Author Archives: Grant

About Grant

Grant is an expert in frequent flyer miles, hotel loyalty points, credit card rewards, and cash back deals. He also has a pretty cool travel blog. Find him on Twitter @travelwithgrant.

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? American Express Business Platinum Charge Card ($450 Annual Fee)

Good afternoon everyone.  As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit (and charge) cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet.  2 weeks ago, my $450 annual fee posted on my American Express Business Platinum Charge CardI shared my outrage on the upcoming changes to the card and Shelli added her thoughts too.  I am not going to go into all the nitty gritty details of the current card benefits and the upcoming card benefits, but I have decided to keep my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card until next December when the *gasp!* $595 annual fee posts to my account.  Here is why this card is still worth the $450 annual fee I just paid…

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? Chase IHG Rewards Select ($49 Annual Fee) & Hyatt Credit Cards ($75 Annual Fee)

Good morning everyone.  Earlier this month, my annual fees posted on my Chase IHG Rewards Select Credit Card ($49 annual fee) and Chase Hyatt Credit Card ($75 annual fee).  The main reason I hold onto these credit cards is for the annual free night certificate.  As a reminder, the free night certificates are not really free, since you pay the annual fee before getting the free night certificate – they are more like prepaid free night certificates with a strict expiration date.  Unfortunately, both of these credit cards are no longer available to new applicants, so if you do not have these credit cards right now, there is no way for you to get them now.  Both cards have been replaced by the new Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card and the new Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card.  Anytime one of my credit cards charges me an annual fee, I take a moment to evaluate the credit card and decide if it is still worth keeping.  Here are my thoughts on both of these credit cards.

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CNB City National Rewards Points Now Worth 1.35 Cents Per Point (CPP) Toward Flights, Hotels, Rental Cars & Activities

Updated at 2:40pm PT on 12/12: Frequent Miler noticed that flights listed on the CNB City National Rewards site are more expensive than the same flights listed on Google Flights.  I checked a few flights and can confirm that CNB flights are $16-$20 more expensive than booking flights directly.  This is very disappointing news :(


Good afternoon everyone.  A few weeks ago, I was approved for the CNB City National Crystal Visa Infinite Credit Card.  When I applied for the credit card in branch, there was a promotion running for 75,000 CNB City National Rewards Points after spending $5,000 in 3 months.  I met the spend requirements quickly, but the bonus points are slow to post.  I will write a new blog post when the sign up bonus posts, so you know when to expect the bonus points to post to your account.

While I was browsing the CNB City National Rewards site, I decided to check out the travel portal and see how many points were required to book trips.  I did a few dummy searches and crunched the numbers.  Every time I did the calculations, I found out that CNB City National Rewards Points were worth 1.35 cents per point (CPP).  This was surprising since Doctor of Credit said that points were worth about 1.00 CPP.  I did some more research and Frequent Miler said points were worth up to 1.25 CPP.  I double checked my math and was still getting 1.35 CPP on all flights.  I wanted to see if the same 1.35 CPP applied to other aspects of the travel portal, including hotels, rental cars, and activities.  Here is what I found out…

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FrenchBee, SkyScanner & Momondo: Many Different Prices for the Same Exact Flight (SFO-PPT)

Good morning everyone.  Last week, I was looking at flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (PPT) and found out that there is a nonstop flight offered by FrenchBee.  They are somewhat like WOW Air (no frills), but they have flights from Papeete (PPT) to San Francisco (SFO) to Paris Orly (ORY) and to a few other international destinations.  I saw a few flights for around $300 one way, nonstop in economy, but I was looking at premium economy seats for a few hundred dollars more.  On the FrenchBee website, the total price was $864.40.  I wanted to compare flight prices on SkyScanner and Momondo to see if there were any cheaper options.  What I found is that there are several many different prices for the same exact flight, it just depends what website you use to book the flight.  Here is my journey to find the cheapest flight.

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Get The Jolt for 30% Off with Code JOLT2CHARGII (Expires 1/1/19)

Good morning everyone.  Earlier this year, I gave away 2 Jolt chargers and commented on their awesome customer service.  Yesterday, I received a postcard from The Jolt informing me that they changed their company name to Chargii.  My girlfriend loves her Jolt charger and uses it several times a week.  She has bought several Jolt chargers as gifts for friends and family members.  Right now, if you buy The Jolt before 1/1/19, you can get 30% off with promo code JOLT2CHARGII.

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