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.

a close-up of a logo

10 Award Wallet Plus 1 Year Upgrade Codes Giveaway: What Feature is Missing?

Posted on by . 50 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I am writing this post at the Peet’s Coffee inside the SF Ferry Building before I head to the office.  Long story short, I was inspired by Frequent Miler’s post from yesterday (Should you lock in AwardWallet Plus for $10 per year?) that I decided to purchase 10 Award Wallet Plus 1 year upgrade codes and give them away to my readers.  I have been a huge fan of Award Wallet for a very long time and have been a partner with them for a few years (they even reached out to me to become a partner when I was first starting out).  If you are not an Award Wallet user, please read my introduction post: What is Award Wallet? and sign up for your free account.

To participate in the giveaway, please leave a comment below stating which feature you think Award Wallet is missing.  Essentially, what would make Award Wallet even better than it is now? My hope is that my readers will come up with some great ideas and maybe Award Wallet will implement those new features in the future.  To be eligible for the giveaway, your comment must be submitted by 11:59pm PT tonight (1/26/2017).  I will pick my favorite responses tomorrow morning (1/27/2017) and email the 1 year Award Wallet Plus upgrade codes to the 10 winners.  Good luck to everyone who participates!

Continue reading →

a map of the world with white text

Grant is Back from South America: Upcoming Hotel Reviews & Trip Reports

Posted on by . 2 Replies

Good morning everyone, I am back from my week-long trip around South America.  I was going to write about my experience during the trip, but I accidentally left my laptop charger on my flight to Bogota, Colombia, so I had no way to charge my laptop during the trip.  With that said, here is a tentative list of blog posts that I will write about my trip.  Here are my 4 hotel reviews:

  • Aloft Bogota Airport Hotel (3,000 SPG Points / Night)
  • Holiday Inn Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport Hotel (20,000 IHG Points / Night)
  • Sheraton Iguazú Resort & Spa (Iguazu Falls, Argentina) (12,000 SPG Points / Night)
  • Sheraton Libertador Hotel (Buenos Aires, Argentina) (7,000 SPG Points / Night)

Along with those hotel reviews, I am going to share my experience with these trip reports:

  • How Cheap is Bogota, Colombia?
  • Should you Visit the Argentine or Brazilian Side of Iguazu Falls?
  • Buenos Aires Centurion Lounge (Access with US AMEX Platinum Card)

There are also a few upcoming posts from Shelli about her interview with a full time Uber driver and her next stop on her coffee world tour.  Whitney just got back from her trip to Spain, so she will have several posts about her trip.  I’m not sure what Tonei and Will the Tactical Traveler are working on, but I am sure they have some interesting posts in the pipeline.

If you have any questions about any of my upcoming hotel reviews or trip reports, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

P.S. Here is a sneak peak of our trip to Iguazu Falls, full of rainbows and big water falls.

a map of the world with white text

Trip Planning and Award Booking for South America: Bogota, Buenos Aires & Iguazu Falls

Posted on by . 17 Replies

Good morning and buenos dias amigos!  This weekend, I will be heading to South America for a week.  First stop is Bogota, Colombia, then down to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then onto Iguazu Falls (on the border of Argentina and Brazil).  Here is how we planned the trip (Great Circle Mapper):

  • SFO-DFW-BOG in economy on American Airlines using 20,000 AA miles + $26.20 taxes/fees
  • BOG-EZE-IGR in economy on Aerolineas Argentinas using 25,000 KLM miles
  • IGR-EZE in economy on Aerolineas Argentinas for $140.70
  • EZE-MIA in business + MIA-ORD-SFO in first on American Airlines for 57,500 AA miles + $93.46 taxes/fees

gcmapper-sfo-bog-eze-igr-rt

Continue reading →

a close-up of a sign

Nationwide Visa Buxx Card Program Shutting Down February 28 (Last Day to Load is January 31)

Posted on by . 14 Replies

Good evening everyone, I wish I had better news to share, but I am very sad to let you know that today it was announced that the Nationwide Visa Buxx Card program is shutting down on February 28, 2017 (according to the announcement on their homepage).  You will still be able to reload your Visa Buxx Cards until January 31, 2017, which gives you time for 3 more weekly reloads before the reload deadline.  If you have not spent down the balance on your cards before February 28, the funds will be refunded back to your funding credit card (this refund would void the miles, points, or cash back you would have earned), so you should spend down the balance on your cards before February 28.

This shutdown is not totally unexpected, actually, it has been overdue for quite a long time.  I guess Nationwide finally decided that they were tired of being used for pajama MS.  My only question now is… why did they pick the below image?  Why are both women smiling and looking out the window?  Is Nationwide going to introduce a new product that is superior to the Visa Buxx Card?  It’s unlikely, but it could happen.

nationwide-visa-buxx-news

Continue reading →

a close up of a logo

Quick Tip: Access Bank of America Museums on Us by Logging into your BofA App (YMMV)

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Good morning everyone.  This past Sunday, my brother and I went for a long walk around San Francisco (~11 miles from my apartment through San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and up the coast).  Along the way, we stopped at the de Young Museum.  Luckily for us, it was one of Bank of America’s Museum on Us weekend (the first full weekend of every month).  Unfortunately, you need to show them a Bank of America credit or debit card and I never carry Bank of America credit cards with me (they are not top of wallet, but more like back of drawer cards), but I did find a work around to get free access to the museum.

bank-of-america-museums-on-us-flyer

Continue reading →