I’m traveling again, it seems like forever since we have done this, and it is fantastic! As I walked into this latest hotel room, the Radisson Blu Madrid Prado, I had the same thought strike me again – how does this stack up against my home? It is especially relevant now as I am wrapping […]
Swagbucks – review and $200 giveaway!
I’d heard of Swagbucks as a shopping portal, and was recently approached by them regarding their product. Upon further exploration I learned that they a lot more going on than just that, so I decided to dive and review what they have going on. For full disclosure, I was offered the chance to earn a […]
Analysis – is Whining or Begging more effective?
One thing all travel pro’s know is that you can add considerable alpha to your points strategy by whining and begging for more. The most effective location to deliver your message is Twitter, since the company reps you encounter there are more worried about promoting the brand than giving away a few points.So, which of […]
I need @Kickstarter to get me to LAX!
In case you live under a rock, and otherwise haven’t heard – TravelCon is happening on February 28th in Anaheim, CA. I’ve been invited there to present, and am a little nervous about it. Thus far I’ve managed to host two #DOs without having to talk about anything in depth. But more importantly, I can’t afford […]
From Forever Stamps to Airmiles
What’s a post on Forever Stamps doing in the Travel section? Sadly it’s not a new trick to make points, nor is it relevant because you might need one for your post cards. This is one of those, psuedointellectual posts that I pride myself on… bear with me, or, if that is asking too much […]
Paying your Mortgage with a Credit Card
I received a message on the Forum from a reader asking me how to pay regular expenses, such as his mortgage, insurance, etc on a Credit Card, and while I gave him a specific answer there, I’d also like to expound on this concept here. As you guys might know, I’m trying to not write […]
Join me at #TravelConOC 2015
TravelCon is a new points and miles conference that is being put together by some of the top points and miles guys on the West Coast, who have informed me that PHX isn’t on the West Coast. The brains behind this one are Tahsir, AKA Bengali Miles Guru and Omar, AKA Travel Summary. I believe […]
GreenDot Scam Alert
One of my readers approached me via the Forum to tell me that one of their relatives has just been the victim of a scam involving GreenDot cards, since we in this hobby frequently discuss such tools, and perhaps have cards lying around the house it may be that we are normalizing their usage. Please […]
Cheat Day – just pay cash…
This weekend we had Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and today Cyber Monday. They really drive home the ‘sales’and the feeling that I am going through right now – overload. Yesterday I pulled the trigger on the appliances purchase for my new home, as an example of the savings I bought a Refrigerator that was […]
Stop faking like you care about devaluations
We had another devaluation this week- the Chase Ultimate Reward program removed Korean airlines as an award partner, drama ensued, and then I think it came back. As of the time of writing this post I haven’t bothered checking, because I really don’t give a crap. In fact, when the news broke (I imagine before […]