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.

blue letters on a white background

6 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: United (100%), Hilton (90%), Southwest (50%), British Airways (40%), Choice Hotels (35%) & Alaska (60%)

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 6 offers that end in the next week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 6 offers that end soon.

Up first, United Airlines is offering up to a 100% bonus, depending on the number of United Airlines MileagePlus Miles you purchase.  This offer expires on September 17.

a screenshot of a website

Continue reading →

a logo of a cartoon character

Get to the Sonoma County / Santa Rosa Airport (STS) with SMART Train + Connect ($9 / Person) or with Groome ($20 / Person)

Posted on by . 4 Replies

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Several years ago, I wrote The Fastest Way from San Francisco to the SFO Centurion Lounge and Get to the Oakland International Airport (OAK) Escape Lounge Like a Pro.  In those posts, I showed how you could take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from various parts of the San Francisco Bay to get to SFO and OAK, and then the fastest way to get to the Centurion Lounge (SFO) and Escape Lounge (OAK).  I’ve taken a few flights from the Sonoma County / Santa Rosa Airport (STS) over the years, so I thought I would write a post on how to get to the airport from Marin & Sonoma County (north side of the Golden Gate Bridge).  STS is in the heart of Santa Rosa, which is part of Sonoma County and a short drive to Napa County – paradise for wine lovers.  As a geography refresher, STS is 60+ miles north of SFO and OAK (thank you Great Circle Mapper!)

a screenshot of a map

Image source: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=SFO-OAK-STS-SFO

Continue reading →

a blue text on a white background

How to Use Amazon Shop with Points Redemption for Orphaned US Bank Rewards (Get 1 CPP Value)

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I was approved for the US Bank Business Altitude Connect Credit Card that offered 60,000 points (worth $600 cash back) after spending $6,000 in 6 months.  I completed the minimum spending requirement and received the sign up bonus this morning.  After redeeming the majority of the sign up bonus as a statement credit, I had 1,772 orphaned (aka leftover) points.  In this post, I will show you how to use the Amazon Shop with Points feature to use up any orphaned US Bank Rewards (either points or cash back).

To get started, sign into your US Bank account, go to your credit card account, click the Rewards and Benefits tab, and then click the Redeem or View My Rewards button.  As you can see, I have 1,772 points left in my account.  To see the redemption options, click the 3 lines in the upper left corner.

Continue reading →

a green logo with white background

4 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Frontier Airlines (150%), IHG Hotels (80%), Marriott (35%) & Spirit (40%)

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 4 offers that end in the next week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are the 4 offers that end soon.

Up first, Frontier Airlines is offering up to a 150% bonus, depending on the number of Frontier Airlines Miles you purchase.  This offer expires today – September 8.

a seal on a website

Continue reading →

a blue and white logo

How to Use 2 American Express Business Platinum Cards to Split CLEAR Plus + 1 Family Member into 2 Charges

Posted on by . 8 Replies

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I got my CLEAR renewal email that said my membership would be increasing $50, from $169 to $219.  That was a bummer since I was looking forward to using the $189 CLEAR Plus credit that comes with my American Express Business Platinum Card.  Since I currently have 2 AMEX Biz Plat Cards, I wanted to use both cards to get the CLEAR Plus credit.

I have an AMEX Delta credit card which provided a discounted CLEAR membership of $149 for myself and I have my wife as a family member on my CLEAR membership for an additional $70.  Technically, I might have been able to remove my wife from my CLEAR account and set her up with her own account which would have cost her $179, since she is a general Delta SkyMiles member, but I wanted to see if I could keep costs low.

Here is what I did next…

a screenshot of a email

Continue reading →