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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US Bank Credit Cards Renewal Notification Explains 60 Day “Renewal Period”

Good morning everyone.  If you have been to Santa Cruz recently, please check out this post: I Need Restaurant / Activity Recommendations for Santa Cruz.  Yesterday, I was reviewing my credit card statements and spotted this Renewal Notification message on my US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card.  I keep this credit card and pay the $75 annual fee just for the 40,000 Radisson Rewards anniversary points every year.  In the Renewal Notification section, it says the following (I kept the important stuff and removed everything else):

You have a “renewal period” of 60 days from the date we mailed this notification. During the renewal period, you may terminate your Account and avoid paying the Annual Membership Fee. You may terminate your Account by calling or by writing us at the Cardmember Service telephone or address shown below. During the renewal period and before you terminate your Account, you may continue to use your card without having to pay the fee. If, however, you do not terminate your Account by the end of the renewal period, you will have to pay the fee.

Each year, the Account will be subject to your payment in advance of an Annual Membership Fee of $75.00, which will compensate us for maintaining and servicing the Account for the following year.

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I Need Restaurant / Activity Recommendations for Santa Cruz

Good afternoon everyone.  This coming Monday is Columbus Day and I am taking my girlfriend to Santa Cruz for the long weekend.  I’ve been to Santa Cruz a handful of times, but not in the last couple of years, and not with my girlfriend. I did some research on hotel options in Santa Cruz, but there are not a ton of great options.  There are a handful of Marriott properties charging 35K Marriott points / night, but I decided to stay at the Hyatt Place Santa Cruz instead. Paid rates are $300+ as of today (they were a little cheaper a week ago), but the points rate is a bargain, by comparison.

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending Soon: Alaska Airlines 50% Bonus, American 10% Discount & United 70% Bonus

Good afternoon everyone.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers that are ending in the next few days.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are the 3 promos that are ending soon. First up, Alaska Airlines has a tiered bonus where you can get up to a 50% bonus on Alaska Airlines miles.  This offer expires on October 4.

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Here are the complete terms & conditions of the Alaska Airlines promo:

  • Transactions must be completed between ​6:00 AM PST August 20, 2018 and 11:59 PM PST October 4, 2018 to be eligible for bonus miles
  • Only Mileage Plan™ members who receive this offer directly from Alaska Airlines via email are qualified to participate.​​ ​This is an exclusive, non-transferable​ ​offer for​ the​ intended recipient only and may not be forwarded.
  • Miles are purchased from Points.com Inc. for a cost of $27.50 per 1,000 miles, plus a 7.5% Federal Excise Tax*, and GST/HST for Canadian residents.
  • Miles are non-refundable and do not count toward MVP and MVP/Gold status.
  • Offer is subject to change and all terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan Program apply.
  • Points.com Inc. is collecting Federal Excise Tax on behalf of Alaska Airlines Inc.
  • Alaska Airlines Inc. has the obligation to collect Federal Excise Tax and remit the tax to the appropriate government agency.

Up next, American Airlines is offering a 10% discount plus bonus miles, based on the number of American Airlines miles you purchase.  This offer expires on October 8.

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Here are the complete terms & conditions of the American Airlines promo:

To be eligible for a the bonus miles AAdvantage members must purchase 20,000 AAdvantage miles or more in a single transaction from the Buy or Gift Miles program beginning 12:00:00am CT on October 1, 2018 to 11:59:59pm CT on November 2, 2018. To be eligible to earn an extra 10% discount AAdvantage members must purchase by 11:59:59pm CT on October 8, 2018. The prices shown will include an applicable discount. The applicable discount applies to the AAdvantage miles purchased and does not apply towards taxes or the $35 transaction processing fee. The bonus miles earned are calculated based on each individual purchase amount and the corresponding bonus award. Bonus miles earned do not count toward the annual purchase limits. The applicable bonus miles are awarded to the recipient for Gift Miles transactions.

The miles purchased with the Buy Miles program and received with the Gift Miles program do not count towards AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum Pro, AAdvantage Executive Platinum or AAdvantage Million MilerSM status qualification. Transactions are nonrefundable and nonreversible. The miles successfully purchased or transferred usually post to the designated account right away, but please allow up to 8 hours for processing. Each AAdvantage member is limited to purchasing or receiving in a calendar year, a combined total of no more than 150,000 AAdvantage miles. Miles purchased through the Buy Miles program or received as a gift through the Gift Miles program count against this total. A confirmation email will be sent to the primary buyer/gifter and/or recipient, using the email address(es) associated with the AAdvantage account(s) and any additional email address provided. AAdvantage accounts less than 30 days old are not permitted to Buy or Gift Miles. Prices are in U.S. dollars and do not include applicable taxes or $35 per transaction processing charge. The promotion, pricing and/or fee to Buy, Gift or Share Miles is subject to change without notice. Your credit card company may add a currency conversion fee.


Lastly, United Airlines has a tiered bonus where you can get up to a 70% bonus on United Airlines miles.  This offer expires on October 16.

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Here are the complete terms & conditions of the United Airlines promo:

  • Promotional offer valid until 11:59 p.m. CT on October 16, 2018
  • Miles are available in increments of 1,000 up to a maximum of 88,000 miles.
  • Bonuses will be calculated on a per transaction basis only. The bonus amount applicable to a transaction is shown in the chart. Transactions may not be aggregated to calculate the bonus.
  • Bonus Miles will generally be credited to the recipient’s MileagePlus account when the transaction is complete; provided that certain transactions may take up to 48 hours.
  • Bonus miles count towards the 150,000 mile annual limit per account.
  • Purchase up to 150,000 miles per account per calendar year.
  • Credit card will be billed immediately upon purchase.
  • Mileage rates and other fees and offer terms are subject to change.
  • Pricing is only available for purchases made through buymiles.mileageplus.com
  • Miles are nonrefundable.
  • Purchased miles do not count toward MileagePlus Premier® status.
  • All MileagePlus Program Rules and terms and conditions apply.
  • GST/HST is charged to Canadian residents.
  • Powered by Points to purchase United MileagePlus miles. Transaction will appear as ‘Points United Miles’.

If you are looking for any other buy miles & points promos, check out this page for all of the current offers.  If you have any questions about any of these promos, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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Tarom Airlines Schedule Change? Email Reservations Department to Fix

Good morning everyone.  A few months ago, I booked a flight on Tarom Airlines (SkyTeam airline based in Romania) to fly from Chisinau, Moldova (KIV) to Bucharest, Romania (OTP) to Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF) with a 7 hour layover in Bucharest to explore the city.  I booked the flight directly on the Tarom Airlines website and all was good until I received an email from Tarom with the subject line “Schedule Change.”  If you get a similar email from Tarom Airlines regarding a schedule change, I will show you exactly what to do.  Since the whole email was in Romanian, and my Romanian is a little rusty, I used Google Translate to understand the email.

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75K Sign Up Bonus for Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Business Credit Card (Targeted Offer)

Good afternoon everyone.  My friend just forwarded me this targeted offer for the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Business Credit Card.  The standard sign up bonus is 50,000 United Airlines miles after spending $3,000 in 3 months.  With this targeted offer, the sign up bonus is 75,000 United Airlines miles after spending $5,000 in 3 months.  If you did not receive this email, you can see if you are targeted for the offer by signing into your United MileagePlus account here.

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