Miles-Points-Save Money on Travel and Other Things

Time to get organized, because I messed up a few times

Nov 042012

Oops.

I have not been very active in blogging for the past two months. A number of excuses come to mind, such as the beginning of the school year (I am a public school teacher) and the end of the Ultimate Frisbee season. I also know that I can be ADD about my hobbies, flitting around from one to the next (Who knew ADD could be an adjective?).

In the course of a busy season in life, I also failed to follow some of my own advice about earning points through credit cards. Most rewards credit cards carry an annual fee, and my advice is usually to avoid paying it by canceling the card before the fee comes due. However, one needs a system for remembering to make that call to the bank, and my lack of a system failed. I made it all sound really easy in this post. Truthfully, it should be easy. But you have to stay on top of it. I did not.

The result of this failure is that my wife and I paid out a few hundred dollars in annual fees. The first to hit were Citi AAdvantage cards. One was on my card and one on my wife’s. $85 each, but I managed to call in time to cancel my second AAdvantage card to avoid that fee.

Second, I paid the $95 to keep the Chase Sapphire Preferred for another year. This was no huge failure, because I will get a substantial 7% points bonus at the end of the year. The value should be close to $95, so not a big loss, assuming I can redeem the points.

Finally, I paid $95 to keep the Delta Skymiles Gold American Express card. This was a calculated move, and I am hoping I made the right choice. Time will tell. The fact is, I have 125,000 Skymiles. The Amex makes it easier to redeem them, because you can use Pay with Miles to extract a penny per mile. Normally, this is considered to be an awful redemption rate. But I would take it just to get something out of my Skymiles. Additionally, if my family does end up flying Delta in the next year, our bags would fly for free.

I’m also hopeful that we will get a return on those AAdvantage card fees. One benefit of the card is a 10% rebate on miles redeemed, up to a maximum of 10,000 miles. If we are able to redeem AAdvantage miles in the next year, we could get the value of our money back. This is a speculative hope in the wake of my mistake, because we don’t actually have plans to use the miles or any other benefits of the cards in the next year. So, it was a mistake on my part. I’m just hoping it will turn out alright.

As of today, I have a system I trust. I made a quick spreadsheet detailing my current credit cards, their annual fees, and approximate due dates. I also added the ‘call by’ dates to my calendar, which pushes to my computer, phone, and iPad.

The fees are sunk, but I feel better and more organized now.

What’s the point? Live and learn. I’m a frugal fellow, and I don’t like paying bank fees. I am thankful I’m still going to come out way ahead in playing this miles and points game.

Around Columbus: Biking the Alum Creek Trail to Three Creeks Metro Park

Around Columbus, Biking No Responses »

Oct 142012

I wanted to get a good bike ride in before the weather turns cold, and I really enjoy the Alum Creek Trail in Columbus. It’s maintained by the Metro Parks, and is also a favorite of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman.

We live in the Short North, just two miles north of downtown Columbus, and we can usually pick up the I-670 Trail off of Cleveland Ave, near Fort Hayes High School. However, major construction on I-670 prevented this, and we ended up taking E. Long St. for a few miles and accessing the Alum Creek Trail at Nelson Park in Bexley. The 670 Trail isn’t scenic anyway, so we didn’t miss much.

Waiting to cross Livingston Ave on the Alum Creek Trail

The Alum Creek Trail, by contrast, is very scenic, especially when the trail is near the creek. As you ride, you move in and out of urban and urban-wooded areas. Because the trail goes under I-70, U.S. Route 33, and I-270, you can constantly hear the near or distant roar of the highway among the chirps and songs of birds, the rustling of trees, and the occasional babbling of the creek.

Heron Pond at Three Creeks Metro Park

Three Creeks Metro Park is a large park on the outskirts of the city. The Alum, Blacklick, and Big Walnut Creeks combine at a single confluence. The Blacklick Creek flows south into the Scioto, which eventually runs into the Ohio River.

Biking is a great way to travel, and it can be very inexpensive. I have a Trek mountain bike, which I bought used for $150, seven years ago. My wife rides a vintage road bike, and she rides faster than I. We don’t really worry about our speeds, we just try and push ourselves for the exercise and enjoy the scenery and (at times) fresh air.

My bike

We clocked a total of 34 miles on the round trip, with a break for lunch inside the park. My wife’s parents brought our kids, and we enjoyed the park for a couple of hours before cycling home.

