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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Where to Eat Kangaroo Meat in Sydney, Australia? Check Out These 6 Restaurants

Good afternoon everyone, the following post is a guest post from my friend Jeff.  He recently traveled to Sydney, Australia, and sent me this very interesting post.  Warning, if you are a vegetarian or vegan, you will probably want to skip this post.  Without further ado, take it away Jeff!


On a recent trip to Sydney, I made it a mission to try Kangaroo meat prepared in as many ways as I could. This obviously isn’t something you come across frequently in the States and, to my surprise, wasn’t something dotting the menus throughout Sydney either. With my smartphone as my guide, I was able to track down a few, and to varying degrees, was delighted by my findings.

1) Moo Gourmet Burgers

Moo Gourmet Burgers is a small restaurant chain in Sydney. I believe there are at least 4 locations throughout the city that prepare a variety of beef burgers and a nice list of specialty burgers including a duck and bacon burger, lamb burger, and of course, a kangaroo burger. Fries (chips), salads, smoothies, and Moo Brew beer are also available. I made my stop at the Newtown location for lunch.

This was my first experience eating kangaroo and I really enjoyed it. Though the toppings are the thing that really made this burger. The meat, prepared well done (not by choice), was a little dry and could have been beef and the burger would have been just as good. Burger came topped with caramelized onions, tomato, homemade mayo, rocket (arugula), and beetroot relish on the bottom. I wish places here in the US offered beetroot relish as a condiment. I don’t believe I’ve run into that before this trip and it seems almost a ubiquitous offering in Sydney. Wash it all down with the Moo Brew Pilsner. Definitely worth a quick stop at one of their locations for lunch while wandering the city.

My Roo Rating: 3/5 Roos

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Kangaroo Burger in Sydney – Moo Gourmet Burgers

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Redeem Barclays Arrival Points for Travel Statement Credits

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend.  During my March App-O-Rama, I was approved for the Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card that offered 50,000 Barclays Arrival Points after spending $3,000 in 3 months.  After meeting the minimum spending requirement and receiving the sign up bonus, I wanted to redeem my Barclays Arrival Points for travel statement credits.  In this post, I will show you how to redeem Barclays Arrival Points for travel statement credits.  First things first, log into your Barclays online account and go to your Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card.  Then click the Rewards & Benefits Center button to start redeeming your Barclays Arrival Points.

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American Express Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance Coverage Changes (Effective September 1, 2017)

Good morning everyone, happy Sunday!  I was reviewing my recent American Express credit card statement and scrolled to the very end of my statement to see if there were any changes to my credit card terms or benefits.  American Express is making a few changes to their car rental loss and damage insurance benefits, most of them look like improvements to me, but some look like negative changes.  Full disclosure, I have never used the American Express car rental loss, damage insurance, purchase protection, or any of these card member benefits, so I am no expert here.  If you are familiar with those card member benefits, review the changes below to determine if these are improvements or not.  My comments will be in red text.  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.  Thank you.

Notice of Updates to the Additional Benefits of Your Card

  • We are making several updates to your card benefits on September 1, 2017. These benefits are provided to you as part of your Card Membership at no additional charge. Key updates are described in more detail below. If you would like more information about these updates or to receive a Description of Coverage, please visit www.americanexpress.com/benefitsguide to see benefits specific to your Card or call 1-800-854-9783 Monday-Friday 8 am to 8 pm and Saturday 9 am to 6 pm ET.

Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance* coverage

  • Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance coverage will now apply to vehicles rented in Ireland, Israel and Jamaica. Consistent with your current benefit, coverage will not apply to vehicles rented in Australia, Italy, and New Zealand.
  • In addition to the vehicle types currently covered, eligible rental vehicles will now include certain types of full sized sport utility vehicles, exotic/expensive cars, full sized vans, trucks, pick-ups and cargo vans.

It is nice to see that 3 new countries are included in car rental loss coverage and that more vehicles are now covered.  I hope Australia, Italy, and New Zealand coverage comes soon, I’m not sure why those 3 countries are excluded. Continue reading

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Reminder: Front Range Travel Hacker’s June Meetup (Sunday, June 4 @ 12-2PM in Denver, CO)

Good morning everyone, happy Saturday!  If you are in Denver tomorrow (Sunday, June 4), you are in luck.  I will be in Denver this weekend to attend a Front Range Travel Hackers Meetup.  There will be a few other Boarding Area bloggers in attendance too.  The meetup is free to attend, just show up on time and be ready to talk miles and points.

  • Where: Breck on Blake, 2220 Blake St, Denver, CO (Google Map)
  • When: Sunday, June 4, 2017 from 12-2PM

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If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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Targeted Spending Offers on US Bank Club Carlson Business & Cash Plus Credit Cards

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  By the time you read this post, I will be on my way to Denver for a short weekend trip (with a Sunday travel meetup in Denver).  My love affair with US Bank continues as they continue to shower me in gifts (in the form of targeted spending offers) on my US Bank Club Carlson Business Credit Card and US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card.  Let’s go through the offers and see if there are any winners.

First up, I have a targeted spending offer on my US Bank Club Carlson Business Credit Card.  After spending $2,000 on the credit card, I will earn an extra 5 Club Carlson Points per dollar, up to 5,000 bonus Club Carlson Points.  To maximize the offer, I would need to spend exactly $3,000.  I would receive $3,000 x 5 points per dollar = 15,000 Club Carlson Points + 5,000 bonus Club Carlson Points = 20,000 Club Carlson Points.  20,000 Club Carlson Points is worth ~$100 (each Club Carlson Point is worth 0.5 cents to me), so $100 / $3,000 = 3.33% return.  Not bad, but I really don’t want any more Club Carlson Points, so I will pass on this offer.

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