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TRAVEL: Points, Miles, Discounts, Tips, Advice & Questions

Spankytoes

By Spankytoes
in Food and Travel

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'stache

'stache 21825

Posted
Posted

This is as close a thread I could find. I got notice form one my credit card companies that they will close my account next month because I haven't used it in two years, unless I use it before then. It is a really old card with crappy rewards and only a $4000 limit. I really don't care if they close it. I just redeemed the few reward points I still had on it to avoid losing them. Is there any reason I should not let it just close?

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thunderlounge

thunderlounge 7902

Posted
Posted (edited)

That's not good. Not good at all. See, that "old" card is a big boost to your history and age of accounts. It will lower your score.

If there's no annual fee, use it. If there is, call them and find out if you can do a product change to a card with no AF. Whatever it is, don't let it go and lose that history and age.

Then use it once every few months for a snickers bar, chewing gum, or an attorney (badge kisser.)

 

Edited by thunderlounge
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'stache

'stache 21825

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, thunderlounge said:

That's not good. Not good at all. See, that "old" card is a big boost to your history and age of accounts. It will lower your score.

If there's no annual fee, use it. If there is, call them and find out if you can do a product change to a card with no AF. Whatever it is, don't let it go and lose that history and age.

Then use it once every few months for a snickers bar, chewing gum, or an attorney (badge kisser.)

 

Thanks. Did a little research and I'll just go swipe some gas to keep it open. I have two older cards but this one is still pretty old so I'm sure it helps with my "length of credit". My score is damn good so it probably wouldn't cause any drop but there's no reason to close it. No annual fee. I'll just use it and keep it open. I'm actually glad I got the notice because I forgot I still have some reward points I never used. I'm about to be rolling in $68. I will almost certainly spend it on a decent bottle of bourbon.

Edited by 'stache
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Thetexashammer

Thetexashammer 1062

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 2/7/2020 at 11:32 AM, Spankytoes said:

Needed a solo trip to clear my head this summer. Wife and I are heading to the Caribbean next week and she doesn’t think she’ll have time for another trip beyond extended weekends. So I got the pass.

-I have a party in Dallas to attend on 7/3 so I burned some Southwest points from LGA and used a credit for taxes. Wife is dropping me up at LGA and our kids picking me up at DAL and dropping me off at DFW the next day. 

-Flying DFW-SYD nonstop on 7/4. Arrive in Sydney on 7/6 

-5 nights at the Hilton Sydney

-Flying SYD-BKK on Thai Airways (Arrive at 4:55 PM in Bangkok the same day)

-3 nights at the Holiday Inn Sukhumvit 

-Flying BKK-HKT on Thai Vietjet Airways (Arrive at 4:00 PM)

-2 nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Phuket Banthai Resort w/ 2 PM late check-out

-Red-eye flight from HKT-IST, so I have an extra day in Phuket. Have a 13.5 hour layover in Istanbul beginning at 4:55 AM, on purpose, to explore for the day. (Roughly 7 hours with transfers) Taking a tram to the city center and booking a Hop-on/Hop-off bus tour to hit all the main sites. Luggage will be transferred for my next flight.

-Continue on IST to JFK at 6:30 PM. Arrive around 11 PM same day. Wife picking me up from JFK

-Have the full weekend to recover before returning to the office

1 night in Dallas, 5 nights in Sydney, 3 nights in Bangkok, 2 nights in Phuket and a day in Istanbul. I’m Diamond with Hilton so breakfast is covered in Sydney and Phuket. All excursions will be booked with Citi Thank You points. I used Chase points for the Thailand airfare portions and AA miles for Qantas. With all tours, private transfers, rental cars/fuel, metro fees, tourist visa for Turkey…basically everything but food and misc. charges, the total cost of the trip will be $358.78. 

That’ll do.
 

Just my personal rec, but you don't need a bus. Everything is right there at the end of the peninsula. It's all walking distance. Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace it's all right there. Make sure and try their baklava, it's out of this world. I mean seriously, it will blow your mind. Get one good turkish sit down meal.  That would be a hell of a day.

