Good morning everyone, long time no blog.  I hope you all had a great holiday season and have exciting plans for New Years.  Quick update from me: Laura and I drove down to Orange County from the Bay Area for Christmas and then we *tried* to drive back up to the Bay Area on December 26, but since the Grapevine (on the 5 Freeway) was closed due to snow, we only made it half way up on the 101 Freeway.  We stopped in Santa Maria (near San Luis Obispo) for 1 night (shout out to the Holiday Inn Express Santa Maria for 20K IHG Points) and then we drove up the rest of the way on December 27 for a second Christmas with Laura’s family.  Then on Saturday morning, we flew to Las Vegas to visit my new niece (born on December 21).  On Sunday night, after a nice relaxing dinner at the LAS Centurion Lounge, we had a minor weather delay on our return flight to SFO, followed by sitting on our United flight for 90 minutes as we waited for an open gate (half of SFO is United, so there should be an open gate…).  We are glad to be back home and I have a few blog posts in the pipeline.

For today’s post, I will list my top 10 most read blog posts written in 2019 along with the top 10 posts of the year (regardless of the year they were written).  By the way, here are the most popular posts from 2018, 2017, and 2016.

2019’s Most Read Posts (Written in 2019)

1. Citi Adds Flex Loan Feature to Some Citi Credit Cards (Instant Cash Advance for 9.99% APR) – I’m very surprised that this was the most read post written in 2019, but I have seen Citi pushing their Flex Loans pretty hard the last few months.  I guess a lot of people are curious about Citi’s Flex Loans.
2. Getting an International Driving Permit (IDP) at AAA was Very Quick & Easy – I’m glad to see a lot of readers are interested in getting an International Driving Permit (IDP) from AAA – get out there and explore the world.
3. Reality Check: Traveling with Non-TSA PreCheck Travelers Sucks – This was a rant about traveling with non-TSA PreCheck travelers.  I learned from that experience and make sure to book non-TSA PreCheck travelers on the same airline reservation as myself, so they get TSA PreCheck on the trip.  That made a big difference in recent trips during the holidays.
4. Gift Cards Trigger $75 Annual Travel Credit for Chase Southwest Airlines Priority Credit Card – This may be one of the few airline credit card travel credits that can still be achieved with the purchase of a gift card or e-gift card.
5. How to Convert an Existing Discover Credit Card into a Different Discover Credit Card Online – I was really exciting about having 2 Discover It Credit Cards, but I really haven’t used my second credit card at all (the rotating cash back categories were not very interesting to me this year, but hopefully they will be next year).
6. Rumor: Capital One to Launch Premium Credit Card (Caroline’s post) – We are still waiting to see if the rumors are true with this new credit card, only time will tell.
7. How to Renew your Global Entry Card & Membership Online ($100 Fee Every 5 Years) – All of my immediate family and most of Laura’s immediate family has Global Entry / TSA PreCheck and I assume most readers do to.  If you signed up 4-5 years ago, it is now time to renew your membership and this guide will help you with the process.
8. Hotel Hack: Book Award Night When Only Cash Rates Available (YMMV) – This post was kind of controversial and provided a lot of good discussion whether this was ethical or not.
9. Quick Update Regarding the Old 150x British Airways Avios & Match.com Promo – This post was an update from the original 150x British Airways / Match.com post and announced that Laura and I got married in July 2019.
10. Keep, Cancel or Convert? American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card ($450 Annual Fee) – This is probably my favorite hotel credit card and I laid out the reason why this credit card is worth the $450 annual fee.

2019’s Most Read Posts (Written in any year)

1. How-To Guide: Activate a Gift Card and Create a PIN – This post was written in 2013 and continues to generate tremendous page views every year.  People are really interested in adding PINs to gift cards.
2. Send Money to Friends (or Other Bank Accounts) Instantly with Zelle (Formerly Chase QuickPay / clearXchange) – Zelle has been around for a few years but has not caught on as quickly as I expected.  This post shows how to use the Zelle technology to quickly and easily move funds from 1 bank to another bank.
3. How to Cancel 1 Passenger on a Multi-Passenger Southwest Airlines Reservation – I love flying on Southwest Airlines and this post shows how to change or cancel a Southwest Airlines reservation for only 1 person on a multi-person reservation.
4. Best Food at the Singapore Changi Airport? Visit the Staff Canteen (Shelli’s post) – I have never been to Singapore, but when I do make it there, I definitely want to check out the Staff Canteen.
5. Print USPS and UPS Shipping Labels from your PayPal Account – This post was also written in 2013 but remains extremely popular.  Everyone wants to print USPS and UPS shipping labels without going to the store.
6. Cash Payments Will No Longer Be Accepted for Credit Cards at Citi Branches (Effective July 21) – This post constantly gets comments from angry Citi customers who cannot pay their credit card bills with cash at Citi branches.
7. Walmart.com Orders Instantly Cancelled? Try Walmart’s Online Chat – This post is extremely popular during the holiday shopping season when Walmart.com constantly cancels customer’s orders.
8. 6 Places to Eat Kangaroo in Sydney (guest post) – I guess a lot of readers are interested in eating Kangaroo meat when they go to Sydney.  I have never been to Sydney or tried Kangaroo meat, but I hope to accomplish both at some point in my life.
9. Home Depot and Whole Foods AMEX Offer Gift Card Update (Pics of Gift Card Rack) – This post is from 2015 and shows that a lot of readers are interested in buying gift cards at Home Depot and Whole Foods.
10. Get to the SFO Centurion Lounge Like a Pro – I really enjoyed writing this post and love visiting the SFO Centurion Lounge whenever I fly out of SFO.

So what do you think?  Are there any blog posts that you loved that didn’t make either top 10 list?  Share your thoughts below in the comments section.  Have a great day everyone!