Direct Link to Amex Promo Amex is back with a new iteration of their popular Shop Small promo for 2020: Register by 7/26/2020 Spend $10+ by 9/20/2020 Get $5 back Repeat up to 10x When trying to find businesses that qualify for Amex’s Shop Small promo, I typically navigate Amex’s map of qualifying businesses near […]
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
Episode 41: Milenomics Second Podcast Preview – Wine Deals
A couple months ago we launched the Milenomics Podcast Network which now includes three shows: Milenomics² Podcast with Sam Simon and Robert Dwyer Milenomics Second Podcast hosted by Garth Grawburg The Manifesto with Gideon The Free-quent Flyer Subscribers gain access to these shows as well as a thriving Slack community, the ability to attend meetups, […]
Episode 39: Emirates Fuel Surcharges/Instagram Live
Update: Here’s link to the Instagram Live video 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 […]
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?” […]