Also, this place. https://deraliyerestaurant.com/deraliye-min.pdf

Edited by Thetexashammer
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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, 'stache said:

Thanks. Did a little research and I'll just go swipe some gas to keep it open. I have two older cards but this one is still pretty old so I'm sure it helps with my "length of credit". My score is damn good so it probably wouldn't cause any drop but there's no reason to close it. No annual fee. I'll just use it and keep it open. I'm actually glad I got the notice because I forgot I still have some reward points I never used. I'm about to be rolling in $68. I will almost certainly spend it on a decent bottle of bourbon.

Don’t forget to pay the bill if it is not one you are used to paying every month.   Speaking from experience.

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midtown

midtown 3346

Posted
Posted

So what's my best use of pts vs cash.

 

I have 135000 amex Mr pts. Going to fly sat to han then Bkk to sat.

 

Transfer to ANA. 80k pts + $200. Slightly longer flights.

 

Amex travel. 99k pts. Flights on AA & Japan or Cathay. Will earn AA miles while flying.

 

If Amex MR are valued at 1 cent per point. Transferring to ANA and booking direct on amex travel are a wash.

 

AA.. $1000 cash. Same iten as above.

 

Transfer to Delta. 87000 pts. Longer flight times and layovers.

 

My current thought is to go with purchasing the flight with cash because $1000 RT is a good price and just use my points to pay for hotels or upgrade my flights through the amex portal. I'll also earn 5x pts for paying with my plat card.

 

 

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midtown

midtown 3346

Posted
Posted
One additional factor, if you have higher AA status, the option to buy through Amex Travel gives you at least some chance of scoring a free upgrade as AA sees it as a paid ticket.
No status or whatever the lowest is. Economy isn't the worst thing because I'm a manlet. I'd likely just suck it up and save my miles and cash for more trips.
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MirrOlure

MirrOlure 14812

Posted
Posted

So....took 50,000+ AmEx points mostly earned from reimbursed business airline ticket purchases (5 x’s points)....

 

Got a $500 Brooks Brothers gift Card.

 

Used Brooks Brothers’ current $200 off of $500 or more purchase promotion (most items also discounted):

 

Summer sport coat, dress pants and 3 dress shirts (yes I expect to need business clothes again at some point) for “free”

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, MirrOlure said:

So....took 50,000+ AmEx points mostly earned from reimbursed business airline ticket purchases (5 x’s points)....

Got a $500 Brooks Brothers gift Card.

Used Brooks Brothers’ current $200 off of $500 or more purchase promotion (most items also discounted):

Summer sport coat, dress pants and 3 dress shirts (yes I expect to need business clothes again at some point) for “free”

So you traded some worthless travel points you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to travel for some worthless clothes you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to wear them?  Hmmm...

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MirrOlure

MirrOlure 14812

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Landomatic said:

So you traded some worthless travel points you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to travel for some worthless clothes you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to wear them?  Hmmm...

Hey....it helped keep the delivery trucks running for at least another day.

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4th and 5

4th and 5 4915

Posted
Posted
On 3/22/2020 at 9:13 AM, Landomatic said:

So you traded some worthless travel points you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to travel for some worthless clothes you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to wear them?  Hmmm...

What a dick.

 

 

I mean, I laughed, and wish I'd said that, but still...

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, AustinMT said:

Not the first time Lando has shown his douchebaggery

Says the guy who told me to “take off my tinfoil hat” and urged people to go on their vacations and said “limiting travel serves no purpose”.  Tell me again about MY douchebaggery

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Landomatic

Landomatic 3813

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, AustinMT said:

You are conflating topics (and, again, ignoring an entire line of my attempts to engage in actual debate, which you are incapable of doing).

Here’s a link for you to understand the word “conflate,” given that it is beyond 5th grade vocabulary:  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflate

 

I learned long ago not to “debate” with dumb people.  You’d just drag me down to your level and beat me with experience.

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Shaddie

Shaddie 1651

Posted
Posted
On 3/22/2020 at 9:13 AM, Landomatic said:

So you traded some worthless travel points you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to travel for some worthless clothes you can’t use because you don’t have anywhere to wear them?  Hmmm...

WTF?

Why do you care? If I want to spend 500K miles on biz ticket to AU and I think I got value that’s all that matters. 

