dying? The Hilton change has me upset.
14:28 – What’s your biggest point blunder/missed opportunity of 2021?
17:05 – If AMEX thinks my life is seven years long… Then when does AMEX think I was born? When I opened my account? When I received the sign up bonus? Or when I closed my account?
17:29 – Is the venture x the best card for p2’s that dont want to be bothered with points and miles?
21:28 – Thoughts on signing up for the HMBradley credit card, to allow 3% APY on up to 100k savings? Would amount to 2k incremental APY over 1% high-yield accounts. Of course this assumes they will not change the APY over the next year. And it would take a 5/24 spot so I am conflicted!
25:30 – How many amex MR points do you have saved up? I have about 500K in amex MR points and only saved up for ANA trip to Japan for me and the wife. Don’t know what else to do with the rest
30:02 – Hey Greg and Nick! Which is more worth a 5/24 slot, the Citi Premier or Capital One Venture X?
33:30 – Turkish Airlines, LAX to IST. A year ago ALL business class award availability disappeared. I’ve checked day by day… zero. Must be a technical problem. Any way to get Turkish to fix this?
35:25 – Also AA loyalty points, I did the Spot and Tango any opinion on the Naked Wines offer, it has this verbage you agree to make a $40 monthly contribution to your Naked Wines account
37:00 – To achieve Star Alliance Gold quickly, what airline should I credit my paid United flights? Is there any international carrier that I can credit flights to get to Star All Gold quicker than United?
39:46 – Hey guys, denied for Venture X with 720 score but within one month of CSP approval, hence reason given was time since recent inquiry is too short. How many months should I wait before applying again?
43:11 – When do you guys expect another Amex Platinum Annual Fee Increase after the recent increase?
44:32 – Is it ok to book for someone else using my Marriott FNCs? I won’t be there at all. Any difference between domestic vs international properties in terms of how this kind of booking is treated?
48:49– Recommend a route from Atlanta to Singapore. Would love to fly Singapore Air, but open. Direct flight or layover? Trip for 2023.
51:47 – Favorite cobranded Airline cards these days?
55:32 – Are there less activities available at Miraval currently due to the current Covid situation?
57:36– Nick – How many ounces is Nick’s cup, it looks bigger than your head. Might be an optical illusion because of the background.
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I’d love it if you guys made this a podcast so I can listen to it at the gym. Have you guys considered making Ask Us Anything a podcast?
We’ve discussed it but decided not to. Sorry.
The merchant offers only show up on 2 of my cards, 3 of my cards have always said “we are having trouble loading your offers. Please try again later”. I think you might have to call in to add them. I’ve called once and the rep didn’t know, so I gave up trying.
Regarding Hilton breakfast, the annoying thing to me is that theyve flooded the ranks with Diamonds and gold by extending status and nauseum, then diminished the value of that status. There’s also no meaningful difference in breakfast benefit btwn gold and diamond, so why bother being loyal? It just seems like they have no loyalty strategy all when everyone is an elite but it doesn’t mean much to be an elite.
If someone is worried about the breakfast credit afforded from tier status, it means the person is still playing a rigged game. And, after all of the articles about what the programs and property owners are doing, anyone still playing that rigged game deserves what one gets. Move on.
Nick, you mentioned being a free agent, yes. I’ve left the hotel loyalty program game and, given the frequency of stays at certain hotels, I’ve negotiated directly with hotel sales directors for discounted rates plus breakfast, etc. Better result than tier status and Amex FHR.
Citi >> Rewards & Offers >> Offers for You . . . then your card from “Select Account To See Available Offers”