The not-so-scenic view from the 670 Trail

On the way home, we successfully connected to the 670 trail, and found that you can access that trail from St. Clair Rd. now instead of Cleveland Ave.

What’s the point? We can’t travel every weekend, and it’s nice to be able to spend some quality time in our home city, especially outdoor time before the long, brutal winter.

Thoughts on price discrimination

Economics of Points 1 Response »

Sep 262012

It’s not the same for every one.

I have been begging my wife to contribute to my blog. Put better, I have been begging her to officially contribute. She’s an economist, and a smarty-pants. These are some of her thoughts as to why miles and points can be valuable. -G

I only have an M.S. in Economics, which doesn’t count for much in a world of economists. But G thinks its worth something and asked me to say a few words in his blog about price discrimination. The term conjures social injustice, but in economist-speak, it simply refers to a tool companies use to charge different types of consumers different prices for the exact same service. Back in the day when haggling was the preferred method of arriving at a price, price discrimination was a fact of life. I imagine our ancestors who wore shiny new shoes to the market paid a much higher price than the actual cost. With the evolution of the price tag, price discrimination became more difficult and consumers benefited. It gave us all the power and all of the “consumer surplus,” the excess value from paying a price that was less than what we were willing to pay.

But companies have found increasingly sophisticated ways to discriminate. A pretty basic approach is the coupon. Brand names charge a price that is higher than actual cost and offer coupons to attract those who are willing to pay less. It’s a little harder for a customer to cut out the coupon, remember to bring it to the store, and provide it to the cashier. But some customers are willing to do a little extra in order to bring down the price of the good. A more sophisticated version of the coupon is a miles and points program. This is one way that retailers provide a discount to those consumers that are willing to work for it.

Now, I have to say that it’s probably not as straightforward as I might be presenting here. Airlines are probably more focused on the value that loyalty can bring from a big customer than clawing a little value from the thousand cheap customers who are willing to pay less. But I have to guess that price discrimination does factor in to their strategy. The basic question is: do airlines substantially increase the price above cost knowing that they will reduce the price for those people that have a lower willingness to pay? If yes, then price discrimination is probably at play in the industry.

So, what’s the point (as my husband would say)? If you know your willingness to pay is less than the list price that everyone else sees, you can probably negotiate…or play the game they set up for people like you. Price discrimination will work in your favor if you’re willing to work for the extra value. Miles and points are one way that you can get more value for the extra effort.

A free iPad, $500 in gift cards, or $665 in flights with a single credit card sign up

General 5 Responses »

Sep 202012

The Citi Thank You Premier Visa or MasterCard with a 50,000 point bonus appears to be back… or perhaps was never dead. Citi often allows their offers to hang around after they officially end. A big thanks to Million Mile Secrets for posting a link to a flyertalk post. If you read the end of the entire thread, you will see that folks have reported approvals and confirmations in the last few days.

It may take some planning and changes of habit, and it is a multiple-step process, but it is possible to get an iPad with a single credit card sign up bonus. The Citi Thank You Premier , through the link above, comes with a 50,000 point bonus if you spend $2500 in the first three months of card membership. The $125 annual fee is waived for the first year, and you can call and cancel the card before the fee comes due a year from now.

If $2500 seems like a lot to spend, estimate your monthly grocery, other retail, restaurant, cable, and phone expenses. All of this can go on a credit card. Multiply by 3. Are you still short of $2500? You might need to get creative. Buy several hundred dollars in gift cards you know you will use in the coming months. Or call your wireless provider and ask to prepay a bill. It’s a free iPad! It’s worth a little of your time and creativity. Make a comment below if you have an idea as to how one could put $2500 on a credit card.

Use the points for an iPad. Once you get your bonus points, go to the Thank You (TY) Rewards website and order Best Buy gift cards. You will have enough for five $100 gift cards. Best Buy currently sells two versions of the iPad for $500 or less. The iPad2 (Wi-Fi, 16GB) is $399 and the new iPad (Wi-Fi, 16GB) is $499. With the former, you could cover taxes and an accessory or two with your gift cards. In the case of the latter, you would need to pay for taxes and accessories out of pocket.

If you want more memory or features, you either have to pay out of pocket, or find a way to get more Thank You points, and thus more gift cards! I managed to convince my lovely wife to give me the 17,000 Thank You points I needed on top of my 53,000. This gave me $700 in credit, enough for the Wi-Fi only, 64GB version of the new iPad. I paid for the taxes and accessories out of pocket.

