Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Does it seem like forever since Greg and Nick showed up on a YouTube Live to answer your questions? Last evening they were back at it, but at a new, later time slot. In their absence, readers have accumulated a lot of questions about the new Venture X. Check out the full episode below, (clicking on the time stamps to navigate to each specific question in YouTube), then make sure to read Nick’s recent Venture X post, which serves as the perfect companion post to this episode.
2:12 – What are yall’s thoughts on the subpar offers from Chase recently? Particularly the borderline scammy personal hyatt 45k points for 15k spend, the length of time that offer has been around
4:29 – Is finding First class saver awards on United from IAD to Hawaii using Turkish Miles a unicorn? I’ve been checking for months, but I’ve never seen anything other than economy available.
7:08 – Hey Greg and Nick, digging the new ask us anything time! If you had to pick one transferable currency program between Chase, Citi, and Capital One, Which do you feel is best?.
11:22 – If someone cancels Hilton aspire card in January, will they lose diamond benefit for the rest of the year?
12:29 – Hey Nick, how did your experience using Chase’s phone insurance claim go?
16:58 – Is the venture x sustainable? it seems too good (Read more here!)
20:35 – Can you match Wyndham diamond to caesars diamond in 01/21 if you already have caesars diamond from 2020 and get caesars celebration dinner on 02/01/21?
23:42 – Hey guys! Love the new time! Are you guys still utilizing buying groups for MS these days?
23:50 – Hey I noticed that you still have the old Chase Marriott Rewards Premier CC that comes with the 25K cert. Do you think you would ever want to upgrade to the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless CC for a 35K cert or another Ritz Carlton CC for another 50K cert?
28:45 – you guys were gonna talk about the hyatt peak pricing change in the podcast but the venture x came out, any new thoughts that you didnt say in the podcast 2 weeks ago?
32:26 – Thanks for the great content! Wanted to get your thoughts on the Bonvoyed wind-down plan, keeping certs. how long do you anticipate we have to burn all of the points before they are almost worthless?
35:45 – is barclays just pulling out of the U.S.? they pulled several cards, and don’t seem to care about retaining customers lately
38:18 – I have an ancient Capital One card that earns nothing. I want to apply for the X but I’ve been denied in the past for Cap1. Do you think I should close the old card first? Thanks! (Read more about Venture X approvals here!)
39:38 -Are you aware of some Amex upgrade offers started to include lifetime language? I thought that Amex upgrade offers do not typically include lifetime language (thus upgrade offer is considered NLL)
41:55 – Was going to product change to the Ritz this month, but now wondering if I should get the new capital one card. I do stay at Marriott’s a lot
44:27 – For amex fine hotels booking, if booked with my card, but wanted to count towards my hubby’s hotel rewards, would it work?
47:20 – at what point to you just say eff it to 5/24? I’m ~7 months from 4/24 (7/24 now), and really itching to get that citi premier
49:40 – Hi Greg and Nick, I’m from Malaysia where hotel transfer partners Marriott with AMEX is very poor (10 MR: 1 hotel point), should we focus on airmiles instead (5MR: 1 mile)?
51:38 – Hey guys my p2 has the old venture with a $59 annual fee. Am I ruining anything if she product changes to the venture x ?? (Read more about product changing to Venture X here!)
54:15 – Hey guys – do you have a resource that lists credit card annual / member year credits (e.g., CSR 300 travel credit, etc)?
56:28 – thanks for what you do. what’s the best place to find data points about Venture X approvals? I’m skeptical i can get approved for one. (Read more about data like this here!)
58:08 – what’s your thought on the Delta GUC?
Catch the next “Ask Us Anything Live” on Dec 8th at 9pm ET (6pm PST).
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Great format Greg and Nick! Even though I missed out on the original debut, it is a great concept. I’m setting my alarm for the next one…
Venture X’s 10X / 5X portal proposition matches the Sapphire Reserve’s portal proposition. If one transfers points to an airline, it’s even. The only leg up Venture X would have is a transfer partner that Chase doesn’t have. Alternatively, if one is looking for “pay with points” against travel, Chase is superior with its 1.5 cents per point.
All of these portals seem to have similar inventory (and back end). And, what if your hotel (or room type) is not available via a portal? With the Venture X, one is stuck at 2X instead of the Sapphire’s 3X. And, then, there are hotel incidentals.
For all other charges, Venture X’s 2X earn rate can be garnered by the “regular” Venture card. Why not just have the “regular” Venture card? In either case, the Chase competitor would be the Freedom Unlimited at 1.5X. If one transfer points to an airline, then the Venture would be superior. If one is looking for “pay with points” against travel, assuming one has both the Sapphire and Freedom, the Freedom’s 1.5X at the Sapphire’s 1.5 cents per point equals 2.25 cents per dollar — above the Venture’s 2X at 1 cent per point.
While Capital One has come a long way, after further review by the replay official, Chase’s tag-team seems to be the stronger play.
That image… hmm. Feel bad for those workspace people.
You should put together best use of MR across countries. Would be a fun read.
https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/en-my/network/documents/Redeem-AMEX-document.pdf
5000 MR in Malaysia = 1000 Singapore, Cathay
So 0.003 USD per Malaysian MR.
2800 MR in Malaysia = 850 Hilton.
So 0.0015 USD per Malaysian MR.
3700 MR in Malaysia = 330 Marriott.
0.00075 USD per Malaysian MR.
So Singapore/Cathay 2x the value of Hilton, which is twice the value of Marriott.
What are the chances you guys can start uploading a podcast version of this?