Tag Archives: Frequent Flyer Miles

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My Upcoming Long Presidents Day Weekend in Cabo San Lucas (+ your Restaurant & Activity Recommendations)

Good morning everyone, I am heading down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico tomorrow for a long Presidents Day Weekend.  A few months ago, I wrote Redeem Virgin Atlantic Miles for Virgin America Award Flights (Complete Route Network from SFO).  In that post, I showed how it was possible (at the time) to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles for travel on Virgin America (this partnership is no longer possible since Alaska Airlines is acquiring Virgin America).  Long story short, I redeemed 25,000 Virgin Atlantic miles for a round trip Virgin America flight from SFO to SJD (Cabo).  This will be my second trip to Cabo and I wrote about my first trip in these posts:

During my first visit, I stayed at the beautiful Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort and loved the property.  Here is a view from my room that overlooked the pool and beach.

Hilton Cabo View2

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5 Ways to Keep American Airlines Frequent Flyer Miles from Expiring (Without Getting on a Plane)

My cousin called me yesterday afternoon to ask a question about her American Airlines miles expiring. She has a stash of miles expiring in a few months and didn’t even know that miles expire. I gave her a short answer because I was heading home from the mall to get ready for dinner. But it got me thinking, that maybe I hadn’t given her the best advice or even all the options, so I did some research and here’s what I’d tell her now.

Yup, your miles will expire if you don’t have activity in your account every 18 months. If you have no plans to fly to keep your account active, there are plenty of options. My cousin could:

  1. Apply for a Citi AAdvantage or Barclays Aviator Credit Card.
  2. Make a hotel reservation or car rental with an AAdvantage hotel or car rental partner. As long as her American Airlines frequent flyer number is linked to the reservation, she’ll get activity in her account and keep her miles alive.
  3. Link a credit card to the American Airlines dining program.  She can link American Airlines and then get miles when she eats at select restaurants.
  4. Shop online using the AAdvantage shopping portal.
  5. Buy or gift miles, redeem for a magazine subscription, or donate miles to any of American Airline’s partner charities.

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Reminder: SF Travel Hacker Meetup @ Super Duper Burgers (Saturday February 11 from 12-2pm)

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  I just wanted to remind those of you in the Bay Area about my meetup scheduled for this afternoon at Super Duper Burgers.  As a reminder, this location is on Market Street between Montgomery and Powell Street BART stations.

  • Where: Super Duper Burgers, 721 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94103 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, February 11 @ 12-2pm

Super Duper Burgers Yelp

No need to RSVP, just show up and be ready to eat and talk travel.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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Grant is Coming to a Travel Conference Near You (Maybe)

Good afternoon everyone, with the announcement of FTU (Frequent Traveler University) Advanced Minneapolis a few days ago, I thought it would be fun to share my next 3 travel conferences:

Tickets are sold out for FTU Advanced Seattle, but if you are persistent, you can usually find last minute tickets for sale the days before the conference starts.  Tickets for FTU Advanced Minneapolis just went on sale, so there should be plenty of tickets available.  Lastly, tickets to the Chicago Seminars are not available yet, but the date has been set.  I will be at all 3 events *proudly* wearing my Travel with Grant shirt.

I have never been to a Family Travel for Real Life (FT4RL) conference, but I am eagerly waiting for them to come out to the West Coast.  I just started gift card reselling, so I am considering attending a ResellingDO event sometime in the future.  Are there any other travel conferences you recommend attending?

Grant and Ray Chicago Seminars 2014

Ray (the original credit card churner) and I at Chicago Seminars, 2014

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SF Travel Hacker Meetup @ Super Duper Burgers (Saturday February 11 from 12-2pm)

Good morning everyone, happy rainy Tuesday from San Francisco.  It’s been months since my last SF travel hackers meetup so I have decided to take my (burger-eating) talents back to Super Duper Burgers this Saturday afternoon.  If you are free this Saturday, please join me and other Bay Area travel hackers for burgers, fries, miles, points, MS, and more.  As a reminder, this location is on Market Street between Montgomery and Powell Street BART stations.

  • Where: Super Duper Burgers, 721 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94103 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, February 11 @ 12-2pm

Super Duper Burgers Yelp

No need to RSVP, just show up on time (rain or shine) and be ready to eat and talk.  Have a great week everyone!