Only use TY points for this! I outlined my reasoning in this post.

The risks. I have already written some of my thoughts on credit cards and credit scores. The basic risk is that you won’t be able to adjust your behavior to the additional responsibilities that come along with owning a new credit card. You must pay your bill on time, in full, every month. If not, you will incur interest charges and late fees that will destroy the benefits you receive from the card. If, for any reason, you can’t use a new credit card responsibly, don’t do this.

As for your credit score, applying for just one new card will have very little impact. The credit inquiry will decrease your score by a few points. The additional line of credit, however, should increase your score.

My wife is going to apply for a couple of new credit cards in a few days. She will be applying for a second TY Premier card to see if we can get an additional 50k points. We will report back if she gets approved. We are not sure we even need the points, so we may use them to pay our mortgage, another redemption possibility with Thank You points.

What’s the point? This is a valuable offer. I contend that the risks are small and the reward is significant.

My travel goals, 4-7 months out

General 7 Responses »

Sep 082012

One of my purposes in developing this site is to use my knowledge and experiences to help others. The Goal of One is a page on my blog designed to do just that. The best way to use miles and points is to come up with a travel goal, then think of ways miles and points could help get you there. Sarah P has been very successful in achieving her goals using miles and points. It’s time for me to make my future goals known. I’ll update The Goal of One and post about the strategies I use for earning points as things come up.

I have two goals in the next 7 months:

First, I want to go someplace warm in the winter. I’m thinking somewhere in the Caribbean. This will be a family trip with my wife and our two young children, aged 2 and 3. It will be difficult to get that many flights for free, but that won’t stop me from trying!

How will we pull this off? I’m hoping to use my stash of Delta Skymiles. I currently have 125k. In most frequent flier programs, that’s a lot. Not so with Delta, as Skymiles are easily the least valuable currency in the game.

We will have to choose a hotel or resort that meets our needs as a family. That may mean paying cash, and that’s fine. Not everything is free.

My second goal is a Spring Break trip with my wife. I’m thinking Europe, and I’m hoping for luxury on the cheap. With the cooperation of our families and maybe a few bribes, we might be able to get away for six nights. We could visit two European cities, staying in nice hotels, and perhaps even flying first class.

This will take careful planning. I will look to use a combination of British Airways miles, known as Avios, and Chase Ultimate Rewards points. The latter transfer to United and Hyatt. We will need to mix in a couple of new credit card sign up bonuses to make this happen. The entire trip will cost hundreds of thousands of miles and points. As I earn those points, I will write about it, so that readers can give feedback and ask questions.

What’s the point? Make a comment here or on The Goal of One page if you have a trip in mind. I will do what I can to help you get there. No pressure, if you would prefer some tips toward your specific travel goal by email, let me know: pointsforthepeople@gmail.com.

$10 in free Starbucks credit when you add $25

General 2 Responses »

Aug 242012

Via Deals We Like, Starbucks has a today-only deal that I am about to jump on. You have to have an iOS device-either an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. You also have to have a registered Starbucks card, a Starbucks app on your device, and a Visa credit card for payment. Find the details from Starbucks here. It looks to me like you have to go through the steps, then wait for Starbucks and Visa to figure it out.

I haven’t gotten very far in this program.

That’s a lot of requirements! Free stuff is rarely actually free. Personally, I will have to download the app and figure out the password on my ancient Starbucks account. It’s not my favorite coffee shop, but I go their often enough that I’ll spend $35 within a year or less. so I’ll do the work, pay the $25 up front, and take the reward.

You have to sign up for auto-reload. I assume that means Starbucks will top off your card with another $25 charge on your Visa when your balance gets low. I’ll cancel that later.

This is time sensitive. The deal is only live until midnight, Pacific time.

What’s the point? I love free stuff. If it contains caffeine and tastes like coffee, even better.

CNNGO: best 10 countries for food

Food 2 Responses »

Aug 232012

A writer on CNNGO, a travel-themed blog on CNN.com, has posted a list of the ten best countries for food. An interesting concept, and the writer included some great facts about each country featured. Check out the article here.

