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CategoryTwo takeaways from Starwood Preferred Guest merger announcement
Since blog subscribers already knew about the changes coming to Marriott’s elite status qualification in August, I want to highlight two additional takeaways from the details rel..
A little Spring housekeeping
It’s been a wild month or two in the world of manufactured spend, with free groceries at Giant/Stop&Shop/Martins, more free or cheap gas promotions (depending on your region), an..
Consumption smoothing is the best-theorized, least-implemented idea in economics
Given the prestige economics holds as a profession under late capitalism, it’s somewhat odd how little attention is paid to the genuine theoretical innovations of the economics p..
Deal or Not a Deal? Paying Taxes with a Credit Card, “Buying” URs, and 3x Plastiq
There are a lot of different ways to play this game. There’s no “one size fits all” and I think it’s important to consider that everyone’s situation is unique. With
April 2018 credit card applications
It’s been a long time since I’ve applied for a new credit card. So long, in fact, that I was astonished to log into the credit monitoring service I got
Shop Talk: Southwest’s Second Devaluation, Booking Patience, IHGee-Whiz, & Gift Card Changes.
Welcome to another edition of Shop Talk where we discuss what’s going on in our personal points & miles space and highlight what we think is interesting in the broader
Automatically Re-Book Flights and Hotels When Prices Drop With DoNotPay.com
Editor’s Note: The creator of DoNotPay, Joshua Browder, reached out to me and asked me to call him and discuss a new robo travel re-booking site. I’m familiar with the
Example of Improved AA Award Availability
This is a quick example of what I’ve observed for a while – that since last year, AA award availability has improved from the pathetically lacking state of a few years ago. It’s..
If you're already buying Hilton points for 0.5 cents each, why not buy in bulk?
I’ve never successfully bought one of the US Travel Association’s “Daily Getaways,” but when they’re released I always poke my head over to see if anything jumps out at me
There are no off-the-shelf travel hacking strategies
Last week I wrote what I thought was a commonsense corrective to the din of blogger voices encouraging readers to sign up for the IHG Rewards credit card before it
Idiosyncratic bets on real estate: homeownership or mutual funds?
I’ve written before about the ways homeownership in the United States is heavily subsidized by the federal government, at the expense of current and future taxpayers:
preferenti..
Marriott Makes it Harder to Find Hotels in Reward Categories
I haven’t looked at the Marriott reward category composition for a while, but I have looked at it extensively in the past to find sweet spots, and there was definitely a link in ..
10 Questions (and Answers) About Plastiq.com
Full disclosure: Plastiq offers referral credits to this blog. I’m attempting to negotiate a better deal for readers, but the current deal via Milenomics’ referral link is $500 i..
Quick Hits: How to use Disney Mobile Ordering for food and beverage
Walt Disney World introduced Disney mobile ordering for food and beverages and it is wonderful. You have to wait in plenty of lines at Disney World – don’t wait in
Join me at the Frequent Traveler University in DC this summer!
Frequent Traveler University (FTU) is one of the biggest conference series in the mile and point community (alongside the Chicago Seminars). Lucky for those of us in the National..
No, you shouldn't rush to sign up for IHG's crappy credit card
Chase and IHG Rewards Club have offered a co-branded credit card for a number of years with the following features:a $49 annual fee;a signup bonus between 50,000-100,000 IHG Rewa..
Shop Talk: Accidental Points, Viator.com Tours, Ink Cash, RIP: TIO.com & More
Welcome to another edition of Shop Talk where we discuss what’s going on in our personal points & miles space and highlight what we think is interesting in the broader
Why do so few people use non-conflicted financial advisors?
I was listening to the latest episode of the “Animal Spirits” podcast with Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson, and they mentioned a statistic in this (paywalled) Wall Street Journal..
One-way Car Rentals Now Bookable with Chase Ultimate Rewards (but keep these things in mind)
It’s now possible to book a rental car reservation through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal with different pick-up/drop-off locations.
This is a positive development for thos..
Basics of IRA recharacterizations
Like aircraft flying at very low altitudes, the US tax code does strange things when very low incomes are involved. Most people know about, or have at least heard of,
The Trans-Siberian Railway on the cheap
A long-time reader sent me an interesting essay from a travel agency I’d never heard of, which sent their intrepid reporter on a Trans-Siberian cruise from Moscow to Irkutsk.I had
Shop Talk: Alaska Status Match, Delta Credits, Disneyland Hotel, Iberia Card, and Spent App
Welcome to another edition of Shop Talk where we discuss what’s going on in our personal points & miles space and highlight what we think is interesting in the broader
Let's be a little pickier in what we call a devaluation
Judging by the headlines in my RSS reader last week, I was dreading looking into the devastating, unannounced Hilton devaluation that apparently happened under the cover of darkn..