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Stop Spam & Robo Calls with RoboKiller App (Listen to my 2 Funny Voicemail Recordings)

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Full Disclosure: This post has nothing to do with travel and I have no referral / affiliate relationship with RoboKiller.  Please enjoy the 2 funny voicemail recordings.

Good afternoon everyone.  A few weeks ago, I read about RoboKiller in a magazine and decided to check it out.  RoboKiller is an app that runs on your smartphone that will block spam / robo calls and texts.  One of my favorite features of RoboKiller is the ability to use one of the Answer Bots (basically a recording that pretends to be a real person answering the phone).  When RoboKiller detects a spam or robo call, it will answer the call and play the selected Answer Bot.  The app records the caller and the Answer Bot and allows you to listen to the call afterward.  There are 50-100 different Answer Bots to choose from, but my choice is a 5-6 year old girl who answers the phone.  You can listen to the 2 recordings below to get an idea of how it works.

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First call is 1 minute and 27 seconds:

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4 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: JetBlue (40%), Southwest (30%), British Airways (30%) & United (75%)

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Good afternoon everyone.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers ending soon.  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 4 offers that end this month.  Up first, JetBlue is offering up to a 40% discount, depending on the number of JetBlue TrueBlue Points you purchase.  This offer expires tomorrow – January 23.

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card ($400 Annual Fee)

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Good morning everyone.  As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit (and charge) cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet.  Last week, I reviewed my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card.  In today’s post, I will review my US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card, which could be my favorite credit card that I never carry (it is my default credit card in my ApplePay wallet though).

Even though the $400 annual fee for this credit card won’t post until March, I have been mentally thinking over my premium credit cards and seeing if there are ways to save some money on annual fees (read I Paid $4,588 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2019 & Was it Worth it?).  My December credit card statement closed a few weeks ago and I wondered if I get enough value out of this credit card to justify the annual fee.  In 2019, I earned 66,492 FlexPoints (50,000 FlexPoints came from the sign up bonus) and I only spent $8,229 ($4,500 were required to complete the minimum spending requirement).  I will review the credit card benefits and tell you why I think this credit card is a keeper.

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Caution: Marriott Bonvoy App Used My Points Instead of My Free Night Certificate

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  Yesterday, I was trying to use my Free Night Certificate from my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card to book a hotel in New York City and experienced some issues booking through the Marriott Bonvoy app.  My Ritz Carlton Free Night Certificate is good at Marriott properties that cost up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points and the property I wanted to stay at cost 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.

When I used the Marriott Bonvoy app to book the hotel, I assumed the app would use my Ritz Carlton Free Night Certificate to pay for the 50,000 point redemption.  Unfortunately, the app used 50,000 points and I only realized it when I refreshed AwardWallet and saw that my account balance decreased by 50,000 points, but my Ritz Carlton Free Night Certificate was not used.  I immediately canceled the points booking and went through the Marriott website on my iPhone.  I repeated the same steps and when I got to the payment option, it defaulted to selecting my Ritz Carlton Free Night Certificate (the 50,000 point option was also shown).  I completed the booking on the website and refreshed AwardWallet to make sure my point balance did not change, but that my Ritz Carlton Free Night Certificate was used.

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What is the Best Hotel Credit Card Free Night Certificate?

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I was listening to the Frequent Miler On The Air podcast recently and they were discussing free night certificates.  As I mentioned in my Ask Me Anything (AMA): Hotel Edition post, I have quite a few hotel credit cards that come with free night certificates.  I wanted to compare the free night certificates and separate the standouts from the duds.  I used Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values (RRV) for the hotel point values.  Some of these credit cards are available for new members, while some are no longer available (NLA), but you may be able to convert to them if you have the correct credit card.

I looked at the credit card’s annual fee and the category cap that the free night certificate is good for.  I also included Radisson Rewards anniversary points, even though they are points and not free night certificates.  I did not take into account any addition benefits other than the free night certificate (like elite status or the ability to earn an extra free night certificate).

This is how I read the chart: the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Credit Card (NLA) has an $85 annual fee and comes with a free night certificate worth up to 25,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.  Each Marriott Bonvoy Point is worth 0.72 cents per point (CPP), so the free night certificate has a value of $180.  When I subtract the $95 annual fee, the credit card provides $95 in value on top of the annual fee.

Hotel Credit Card Name
(NLA = No Longer Available)		 Annual
Fee		 Category
Cap		 RRV
CPP		 Free Night Value True Value
(FNV – AF)
Marriott Credit Cards
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier (NLA) $85.00 25,000 0.72 $180.00 $95.00
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless $99.00 35,000 0.72 $252.00 $153.00
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Biz (NLA) $99.00 35,000 0.72 $252.00 $153.00
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Biz $125.00 35,000 0.72 $252.00 $127.00
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant $450.00 50,000 0.72 $360.00 -$90.00
JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton (NLA) $450.00 50,000 0.72 $360.00 -$90.00
Radisson Rewards Credit Cards
US Bank Radisson Rewards (NLA) $50.00 25,000 0.38 $95.00 $45.00
US Bank Radisson Rewards Biz (NLA) $60.00 40,000 0.38 $152.00 $92.00
US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier $75.00 40,000 0.38 $152.00 $77.00
Hyatt Credit Cards
Chase Hyatt Hotels (NLA) $75.00 15,000 1.50 $225.00 $150.00
Chase World of Hyatt $95.00 15,000 1.50 $225.00 $130.00
IHG Credit Cards
Chase IHG Rewards Select (NLA) $49.00 40,000 0.57 $228.00 $179.00
Chase IHG Rewards Premier $89.00 40,000 0.57 $228.00 $139.00
Hilton Credit Cards
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire $450.00 95,000 0.45 $427.50 -$22.50
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire $450.00 120,000 0.45 $540.00 $90.00

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