A Million Thanks to Million Mile Secrets
I want to thank Daraius from Million Mile Secrets for featuring me on his Friday morning “Big Travel with Small Money” series. I have been a long time reader of his site and enjoy reading his articles every day. I have had the pleasure to speak with Emily a few times and get a picture with her at the Frequent Traveler University in Tyson’s Corner, VA a few months back. I highly recommend you guys check it out. The next event is in Tampa, FL from September 27-29 (details here).
On my recent trip to Europe, my friend Rhianna and I were staying at the Andaz Amsterdam (Cat 5 Hyatt) and we were upgraded to a honeymoon suite. Watch this short clip of Rhianna from Million Mile Secrets.
3) What’s the one single thing people can do to get more miles?
Besides the obvious (applying for as many travel credit cards as you can get your hands on), I recommend playing the retention bonus game. The secret is to call your credit card company 9-10 months after receiving the card and saying something like, “I’m thinking of cancelling the card because the annual fee is coming soon and the perks are not worth the annual fee. If you would waive the annual fee, I would gladly keep the card for another year.” More times than not, they will give you a bonus for keeping the card. I called to cancel my Chase United MileagePlus Credit Card and was offered 10,000 United Miles or a $95 statement credit. Guess which one I chose? On my next statement, there was a 10,000 miles bonus with the message: “Cardmember appreciation miles.” Thank you Chase, I do appreciate the miles!
By the time you read this, I will be on my way to Vancouver for a family vacation. I wrote about my travel plans here:
Vancouver Vacation: Redeeming American Airline Miles for Alaska Airline Seats
Vancouver Vacation: Beware of Booking WestJet Flights on Delta.com
We will be staying at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver for 2 nights thanks to my mom’s Chase Hyatt Credit Card. Not the best Hyatt in the world, but she had to use her 2 Free Night Certificates before December 31. Room rates are around $250 a night, so that’s $500 we can spend on fun stuff in Vancouver!
And a few nights at the Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel on Marriott Points before driving to Whistler for some snowboarding and skiing outdoor activities.
If you have any suggestions of places to eat or things to do in Vancouver or Whistler, please let me know in the comments. Thank you and have a great 4th of July Weekend!
Dear Grant,
I read your interview on MMS. I have a question about selling on ebay. I got two big TV with craked screen thanks to FedEx. Although they paid me insurance, I do not know how to deal with that. They are Panasonic HD TV and one is 52 and the other is 42. They are in my garage now. Do you have any idea what should I do? Thanks in advance.
Since I am sure the TVs are really heavy and would cost a ton of money to ship, I would list them as Broken / For Parts / Sold As-Is on eBay and Craigslist with a local pick up only disclosure. You might not get very much money for them, but you might get something and get them out of your garage. Small, easy to ship electronics are the best things to sell on eBay.