The Top 10 are:

Italy
China
France
Spain
Japan
India
Greece
Thailand
Mexico
United States

This is a pretty valid list, written by someone who has probably traveled more than I. I haven’t visited all of these countries, and my experience with some of the food in the article is limited. Nonetheless, I thought it would be fun to create my own list.

Thailand. I admit my biases: I lived in Thailand for three years, and the food was one of the things that made me sad to leave! As the CNNGO article mentions, Thai food features a balance of sweet, salty, spicy, sour, and bitter (from basil and other herbs). In talking with Thai people about their food, it seems to be a source of healthy national pride. Thai people love their own food. Whether it’s cheap or expensive- a bowl of egg noodle soup costs less than a dollar on the streets of Bangkok- Thai food is always flavorful and served with a smile.
Pat ki mao, at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas
Colombia or Venezuela. This is a strange choice for me, because I have never been to this part of Latin America. However, the restaurants and food trucks I have found serving food from this region are fantastic. Lots of black beans, rice, plantains, salty pork, queso, and flavorful salsas…it all makes me happy.
India. Again, I have never travelled to India, but the diversity of flavors in Indian food are amazing.
France. A storied culinary tradition. French food always features rich, complex flavors. Plus, French people understand good coffee and wine. That fact alone makes any Pierre a friend of mine.
Japan. Whenever I decide to splurge on Japanese food, I’m always a happy man.
Italy. Again, good coffee and wine. You can’t argue with pizza, pasta, or bing meals of many courses.
Vietnam. I love the pho noodle soups and sandwiches that are becoming popular here in the U.S. I visited Vietnam 10 years ago and had a few good meals in cafes and at street stalls.
Israel or Lebanon. Again these are places I have never visited. My experiences, and I have had many good ones, are limited to the cooking of friends, and restaurants in the US.
Laos. Okay, this is my list right? So I get to include a country that only has about 6 million people. Lao food is not well known, but it is delicious. Laap, for example, is a minced meat salad served with sticky rice, herbs, and lettuce. You get to eat it with your hands! Lao food is often spicy and aromatic, often eaten with sticky rice. Plus, due to the colonial influence, Lao cooks offer great breads and home-grown coffee for breakfast.
United States. I agree with the CNNGO author and give the US the nod. There is a certain beauty to our decadence. Chili cheese dogs are only gross if you eat three of them. If you eat two, they’re awesome.

What’s the point? This is just my list, heavily influenced by my own traveling and restaurant experiences. Thoughts, anyone?

Final thoughts on my free iPad

iPad, Non-travel redemptions 2 Responses »

Aug 172012

The first picture I took with my iPad. This is the first eggplant I have ever grown in my garden.

First, it’s awesome. Very comfortable for reading, web browsing, and email. I would much rather sit on the couch than at my computer for such things. The quality of the display is amazing. Now, on to just a few further thoughts about my redemption of Citi Thank You points for a free iPad:

I didn’t actually buy an iPad with Thank You points. I bought gift cards and used those to buy the iPad. You can exchange Thank You points for an iPad, but it’s a bad deal. See the screenshot. I saved over 14,000 points by redeeming for gift cards.

This is the same iPad I now have. I got it for just 70,000 points because I ordered $700 in gift cards, and used those to purchase the iPad at Best Buy.

My advice is to only use Thank You points for a non-travel redemption! Citi’s competitors, Chase and American Express, have established programs in which you can transfer their rewards points to a variety of airline and hotel programs. This makes Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards points more valuable than Thank You points. You do not want to give up the potential value of those points by redeeming for merchandise. Use most of your points for travel. I used Thank You points because, in my analysis, they are not all that valuable for travel. That said, my friend Sarah is getting a lot out of them.

I have gone over this before. Thank You points are worth 1.33 cents each when used for travel. I get at least 1.8 cents out of Ultimate Rewards points by transferring to Southwest. I could get even more by transferring to other partners. I would shoot for a similar minimum value with Membership Rewards points (if I had any!).

Topcashback.com worked like a charm. When my gift cards came in the mail, I purchase the iPad online at Best Buy. I clicked through topcashback.com, knowing there was a chance they would award me cash back, even though I used gift cards. It worked! I got an $11.90 pending credit within a few days. It’s not a lot–the cash back rate for tablets is just 1.7%, but it helped to offset some of the sales tax.

Lastly, a sobering thought. Though I am claiming I got a free iPad, it did cost me something. I could have sold those Best Buy gift cards on eBay or some other site. I probably could have gotten $500-$600 in cash. There was some opportunity cost.

