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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Southwest Airlines Schedule Extended & Flights Now Bookable Through Sunday, January 7, 2018

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(Hat tip to my friend Panu for the heads up)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you are having a great day so far.  If you are a Southwest Airlines traveler, today is your lucky day.  Southwest Airlines just released their flight schedule and you can now book flights through Sunday, January 7, 2018.  Previously, their flight schedule was only bookable through early November.  Book your Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all other flights now.  As a reminder, always check your existing Southwest Airlines flights to see if the prices go down, then rebook the exact same flights and get the difference back in Southwest Airlines travel credit or Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Points deposited back into your account (read PSA: Check Existing Southwest Airlines Flights for Price Drops, then Rebook).

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What is “5 X TLS” American Express Membership Reward Points?

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Good morning everyone.  I was looking at my American Express account and noticed that I just received 2,736 bonus American Express Membership Reward Points with the description of “5 X TLS”.  Maybe I am dumb, but I had never heard of TLS before and was confused why I received the bonus points (confused, but not ungrateful).  I reached out to a few of my travel hacking friends and I was told that TLS stands for “Travel & Lifestyle Services” and is related to booking paid flights and hotels through AMEXTravel.com with an American Express Business Platinum Charge Card.

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My March App-O-Rama Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses Post

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Good morning everyone, I hope you are all having a great week.  By the time you read this post, I will be ATVing around the island of St. Kitts (I know, tough life).  Anyway, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite topics – credit card sign up bonuses.  In March, I discussed Which 10 Credit Cards am I Considering for my March App-O-Rama and then in early April, I wrote about my March App-O-Rama Results.  In this post, I will share with you my plans (if any) for redeeming my miles and points.  If you have any better suggestions than the ones I share in this post, please let me know in the comments.  Thank you!

To get started, I was approved for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card and the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card.  Both credit cards offered 30,000 Alaska Airlines miles after spending $1,000 in 3 months along with an Alaska Airlines Companion Ticket (which can now be used on Virgin America).  I have a few other Alaska Airlines Companion Tickets in my Alaska Airlines account, so I will probably not use them all.  60,000 Alaska Airlines miles is worth ~$900 to me (valuing Alaska Airlines miles at 1.5 CPP).  I don’t have an exact use in mind, but I like flying on Virgin America first class when I fly from SFO to JFK.

Alaska Airlines Personal Business 30,000 Mile Bonuses Posted

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How to Cancel Airline Tickets Booked with Citi ThankYou Points

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Good morning everyone.  A few weeks ago, I redeemed my Citi Thank You Points for an American Airlines flight that was a code share with Alaska Airlines.  By booking the American Airlines code share flight instead of the Alaska Airlines flight, I was able to get 1.6 cents per point (CPP) for my Citi Thank You Point redemption.  This redemption value is only going to be around until July 27, 2017, then all flights booked with Citi Thank You Points will only get 1.25 CPP in value.  At the time, I was very pleased with the redemption value, but then a few weeks later, my travel plans changed and I no longer needed that flight.

Luckily, a schedule change occurred and I was able to cancel my airline reservation for free and get my Citi Thank You Points redeposited into my account.  In this post, I will explain the process of cancelling an airline reservation and getting your Citi Thank You Points redeposited.

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Forgot Expiration Date or Misplaced Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificate?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great Mother’s Day weekend.  Over the last few months, I have received my 2 free weekend night certificates from my 2 Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Cards after spending $10,000 on each credit card during my card member year.  This is possible if you sign up for a new Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card every 2 years and keep your existing Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card open (that satisfies Citi’s 24 month rule where you cannot open or close that card or a card in the same rewards family within the last 24 months).  As an example, I got my first Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card in February 2013 and my second card in March 2016.  I plan on getting a third card after March 2018.  I wonder if you can convert an existing Citi credit card to a Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card.  Does anyone know?

Anyway, I wanted to share some details about the old and new Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificate.  Depending on when you applied for that credit card, your free weekend night certificate may look like the old or new format.  The old format is not very pretty but it contains more useful information.  The new format is cleaner, but doesn’t provide as much information.

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