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Thetexashammer

Thetexashammer 1062

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 3/22/2020 at 8:26 AM, MirrOlure said:

So....took 50,000+ AmEx points mostly earned from reimbursed business airline ticket purchases (5 x’s points)....

 

Got a $500 Brooks Brothers gift Card.

 

Used Brooks Brothers’ current $200 off of $500 or more purchase promotion (most items also discounted):

 

Summer sport coat, dress pants and 3 dress shirts (yes I expect to need business clothes again at some point) for “free”

I found out that Brooks Brothers has an outlet store. I went to fucking town. Much cheaper than what you see online. I didn't realize they had decided to sell shirts for normal sized, not just fat, people. 

Anyway now I have like 400k points that won't do shit for me for a long time. I guess it'll be international travel but at this point I'm like whatevs.

Edited by Thetexashammer
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midtown

midtown 3346

Posted
Posted

So is anyone making plans to travel in Oct?   I have open airline tickets to SE Asia which I have no plans on canceling at this point.   I did go ahead and cancel the one hotel reservation in Ha Noi that I made with AMEX MR pts because the same hotel went from 20k pts down to 14k for two nights.   I am thinking I might just go ahead and book out a bunch of my hotels while prices are at panic prices.   Cancellation policies are pretty liberal so I can always cxl and book again if things continue to trend down.

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AustinMT

AustinMT 952

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, midtown said:

So is anyone making plans to travel in Oct?   I have open airline tickets to SE Asia which I have no plans on canceling at this point.   I did go ahead and cancel the one hotel reservation in Ha Noi that I made with AMEX MR pts because the same hotel went from 20k pts down to 14k for two nights.   I am thinking I might just go ahead and book out a bunch of my hotels while prices are at panic prices.   Cancellation policies are pretty liberal so I can always cxl and book again if things continue to trend down.

SO we canceled our trip to France and Italy for April. Already started looking to rebook in October.  As of a couple of days ago, neither the flight price nor the hotel prices (spot checked 3 of the ones we had booked) had gone down.  I am hoping this will change soon

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ZB'Tejas

ZB'Tejas 593

Posted
Posted
On 3/24/2020 at 3:10 PM, Rougarou said:

If AA takes even one nickel of bail out money, they had better honor Executive Platinum for an extra year because I can't go back to the mid-seats. I can't do it, I've been ruined. RUINT.

Existing 2020 status' now extended through 2021. Additionally, they are lowering the qualification criteria for the remainder of the year.

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Rougarou

Rougarou 594

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, ZB'Tejas said:

Existing 2020 status' now extended through 2021. Additionally, they are lowering the qualification criteria for the remainder of the year.

I got an email saying Executive Platinum is good until Jan of 2022. I was going to switch loyalties if they didn't do this after United and Delta did, so was glad to hear it!

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Murfdogg21

Murfdogg21 4417

Posted
Posted
On 4/17/2020 at 9:30 AM, Biff Tannen said:

Thoughts on the Southwest Airlines update regarding points and status?  Seems like a pretty damn good deal all around.

I’m glad because I barely clawed back to status at the end of last year and wanted A-list just to skip the line for checking bags and checking in an infant. As it stood, we are likely to only take one trip in 2020.

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VABuckeye

VABuckeye 2472

Posted
Posted

I have 300k AeroMexico points.  I was using them for Spain in May but that's gone.  Right now they're placeholdered but I have to use them by February 21.  I don't want to go to Spain in winter so I guess Argentina is back on the table.  February would be summertime.

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BevoSwag

BevoSwag 272

Posted
Posted

Our grandson was on Southwest flight today and the cabin crew in St Louis announced the cabin had not been sanitized.  He was on an Alaska Air flight earlier this week and they asked that passengers not use disinfectant wipes on leather seats as it breaks down the material.  Things are getting back to normal :)

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midtown

midtown 3346

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, BevoSwag said:

Our grandson was on Southwest flight today and the cabin crew in St Louis announced the cabin had not been sanitized.

So I have two questions.  Why was it not sanitized and why would they even announce that other than to scare the passengers? 

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BevoSwag

BevoSwag 272

Posted
Posted (edited)
58 minutes ago, midtown said:

So I have two questions.  Why was it not sanitized and why would they even announce that other than to scare the passengers? 

