a logo with a star and a circle

New Tool to Snag Earliest Available Global Entry Appointment

Posted on by . 1 Reply

Global Entry is an incredibly valuable tool for those of us that travel outside of the US relatively frequently. And better yet, many credit cards, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, American Express Platinum card, and others, offer to reimburse your $100 Global Entry application fee every 4 to 5 years.  The downside has become actually getting a Global Entry interview appointment. With more and more people having access to free Global Entry, sometimes the next available appointment at a given airport is MONTHS away. That’s not very helpful if you have trips coming up in the meantime.

Of course, you can check nearby airports or login a couple of times per day to see if anyone has cancelled an appointment, but there’s a better way. Get Me Global Entry is a new service that will send alerts to your phone, via text, when an appointment opens up so you can login and book it right away. It costs $9.99 for 14 days worth of notifications, which I think is a great value!

a screenshot of a cell phone number

Continue reading →

a city skyline with white text

New York City Limits Ride-Hailing Services

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Did you know that New York City just became the first major U.S. city to limit ride-hailing services? This news grabbed my attention because of something that happened the last time I was in NYC. As I was walking by City Hall I noticed that it was sealed off. On the front steps a protest was in progress. I saw press coverage and someone was making a speech. I walked around the park for a bit and then as I was leaving the area I saw one of the protestors with a man I assumed was a politician. They were being interviewed by a television station. It was the tail end of the interview so I didn’t catch much. The protest signs said something about taxi drivers committing suicide, but not living in New York City I had no idea what this meant or what story it was referencing. I meant to do some research but forgot about it.

Uber/Lyft car in NYC

Image source: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/09/637008474/new-york-city-temporarily-halts-more-uber-and-lyft-cars-on-the-road

Continue reading →

orange text on a white background

Track Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses, Annual Fees & 5/24 Score with TravelFreely

Posted on by . 7 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  A few weeks ago, I was in Denver and went to the Front Range Travel Hackers Meetup Group.  At the meetup, I met Zac, the founder of TravelFreely, a website he created to track credit card sign up bonuses (deadlines to complete the minimum spending requirements), track credit card annual fees, calculate your 5/24 Score, and make it easy for you to track your credit cards along with your spouse / companion’s credit cards.  And by the way, the service is completely free and you can set up your account in a few minutes (unless you have 30+ credit cards like me, in which case, it could take a little longer).  Without further ado, here is how TravelFreely works.  To get started, sign up for your free TravelFreely account here.  Enter your name, email address, and click the Get Started button.

Continue reading →

a logo of a boat

The FERRY Best of Staten Island

Posted on by . 8 Replies

I’m not much into cruises but I do have one that’s my all-time favorite, and it just might surprise you. Even better than it being my favorite, one thing about this cruise seems to be something most people don’t know……it’s FREE! And you’ll almost cruise close enough to be able to shake hands with a very famous lady! Okay, enough with the hints. I’m talking about the Staten Island Ferry Harbor Cruise.

The Staten Island Ferry – A Free New York Harbor Cruise

You’d think there wouldn’t be much to know about the Staten Island Ferry Harbor Cruise except you get on, you cruise and see incredible New York Harbor sites, you get off. But as I recently found out, just knowing about the cruise and that it’s free is only the beginning of what you need to know to make this outing a great memorable adventure.

a ferry boat in the water with Staten Island Ferry in the background

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island_Ferry

Continue reading →

a credit card with a chip and a chip

Why I’m Giving the New SPG Luxury Card a Pass

Posted on by . 4 Replies

I’ve been on the fence about whether or not to apply for the new Amex SPG Luxury card and I’ve finally decided to pass. I’ve been a long time Amex customer and have had both the SPG personal and business cards for many years. I used them both, and put as much spend on them as I could. For years all my non-bonused spend went on the personal SPG card and the business card saw heavy use, too.

I really appreciated the Sheraton lounge access that came with the business card. SPG was for many years my number one hotel chain and until the SPG/Marriott merger, SPG was always in my top two. I’ve had multiple amazing SPG hotel stays on four continents.

I never got to Platinum status but did maintain Gold year after year and always felt my Gold status was acknowledged in many generous ways. The merger with Marriott was not one I would have voted for, but then my vote didn’t count :) My SPG cards came out of my wallet and my last Sheraton stay was 8 months ago. Continue reading →