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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2 Podcast Picks: Abroaders (Travel Hackers) & How I Built This (SWA Founder Herb Kelleher Interview)

Good morning, happy Thursday and welcome to the first day of December.  This year is flying by, am I the only one that thinks so?  Anyway, as I walked to work yesterday, I listened to one of my favorite podcast: NPR’s How I Built This.  This podcast only has 12 episodes (as of December 1, 2016) and they interview successful CEOs and founders of various companies, ranging from technology (Airbnb and Instagram), fashion (Spanx), music (L.A. Reid and Radio One) and food (Clif Bar and Samuel Adams).  But the most recent podcast I listened to was about Southwest Airlines’ founder, Herb Kelleher.  He is currently 88 years old and I love the way he speaks.  He reminds me of how my grandfather tells stories and jokes with other people.  I wouldn’t mind sitting next to Herb on a Southwest Airlines flight and listening to him talk for the entire journey.  If you want to be inspired to start a business or need the motivation to grow your business, listen to How I Built This (you can listen to all their episodes online for free) or on iTunes or wherever else you listen to podcasts.

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A “Quick” Blog Update: New Writers = More Content

Good morning everyone – it feels like a long time since I last wrote those words in a blog post.  I have been really busy at work the last 2 weeks preparing for Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Oh and my parents were in town over Thanksgiving weekend and I celebrated my 27th birthday.  Luckily, things are starting to calm down now, so I hope to get back to my usual writing routine soon.  I am in the process of making changes to my blog and I wanted to keep everyone up to date.

Introducing my First New Writer – Tonei

My good friend Tonei (pronounced Tony) joined the TWG family last week and he wrote his first post a few days ago: Travel with Tonei: 15% Off Almost Everything at Target for 2 Days.  In a perfect world, I would have introduced Tonei in a short blog post before his first blog post was published and explained why I think he would make a great addition to TWG.  Unfortunately, that did not happen, but better late than never.

Tonei and I met at the SF Travel Hackers Meetup Group last year and I have always enjoyed talking with him and listening to his travel (mis)adventures.  At our most recent meetup, we talked about his recent move to Mexico City, visiting the multiple Centurion Lounges at Mexico City’s airport, MSing abroad, and future travel plans.  While listening to his stories, I was constantly thinking, “This would make a great blog post,” over and over in my head.  I told him that his stories were so interesting and that others would probably like to read about his stories too.  My writing philosophy is, “I want to write articles that I would want to read.”  If it interests me, it will probably interest other people as well.

Welcome Tonei, I am looking forward to reading your upcoming blog posts :) Continue reading

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New Targeted US Bank FlexPerks AMEX Offer: Spend $1,750, Earn 1,500 Bonus FlexPoints

Good morning everyone, happy Wednesday.  I apologize for writing about another targeted spending offer from US Bank.  US Bank loves to send me targeted spending offers and I hope I am not the only one who receives these offers.  For the record, I have 6 US Bank credit cards and I have now received spending offers on 4 of them (all for purchases made in November and December).  As a refresher, here are my 3 most recent posts regarding targeted spending offers from US Bank:

Today’s targeted spending offer is on my US Bank FlexPerks AMEX Credit Card.  After I spend $1,750 on the credit card (between November 1 and December 31), I will receive 1,500 bonus US Bank FlexPoints.  This offer isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible either.  Unfortunately, I do not think earning an extra 1,500 FlexPoints is worth spending $1,750 on the credit card.

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Targeted Ebates Offer: $50 Cash Bonus for Spending $200 Online, In-Store or In-App

Good evening everyone.  As Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach, holiday shopping is starting to heat up.  With that said, I just got an email from Ebates for a targeted offer to get a $50 cash bonus after spending $200 between today (November 22) and December 31.  Check your inbox for an email from ebatesnewsletter@mail.ebates.com with the subject line Ebates Friends & Family: Earn Some Doe!  If you are not an Ebates members, you can sign up for a free account here (you will get a $10 cash bonus after your first $25 purchase).

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