Last week Emirates greatly reduced taxes + fees on awards on their metal using their Skywards miles. That’s great for those who want to fly Emirates metal, especially since we can transfer bank points to Skywards 1:1 across so many programs. But the place a lot of us immediately went with this was to wonder… […]
milenomics
Learn, Use, Repeat. A detailed trip into the world of Points, Miles, and Travel. How to earn more Miles and how to use those miles more effectively
Now Live: Chase Sapphire Pay Yourself Back
Late last week Chase announced enhancements to their Sapphire credit cards including a new featured called Pay Yourself Back. Pay Yourself Back is a “purchase eraser.” You make a purchase on your Sapphire card, then you redeem Ultimate Rewards against that purchase for a statement credit. It wouldn’t be that interested on its own, because […]
Episode 38: Maximizing Amex 20,000 Point Referrals
We’ve been seeing [targeted] heightened 20,000 Membership Reward “Blue Star” referrals come and go on Amex Business Platinum and Personal Gold cards. Right now they seem to be “in season” with a high percentage of these cards showing heightened referral bonuses. Update: Others are reporting seeing this one Personal Platinum and Business Gold as well. […]
Episode 36: Is Credit Monitoring Still Important?
Welcome to another episode of Short Cuts on our No Annual Fee Podcast. I recently applied for a Home Equity Line of Credit and noticed that my FICO score was a bit lower than I expected. It got me wondering whether it is still important to monitor my credit report and check my credit score, […]
Spring Cleaning: Four Tune-up Ideas for Points & Miles
We’ve been talking about Spring Cleaning on the podcast the past couple months, before staying at home and social distancing was even a thing. I thought to categorize the activities I’ve been up to in hopes it provides some food for thought for downtime in the coming weeks. Idea 1: Close Unused Bank Accounts If […]
Episode 35 The Game Continues: Where do We Go From Here?
Welcome to another episode of Short Cuts on our No Annual Fee Podcast. Today we talk about where the points & miles game fits in the context of a pandemic like we’re currently experiencing. We discuss the importance of demand schedules. Check this link for more on that topic. Want more? Become a Patron to […]
My Experience Cancelling Award Travel Due to Coronavirus Threat
It’s been a wild week as the threat of Coronavirus has expanded, causing the need for more travel cancellations. Earlier in the week I cancelled a trip to Italy, and more recently a trip to Washington DC. I thought I’d share my experiences here in case they mirror situations you might be facing, and to […]
Avoiding Fees When Cancelling Award Travel Due to Coronavirus
We’ve been seeing a lot of questions in our Slack community and elsewhere about Coronavirus fee waivers when cancelling upcoming travel. A couple weeks ago it was more of a “Should I go?” decision. Now a lot of us are thinking, “Should I reschedule or cancel altogether?” And either way, “How can I avoid fees?” […]
Episode 34 Coronavirus travel deals: Where are we seeing opportunities?
Welcome to another episode of Short Cuts on our No Annual Fee Podcast. Today we’re talking about opportunities for travel deals surrounding Coronavirus. Not necessarily for travel in the near term, but where we see angles to book award travel further out with flexible cancellation terms. Want more? Become a Patron to Unlock 1+ Hour […]
Episode 33: Negotiating Coronavirus Change Waivers
We’re trying something different on our No Annual Fee Podcast this week with a format called Short Cuts. In Short Cuts we’ll cover the latest points & miles news, and our take on recent developments, in short digestible shows with a singular topic. This week we’re talking Coronavirus change waivers, and how to navigate them […]