Good morning everyone, I wanted to respond to Frequent Milers’s post (My manufactured spend strategy) and share my own MS strategy. You will probably be surprised by my strategy, maybe inspired, and maybe even disappointed. Let’s get started…
Every Sunday, Staples releases their latest Easy Rebate offers/coupons here. This week, we have more paper on sale and a few smaller deals, like $5 off food and tape.
Don’t worry Marathon Man, your secrets are safe. The one thing you said that I will share is, “manufactured spending is like card counting.” That is such a great analogy that fits perfectly. Just like card counting, MS is not illegal, but it is definitely frowned upon. The comparison to MS is wonderful. After catching up on some sleep, I have a few points I want to share about the #WestCoastDo and the other travel conferences I have attended.
1 – First off, great job to Matt @ Saverocity for putting together and pulling off a great travel conference. I am sure those in attendance would agree. The lunch was fabulous and the extended happy hour was much appreciated. Thanks for all the hard work, time, and money you spent on this conference. You da’ man!
2 – Uber is great in Phoenix/Scottsdale. I used Uber a few times to get to/from my Holiday Inn Express hotel (please don’t screw me over Into the Nights) as well as to get to the airport. There are lots of drivers at all hours of the day and night.
3 – George @ Travel Blogger Buzz is much nicer in person. I have been a long time reader and friend of George, but this was the first time meeting him in person. He is very nice, funny, and just fun to hang out with. He shared his thought on #WestCoastDo here.
#WestCoastDO Most often heard expression to me: ‘You are nowhere as angry in person as you appear on your blog’. I agree :)
— George (@FlyerTalkerinA2) November 9, 2014
Good evening everyone, I wish I were here with better news, but unfortunately on the eve of #westcoastdo, I received an email from my credit card affiliate network that my Barclays credit card links will be deactivated Monday, November 10 at 12PM CT. Shortly after noon, I will remove all Barclays credit card links from my blog.
Over the last year and a half, I have slowly and steadily lost all the great credit card links, from Chase, Citi, American Express, Bank of America, Discover, US Bank, and now Barclays. With the loss of Barclays, I will only have links for secured credit card, which I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy. The loss of credit card affiliate links is probably a result of very low approval numbers (I am too small for the banks to bother keeping) and the manufactured spending topics I often discuss probably didn’t help either.
It is kind of ironic, really. When I started my blog in May 2013, I had all the great credit card links and none of the site traffic. Fast forward to today, the situation has completely swapped. In a few days, I will have no credit card links and much greater site traffic. The timing was terrible, but also a blessing. Continue reading
Good Thursday morning everyone, here are some random news articles for you. Recently, I wrote about the newly redesigned Citi American Airlines Executive Credit Card (link) and commented on the fast that the new design did not have an Admirals Club logo on the card. Over the weekend, I visited the Admirals Club in SFO and the front desk agent told me that Citi forgot to include the Admirals Club logo on some of their new Executive Cards. I called Citi and they sent me a new card via FedEx Overnight. Here is what the back of the card looks like with the Admirals Club logo in the upper right corner. If you have the old-new Executive Card, you can call Citi and request a new-new Executive Card.
American Express is on a roll with their AMEX Offers. I wrote about the new offers this week (post 1 and post 2) but apparently AMEX is still rolling out new offers. The latest offer to grab my attention is the Marriott Hotels offer, spend $200+ and receive a $50 statement credit.
Happy Friday evening everyone, hopefully your weekend is off to a great start. For those of you in the Orange County, LA, or San Diego area, please join me tomorrow afternoon for burgers, fries, and top secret manufactured spending discussions at In-N-Out (after all, that’s what a hamburger is all about). I will be outside on the tables wearing my Travel with Grant shirt, you can’t miss me!
No need to RSVP, just show up and join the conversation.
