- My friends over at Saverocity have launched two new things of note:
- Their award booking service. I’ve never used an award booking service myself, because I like to work things out but those who are time poor might find this a good option. Everybody over there is really switched on and intelligent, plus they do a good job in providing value to readers. I can only imagine this extends to this new offering as well. If you do end up using it, let me know how it goes.
- New blog “observation deck”. This will host the podcasts they have been doing recently.
- US Department of Transportation rules on United Fare by Tagging Miles. I’d recommend reading Trevor’s post because his thoughts/conclusion mirror mine almost identically. I think the DOT got this decision right, but it’s disappointing that the website make me targeted towards US audiences to be valid. They should have stuck to the manipulation reasoning and kept it at that.
- The DoT Takes a Softer Stance on Consumer Protection by Wandering Aramean. If Trevor put my thoughts into writing, then Seth has written what I wish my thoughts were. I kind of wish these fares had never existed, because the precedent they have set isn’t a good one.
- Kurt Cobain’s credit card is up for auction by Entertainment Weekly. Already at $16,600, Visa card issued by Sea First bank. From memory a credit card from Elvis sold for about $40,000. Not what I’d wanna spend my money on, but rich people gonna do crazy rich people things I guess.
- Schoola Offers $15 in Free School Clothes for Your Kids by Maximizing Money. I was trying to get free stuff for a little bit before I realized I wasn’t a kid.
- How to convert 8900 Arrival Plus points to cash, and my latest retention call results by Frequent Miler. Obviously doing this would remove the possibility of getting the annual fee waived, so only do this if you’re planning on cancelling the card no matter what or you’re hoping to get a straight point offer (which are less common in my experience).
- American’s Business ExtrAA Getting New Earning and Redemption Options by View From The Wing. I’m still waiting for this program to offer another referral and sign up bonus so I can rack up some points quickly. You can now also earn ExtrAA miles in addition to the regular miles you’d receive when booking with Rocketmiles.
- Warning: Don’t get Burned using Flint to Manufacture Spend by Travel With Grant. I shared my negative experiences with this app yesterday. Grant was the one who originally let me know about this service (thanks, Grant!) so read through his negative experiences as well. If you haven’t already, follow him on Twitter.
- A Slightly Easier Way To Hit 20-30 Transactions On The Lucrative Everyday Cards by Dans Deals. Just remember that buying too many of these gift cards in a short period of time can lead to shut down. I personally think there are much better methods out there now (e.g send $0.30 by using Google Wallet).
- Chase credit cards: IHG versus Hyatt (and current rebate offer) by Free-quent Flyer. I disagree with the conclusions drawn in this article, I think the IHG card is vastly superior to the Hyatt card. I don’t really see an issue with having your partner apply for the card so that you can do a weekend trip once a year. I would never recommend converting Chase UR points to IHG, but I don’t think that’s a particularly good use even when transferring to Hyatt. Comments by Miles4more & Miles to Memories are worth reading as well.
- What’s your UBER score? Your UBER passenger score that is! by Miles From Blightly. Not sure what my score is, but I’m sure it’s not 5