Tag Archives: Frequent Flyer Miles

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My Successful Barclays JetBlue Plus Credit Card Retention Call [Targeted Spending Offer Letter Included]

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Updated 5:15am PT on 1/29: I uploaded an image of the letter I received from my retention call to Barclays.  Scroll down to the bottom of the post for more info.

Good morning everyone, another day, another blog post about free money from Barclays. On Monday, I wrote a blog post regarding a $10 statement credit I received from Barclays for adding an authorized user to my Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card. Yesterday, I called Barclays about my Barclays JetBlue Plus Credit Card. The $99 annual fee posted a few days ago, so I called Barclays to see if there were any retention offers available. I haven’t put much spend on the credit card since meeting the minimum spend but I have racked up thousands of JetBlue TrueBlue points with Amazon.

The first offer I received was for half the annual fee to be waived ($49.50). That was pretty good, but then I asked if there were any other offers available. Yes, she could also tack on a targeted spending offer to get 5,000 bonus JetBlue TrueBlue points for spending $1,000 in the next 90 days. Sold! I accepted that offer.  The $49.50 statement credit posted to my account the next day.

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Grant’s 2017 Year in Miles & Points: How’d it Go?

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I thought it would be fun to kick off the new year by interviewing Grant about his past year of travel, miles, and points. Read along as Grant answers the questions I put to him and see how you’d answer these questions about your own year.

1. What was the deal or miles/points opportunity that you wish you had gotten in on (if there was one)?

I was really excited about the British Airways promotion to earn 82,286 British Airways Avios for signing up for Match.com and spending $548.57 (0.67 CPM). I signed up just for the miles and thought since I’m paying for the service, I would try it out and see if I met anyone. Long story short, British Airways never gave me the Avios and Match.com refunded my whole payment, but it was totally worth it because I met my girlfriend on Match.com and we’ve been together for the last 9 months. If you want to read more about the details, check out this post.

Shelli: Did anyone get in on this?

Grant: I don’t think any bloggers or readers got their British Airways Avios ☹

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British Airways Business Class Meal Review (LHR-LAS)

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A week before my British Airways long-haul flight in business class, I asked TWG readers to choose my meal for me. The Braised British Beef was the clear winner, getting 53% of the votes! So that’s what I pre-ordered. Before I tell you about that meal though, I had a three hour British Airways flight (LIS-LHR) in business class that provided a lunch which I could not pre-order. Based on what I had heard from lots of different sources, I had very low expectations of British Airways. Both their planes and their food got absolutely no love, at all.

This short British Airways flight was actually a great experience. Nothing special about the plane itself, but it was the crew and meal that made the difference. The crew and service were great. They were fun to talk with and full of good cheer. They did mention that British Airways had a new catering service and menu, and that they hoped we’d notice and be pleased. It did feel like perhaps I was the only one in business class who wasn’t a British Airways regular, so that leaves me with nothing to compare this meal and service to except what I had previously heard from others.

The starter of prawns and seaweed salad was well prepared. Great combo of textures and taste. Since I knew I’d be eating beef on my next flight, I went with chicken for my main course. Big portions, way too much for me, and the chicken cooked just right. I didn’t have dessert or bread. No complaints at all on this meal, and as I mentioned, an all-around great British Airways inflight experience.

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My TD Bank Connect Card Shutdown Letter & 1 Month Grace Period

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Good morning everyone, happy MLK Jr. Day.  I hope you are having a great holiday weekend.  Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $10 Amazon eGift Card. By the time you read this post, I will be somewhere in Central America.  A long time ago, I had a TD Bank checking account (thank you for the $200 checking account bonus, TD Bank) and I signed up for a TD Bank Connect Card.  The TD Bank Connect Card is a prepaid reloadable debit card which can only be funded with a TD Bank credit card (I used my TD Bank Aeroplan Credit Card as the funding source).

After several months of using my TD Bank Connect Card (and racking up Aeroplan miles on the credit card), I received the following letter from TD Bank stating that they were going to close my TD Bank Connect Card due to unusual activity (apparently loading and withdrawing funds from a prepaid reloadable debit card is unusual).  Luckily, TD Bank sent me the letter in early December and told me they were going to close my TD Bank Connect Card on January 4, 2018.  I’m not sure why they gave me a full month of use after they determined that they were going to close my card, but TD Bank is “America’s Most Convenient Bank”.

Since I had nothing to lose, I increased my use of the TD Bank Connect Card (go big or go home) until early January when my card was closed on January 4, 2018.  At the bottom of the letter, it said that any funds left on the card after the card was closed would be sent back to me via check.  I didn’t test that out since I didn’t want to float the money to TD Bank until I received the check, but I did give it a second thought.

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My Unlikely, But Entertaining 2018 Travel Predictions

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Greetings from Uyuni airport in Bolivia.  I have a few minutes before my flight, so I wanted to get this post published.  Sorry for the delay in posting this list, my crystal ball was in the shop for a tuneup. As you can tell from my 2017 travel predictions, I am wrong 99% of the time, so take these predictions with a grain of salt (that I took from the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia).  Here are some of my highly unlikely, but entertaining travel predictions for 2018.  Enjoy!

Airlines

  • After the Virgin America merger, Alaska Airlines will add new routes to Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean
  • Delta Airlines will introduce cash and miles award tickets, then American Airlines and United Airlines will follow suit
  • Southwest Airlines will increase their Transfarency by automatically keeping track of travel funds in each account
  • JetBlue will add new routes along the West Coast and maybe to Hawaii
  • Singapore Airlines will allow you to book United Airlines awards online
  • British Airways will bring back the 4,500 Avios award price in the United States

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