Category Archives: Hotels + Points

a close-up of a credit card

American Express SPG Personal vs. Business: Which Credit Card is Better on August 1?

Good afternoon everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here but I think I’ve stumbled across some juicy information that warrants coming out of hiding. Lately, there’s been a lot of blog coverage regarding the change to the Marriott/SPG loyalty program. However, American Express also announced a change to the earning categories of their personal and business SPG credit cards. Both credit cards will continue to have the same annual fee, however 1 will earn TWICE as much as the other in certain popular categories.

I currently hold both the personal and business SPG credit cards and I have decided that I need to cancel one credit card because the annual fees just posted on both credit cards. My SPG business credit card has a lower APR (although you shouldn’t be carrying a balance and paying interest if you’re travel hacking) but my personal SPG credit card has been open for a longer period of time. There are no downgrade options so closing one of them and hopefully transferring the credit limit of that credit card to another credit card might be the best way to go. I initiated a chat with American Express to discuss my options. I asked the agent if there were any benefits that one credit card had over the other. (I know this info is available on the web but I’m at work and didn’t have the time to do a search and compare.) What I found out was exactly what I needed to decide which credit card to close and which credit card to keep open.

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a hammock on a beach

Happy Feet Make For Happy Travels

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There’s one essential must-have, must-take-with-me-when-I-travel item that I get tons of questions about. When I wear my Buff people look at me…….and then ask a question. But with Yoga toes, very few people actually see me using them because I’m home or in a hotel room when I use them. Whenever I talk about Yoga toes people are curious.

So let’s answer the most asked question: what’s the big deal about Yoga toes?

First let’s start with some humor. I actually had a woman ask me, “Can’t you just put marbles, or grapes, or something between your toes?” I suppose you could, but my answer to her was, “Why would you want to when you can use Yoga toes?”

a pair of feet with blue toe separators Continue reading →

a close-up of a credit card

My US Bank Radisson Rewards Credit Card Arrived; Why Does the Card Look Different?

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Good afternoon everyone.  Earlier today, I wrote Did I get Approved for a New US Bank Credit Card? Just Log into your Account to Check.  In that post, I talked about my surprise approval of the US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card.  I also mentioned that I received the Platinum Visa version, instead of the Visa Signature version.  Here is a quick rundown of the differences between the Visa Signature version (left) and the Visa Platinum version (right).  I wanted the Visa Signature version because the sign up bonus was 60,000 Radisson Rewards Points after spending $1,500 in 3 months and it came with 25,000 Radisson Rewards Points every year you pay the $50 annual fee.  Eventually, I plan on upgrading to the US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card (not pictured) because that offers 40,000 Radisson Rewards Points every year you pay the $75 annual fee.

In this post, I will show you the card art for the Visa Platinum version and the welcome letter that came with this credit card.  I will also share my 2 calls to US Bank to try to make sense of my new credit card.

a screenshot of a credit card

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a close up of stamps

Travel Hacking Mistakes WE Still Make

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In life, there’s always room for improvement, that’s for sure. And that holds true for the travel hacking world that each of us creates. Talking about mistakes we make is never an easy conversation, but Grant and I had it anyway. Whether the mistakes are the once-and-we’ll-never-do-that-again type, or those reoccurring mistakes that we seem to make over and over again, shedding light on the mistakes helps us think through what we’re doing and perhaps more importantly, what those mistakes might be costing us in the way of miles and points. After admitting our mistakes and deciding to share them with you, Grant and I had a good laugh about it all. Then he went back to enjoying his chai latte and I finished off my cortado, and of course we vowed to wipe the slate clean and not make the same mistakes again.

Let’s Take a Look at Our Mistakes

Grant felt that maybe searching and booking award flights and hotels too far out is a mistake because there are often good deals if you wait to the very last minute. Continue reading →

a blue text on a white background

Did I get Approved for a New US Bank Credit Card? Just Log into your Account to Check

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Good morning everyone.  During my recent App-O-Rama, I applied for the US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card.  This credit card offers 60,000 Radisson Rewards Points after spending $1,500 in 3 months.  There is a $50 annual fee, but you get 25,000 Radisson Rewards Points every year for paying the annual fee.  After I get the sign up bonus, I will call US Bank and ask them to upgrade me to the US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card, which offers 40,000 Radisson Rewards Points every year when you pay the $75 annual fee.

I already had the US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card (previously named the US Bank Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card) and the US Bank Radisson Rewards Business Visa Credit Card (previously named the US Bank Club Carlson Business Rewards Visa Credit Card).  I created this helpful table to show you the before (top, Club Carlson) and after (bottom, Radisson Rewards) credit card names.  Long story short, my application for the US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card went to pending and I assumed I would be declined for this credit card because I already have 6 US Bank credit cards and my ARS / SageStream credit reports are frozen.  But as I later found out, that was not the case.  Here’s how I found out that I was approved.

a screenshot of a credit card

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