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CategoryFinal status report on my personal finance application cycle
Last June I wrote about my personal finance application cycle, in which I applied for a Chase Slate and Citi Double Cash credit card in order to run up high
Episode 36 – Delta meltdown and United stopover changes
Episode Summary
We come in hot off of summer vacation to talk about Delta’s IRROPS, United stopover changes, and some Olympic sportsball! Gang’s back together,
I moved. What did I miss?
Well, faithful readers, I’m back. For the past week I’ve been packing all my earthly possessions and transporting them 904 miles eastward. They’re now, mostly, unpacked, and life..
Thinking about Hyatt Diamond requalification
I took advantage of the Hyatt Diamond status match late last year and have been enjoying my suite upgrades, free breakfast, lounge access, and check-in amenities for over half a ..
Family Travel Hacking Guide 13: The four different types of credit card rewards
To do: Examine the credit cards in your wallet and try to determine which type of rewards they earn.One thing I’ve noticed writing this guide is that beginner’s guides are
Increased TopCashback Payout if taken as an AMEX Reward Card
I often talk about how awesome shopping portals are, but I suppose I don’t talk as much about ways to maximize your return once your cashback is ready to be
Some bonus categories I never think about
I belong to the noisy-but-unpopular school that believes everyday spending should properly be a rounding error in the typical travel hacker’s overall miles and points strategy. T..
Episode 35 – Fatherhood, Family, and Points with Shawn Coomer and Richard Kerr
Episode Description
With Trevor and Joe Cortez on vacation, Shawn Coomer from milestomemories and Richard Kerr the Points Jock of the Travel Hacking 101 Facebook
Family Travel Hacking Guide 12: How applying for credit cards affects your credit score
To do: Check your credit score on Credit Karma or Annual Credit Report, then take a look in the mirror and honestly assess whether you have the fiscal discipline to
5 Times When Hotel Points Don’t Make Sense- and 2 When They Do
So many trip reports out there tell you about all of the amazing hotels you can book on points. While I’m not immune to the $2500/night redemption I’m finding more and
I don't buy points, but maybe you should!
Every major loyalty program sells their points for cash, normally at a fixed rate through the industry-sponsored site Points.com.For example, you can buy up to 60,000 Delta SkyMi..
Family Travel Hacking Guide: Using Google Flights to search airfare
As we reach the end of our “find cheap flights phase”, it’s finally time to look at one of the most flexible flight aggregators out there. Before we get into
"Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" is a beautiful, not-very-useful book
This is a review of “Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits” by Philip A. Fisher. You can find all my previous book reviews here. If you’re interested in buying a copy,
Travel hacking without spend
While I write a lot about strategies for using manufactured spend to get pay for travel at deep discounts, I know that many of my readers find manufacturing spend to
A Rare Win for Families from Congress and the FAA
Great news for anyone who’s paid to sit next to their kids: the FAA Reauthorization bill just passed by Congress has a family friendly policy change. Children under 13 are
In defense of mileage running for top-tier elites
I have the rather unfashionable view that mileage runs on Delta, American, and United are more likely to be worthwhile for top-tier elites now that those programs are revenue-bas..
Family Travel Hacking Guide: Using Hopper to monitor flight prices
So you’re looking to expend as little cash as possible on flights. You are getting flash alerts from airfarewatchdog and The Flight Deal and are monitoring flights you are inter..
When deals don't stack
One of the most popular approaches to travel hacking is finding deals that “stack:” when you can apply multiple techniques to a single transaction, you can bring your out of
Is the Citi Prestige a good deal? Compared to what?
This isn’t my favorite kind of blog post to write, but I do consider it essential service journalism in the context of a travel hacking blogosphere whose default mode is
Ways you could (but shouldn't) manufacture spend
In addition to the garden variety manufactured spend I do day in and day out, I also enjoy keeping my eyes open for new avenues that might prove easier or
A free trip I just can’t afford
When it hit my inbox, I was pretty excited by my latest free offer from NCL. But with some hindsight, I’ve decided to pass on it. I know for some this
Is this how UberPOOL is supposed to work?
On our return from Germany last month, we stayed overnight in New York City, flying into JFK on airberlin Saturday evening and out of LaGuardia on Delta the next morning.
Drew’s Guide To Eastern Europe with Miles and Points
This is a packed post for all the info you need on getting free/cheap flights, free/cheap hotels, and figuring out where to go in Eastern Europe.
In this post I’ll go over