They were encouraging you to wipe your area as the planes are only sanitized at night when idle, not in between routes.  If no mask, you were offered one. 

Edited by BevoSwag
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midtown

midtown 3346

Posted
Posted

Heads up for CSR and CSP card carriers.  Chase just announced some new temp bonus points for a few months.  Also looks like gas stations and grocery will eat into your $300 travel credit since I assume a bunch of us aren't using theirs.  I already soaked mine up earlier this year.

 

  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points with Instacart, on up to $3,000 of spending
  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points at gas stations, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Earn 10x Ultimate Rewards points with select streaming services, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Receive up to $50 in statement credits towards an Instacart Express membership
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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7780

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Posted
Heads up for CSR and CSP card carriers.  Chase just announced some new temp bonus points for a few months.  Also looks like gas stations and grocery will eat into your $300 travel credit since I assume a bunch of us aren't using theirs.  I already soaked mine up earlier this year.
 
  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points with Instacart, on up to $3,000 of spending
  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points at gas stations, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Earn 10x Ultimate Rewards points with select streaming services, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Receive up to $50 in statement credits towards an Instacart Express membership
Instacart is the most expensive grocery app you can use. I used it for a Costco delivery during the shutdown. They charge you a delivery fee, a service fee, a tip for the driver, and they mark up the cost of the groceries themselves by 20-25%. Will never use it again. Fuck Instacart.
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thunderlounge

thunderlounge 7902

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, midtown said:

Heads up for CSR and CSP card carriers.  Chase just announced some new temp bonus points for a few months.  Also looks like gas stations and grocery will eat into your $300 travel credit since I assume a bunch of us aren't using theirs.  I already soaked mine up earlier this year.

 

  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points with Instacart, on up to $3,000 of spending
  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points at gas stations, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Earn 10x Ultimate Rewards points with select streaming services, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Receive up to $50 in statement credits towards an Instacart Express membership


 

Thanks for that. Beats the 7x hilton points I get for gas, so will use Chase for a bit. 

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Ag with kids

Ag with kids 581

Posted
Posted

I've got a trip planned over Christmas to Sint Maarten.  I've got the condo all booked with a timeshare we inherited (so, didn't have to pay for it haha).

We live in Corpus now so flying out of here is prohibitively expensive.  I checked around SAT, AUS, DFW and then IAH...IAH was $800/pp cheaper for the flight than the others.

Since the flight is at 0530 on Saturday, we'll head from Corpus to IAH and stay at the Marriott at the airport and fly out in the morning.  I had 2 e-certificates so that Friday is free and when we get back, that night is free too.

Now I've got to buy the tickets from IAH - SXM.  They're $1800 (total) or 320K AA pts.  I've got 330K so I'm good there, but is that a good deal (it's about $0.006/AA point).  I kind of hate to completely drain all the points, too, but...

I also found a flight from CRP-IAH for $300/pp so we could save the 4 hr drive after work.  I'm looking at both MR points or cash to pay for those via AMEX Travel.

My worry about using AA or MR points is if this CV bullshit spikes again next year and I have to cancel everything, will I be able to get a full refund of points (or money if I book cash through AMEX).

What do you travel experts advise?

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gmr548

gmr548 16590

Posted
Posted
On 6/30/2020 at 11:14 AM, Chewbacca said:
On 6/30/2020 at 10:11 AM, midtown said:
Heads up for CSR and CSP card carriers.  Chase just announced some new temp bonus points for a few months.  Also looks like gas stations and grocery will eat into your $300 travel credit since I assume a bunch of us aren't using theirs.  I already soaked mine up earlier this year.
 
  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points with Instacart, on up to $3,000 of spending
  • Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points at gas stations, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Earn 10x Ultimate Rewards points with select streaming services, on up to $1,500 of spending
  • Receive up to $50 in statement credits towards an Instacart Express membership

Read more  

Instacart is the most expensive grocery app you can use. I used it for a Costco delivery during the shutdown. They charge you a delivery fee, a service fee, a tip for the driver, and they mark up the cost of the groceries themselves by 20-25%. Will never use it again. Fuck Instacart.

They are a garbage company when it comes to treatment of employees as well. Even relative to other companies using the gig-worker model.

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