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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Get to the Oakland International Airport (OAK) Escape Lounge Like a Pro

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Disclosure: I have TSA PreCheck, a Clipper Card, and travel with carry-on bags.  If you do not have TSA PreCheck, your security screening will take longer.  If you do not have a Clipper Card, you will need to buy a one-way BART ticket prior to riding BART.  If you need to check your bags, you will need to drop off your bags before going through security.  With that said, here is how to get to the Oakland International Airport Escape Lounge like a pro.

Good morning everyone.  Last week, I wrote Get to the SFO Centurion Lounge Like a Pro.  I wanted to show the East Bay some love too, so I will show you how to get to the Oakland International Airport Escape Lounge like a pro.  This lounge is part of the Escape Lounge collection and is accessible for free if you have an American Express Platinum Charge Card (you can bring in 2 guests for free).  The lounge is located in Terminal 1, between gates 8 and 8A.  The lounge opens at 5am and closes at 9pm, unless the airport is quiet and the lounge will close early.  I’ve been to the Escape Lounge a few times and I recommend reading Points with a Crew’s review of the Escape Lounge.

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Image source: https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2016/11/11/norwegian-partners-escape-lounge-oakland-san-francisco/

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Calculate Discover It Q3 Restaurant Spend ($75 Cash Back Max)

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Good morning everyone. August 15 marks the midway point of Q3 (July 1 to September 30), so I wanted to do a quick check to see how I was doing in regards to my Q3 restaurant spending on my Discover It Credit Card. This quarter, the Discover It Credit Card is paying 5% cash back on all restaurant purchases, up to $1,500 in spend. If you max out Q3, you will earn $75 cash back ($1,500 x 5% = $75).

After you complete the $1,500 restaurant spend this quarter, all future restaurant spend only earns 1% cash back this quarter. I don’t want to do that, since I would rather put the extra restaurant spend on my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card and earn 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar at restaurants. Some people value Chase Ultimate Rewards Points at more than 1.5 cents per point, but I tend to redeem them for airfare at 1.5 cents per point, so 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards = 4.5% cash back vs. Discover It’s 5% cash back (plus, I tend to redeem my Discover cash back for discounted gift cards through the Discover Deals portal). Anyway, let’s get back on track and talk about calculating Q3 restaurant spend on the Discover It Credit Card.

After logging into your Discover online account, click the Activity & Payments drop down menu and click the Search Transactions link.

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The Fastest Way from San Francisco to the SFO Centurion Lounge

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Disclosure: I have TSA PreCheck, a Clipper Card, and travel with carry-on bags.  If you do not have TSA PreCheck, your security screening will take longer.  If you do not have a Clipper Card, you will need to buy a one-way BART ticket prior to riding BART.  If you need to check your bags, you will need to drop off your bags before going through security.  With that said, here is how to get to the SFO Centurion Lounge like a pro.

Good morning everyone, happy Friday. I fly out of SFO often and try to swing by the SFO Centurion Lounge as often as I can – even if it is just for a few minutes to grab a bite to eat before heading to my gate.  I will show you how to get from San Francisco to the SFO Centurion Lounge like a pro.  Since I work in San Francisco, I usually take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to SFO.  I jump on the yellow line headed to SFO and I can get there in under 40 minutes (make sure you are on the train that says SFO / San Francisco Airport).

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Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BARTMapDay.svg

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? Old Chase IHG Rewards Select & Hyatt Credit Cards

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Good morning everyone.  A few readers have asked me if they should keep their old Chase IHG Rewards Select Credit Card ($49 annual fee) and old Chase Hyatt Credit Card ($75 annual fee) in exchange 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.  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.  That also means that if you ever cancel or upgrade to the new Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card or the new Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card, you will never be able to get the old Chase IHG Rewards Select Credit Card and old Chase Hyatt Credit Card again.

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100K Hilton Points Post 4 Days After Meeting Minimum Spending Requirement

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Good morning everyone.  I know what you’re thinking… another Hilton post!?  Yes, I’m sorry for all the Hilton love lately, but I promise this post is worth it.  As you know, I was recently approved for the American Express Hilton Business Credit Card during my Mini July App-O-Rama.  I was refreshing my Award Wallet account this afternoon and noticed that my Hilton account balance went up 100,000 Hilton Points.  I logged into my Hilton account and saw that the 100,000 Hilton Points from my American Express Hilton Business Credit Card had just posted.  Wippie!  That was fast.  I then logged into my American Express online account to see just how fast the 100,000 Hilton Points posted to my account.

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