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Welcome to our Frequent Miler Week in Review Around the web, where we recap some choice reads from around the ‘net. This week, we have an interesting hypothesis on shutdowns, a court decision that feels like a slippery slope, how to travel with a baby and more. Read on:
Recent Credit Card Shut Downs Might Not Be From Manufactured Spending
Chasing the Points at Saverocity presents an interesting hypothesis on why we are seeing more and more credit card shut down reports — and while you might argue the reason he presents is still MS, I think it’s an interesting hypothesis. We certainly have seen a bit of a ramp up, at least anecdotally, in shutdowns being reported. I’m not sure I agree with this guess — but I’m not sure it’s wildly off base, either. What do you think?
Federal Court Says Banks Don’t Have to Honor Charge Back if You’ve Paid Off Your Balance
A fascinating read from View from the Wing both in terms of what actually happened (a man spent $1m on wine he never received and then filed a chargeback) and why it the court ruled that the banks didn’t have to pay (because he had paid off the balances, so there was no “outstanding credit”). Never mind for a moment that this was a Ponzi scheme that happened over the course of years and that in this specific instance I’m not sure I disagree with the notion that the banks shouldn’t have to pay (we’re talking about some charges from nearly two years ago, after all). But the reason for the ruling was what blew my mind. I’m doubtful that Chase and Amex will take this as precedent to deny your $50 chargeback claim — but if they were, it would seem you could be on the hook for paying interest on a balance while you wait for a chargeback to be resolved. That doesn’t make sense to me.
Tips/Tricks: How To Travel With A Baby
Sam Simon at Milenomics presents me with my first required reading of 2018: how to travel with a baby. I’ll have a lot of thoughts to come on this topic in terms of earning miles and points and redeeming them for travel, but this post is a great resource for learning the practical logistics that a new parent will face. One section of this post is titled “The single best purchase you can make for travel” — and I’m curious about reader thoughts on this. What is the item I don’t know I need for travel with a baby? I look forward to planning a test trip based on the Milenomics outline and learning more about how this all works.
Does Premium Economy Bring Back The Mileage Run?
An interesting thought from Mike at Frequent Flyer Miles 101: Does Premium Economy make it easier to fly halfway around the world on a mileage run — if not for redeemable miles, for status? Personally, I’ve never been much on airline status — but with the recent ~$600 premium economy tickets between the US and China, I could see how it might just be a way to bridge the gap and pick up your elite qualifying miles if you’re close to a jump in tier.
Confused? How to Fly on Codeshares without Hassle
I’ll admit it: I’ve been confused by the codeshare game before. And if you’re inexperienced at booking complex itineraries, it can quickly feel difficult to understand who is responsible for what. Scott Mackenzie at Travel Codex breaks it down in a simple-to-understand format and explains why you probably want to avoid codeshares when possible. I’d love to see the a part 2 on this topic: crediting mileage on codeshares.
That’s it for this week around the web; check back soon for this week’s last chance deals.
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