What’s the point? I’m really happy with this redemption. I feel like I worked hard for it, and I certainly enjoy using it.

Promotions for the People

Club Carlson, Online Shopping, Priority Club, Promotions for the People No Responses »

Aug 152012

Airlines and hotels run promotions that allow you to earn extra Miles and points. Here are, in my opinion, the best of the best current promotions. If you have a hotel stay or car rental coming up, consider taking advantage of one of these promotions. As always, shoot me an email at pointsforthepeople@gmail.com if you have any travel coming up and you would like some advice.

$75 rebate on a weekend hotel stay. Intercontinental Hotel Group is offering a significant rebate when you stay two consecutive nights over a weekend. Some hoop-jumping is required, and the rebate comes in the form of a prepaid credit card, but $75 is significant for most of us, and this promotion is worth it. Sign up here and print your registration page, as you will need to send it in later. You will also earn Priority Club hotel points on your stay. Sign up here if you need a Priority Club account.

Participating hotels include all Holiday Inn brands, Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites. Some of these brands are often very affordable hotel choices, and you may end up getting around half of your money back. This promotion is good for stays through September 3, 2012 (my apologies, this is not breaking news!).

That’s not all! Mr Rebates is currently offering 15% cash back on Holiday Inn Purchases. This is an incredible deal! If you don’t already have a Mr Rebates account, use my link to get an additional $7.50.

I am about to book a two-night Crowne Plaza stay for an Ultimate tournament. The base rate (no discounts–I don’t have AAA or anything like it) is only $74/night. If everything pans out, I’ll pay around $90 per night after taxes, get 15% cash back from Mr Rebates, a $75 rebate, an upgraded room, and a few thousand Priority Club points. Sounds like a good deal to me!

25,000 Club Carlson Goldpoints after a two-night stay. This one is breaking news. I received the email today for this promotion, for which you must stay at Country Inn & Suites. Register now if you think you might have a stay coming before October 14. I registered, but I have no idea if I will qualify for the bonus.

If you book a stay, start at topcashback.com (and if you wouldn’t mind using this link, I get a $5 commission), which currently offers 8% cash back on purchases through countryinn.com. Country Inn & Suites hotels are often very reasonably priced, and 25,000 Goldpoints is enough for a free night at some Carlson hotels.

Up to 10,000 AAdvantage miles with Budget. I rarely see an opportunity to earn this many miles on a car rental. This is valid through the end of September. If you don’t already have an American Airlines AAdvantage account, get one here and start earning miles on your next car rental.

What’s the point? Promotions run all the time. These are the best out there for people who, like me, travel infrequently. I get my points from credit cards and promotions, and those points help me reach my travel goals.

Did you learn something? Like Points for the People on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Goal of One update: Sarah P- Grand Canyon

The Goal of One No Responses »

Aug 082012

Please take a moment to ‘like’ Points for the People on Facebook, or follow on Twitter. Thanks!

I finally caught up with my friend Sarah to find out how miles and points made her trip to the Grand Canyon possible. She used 35,000 Citi Thank You points for the flight into Flagstaff, AZ. This saved her $470. She then happened to get bumped on the way back, scoring a $300 voucher. Here are Sarah’s comments and pictures:

I had a great time on my trip to the Grand Canyon. The free flight let me keep the trip affordable so I could travel for 2 weeks, including the first week rafting through the Grand Canyon with my friend Kim!

The points let me fly right into Flagstaff, which is the tiniest airport I’ve ever been to in the United States (besides my hometown airport). That was SUPER convenient and the flight into Flagstaff was gorgeous too!

The process to redeem the points was really simple. I just booked through the Thank You rewards website just like I would have through another travel site. I “paid” with my points and they didn’t even charge any extra taxes or fees.

The Colorado River.

Next weekend I’m flying to Virginia Beach to visit my friend and go on vacation with my family. And guess where I booked that flight? Thank you Thank You Rewards!

Sarah, thanks for sharing a bit of your story!

What’s the point? I’m really happy for Sarah. She is making good use of Citi Thank You points, utilizing the flexibility of those points to fly into smaller airports. She is also earning miles on these flights. Sarah got 50k Thank You points when she signed up for the Citi Thank You Premier credit card. Unfortunately, the current offer is only 30k, but we may see a resurfacing of the 50k bonanza.

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