Tag Archives: Hotel Loyalty Points

Last Day to Buy FTU Online Annual Membership for $49 (Price Increases to $129 on February 1)

Posted on by - 2 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  I’ve written about the FTU Online Annual Membership a few times, but I wanted to remind you that today is the last day to buy your membership before prices rise tomorrow.  Beginning February 1, the price will rise to $129.  If you want to save $80 on an annual membership, today is your last day to act.  With your annual membership, you will receive free access to the next FTU Virtual Seminar on February 20 (or buy a single ticket for $25).  Here is the tentative schedule and lineup of speakers (seminars start Saturday at 11am ET / 8am PT). I really enjoyed attending the first FTU Virtual Seminar back on December 12 and I’m sure the next seminar will be just as entertaining and educational.

Continue reading →

Buy FTU Online Annual Membership for $49 & Get Free Access to FTU Virtual Seminar (February 20)

Posted on by - Leave a reply

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I just received an email from Frequent Traveler University (FTU) that the $49 FTU Online Annual Membership price has been extended through January 31.  Beginning February 1, the price will rise to $129.  If you want to save $80 on an annual membership, you only have a few days left to act.

With your annual membership, you will receive free access to the next FTU Virtual Seminar on February 20 (or buy a single ticket for $25).  Here is the tentative schedule and lineup of speakers (seminars start Saturday at 11am ET / 8am PT). I really enjoyed attending the first FTU Virtual Seminar back on December 12 and I’m sure the next seminar will be just as entertaining and educational.

Continue reading →

Listen to Grant & Nick (from Frequent Miler) on the Risk of Ruin Podcast

Posted on by - 2 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope you had an enjoyable MLK Jr. Weekend.  I am a big fan of miles & points podcasts and I recently had the pleasure to join Nick from Frequent Miler on the latest episode of the Risk of Ruin Podcast (hosted by John Reeder).  John is a great story teller and expertly wove our experiences and stories together into a great podcast.  I highly recommend listening to this podcast on your favorite podcasting platform:

If you love the sound of my voice, check out my other podcast guest appearances on my Podcasts & Interviews page.  If you have any questions about this podcast, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

Ask Me (Almost) Anything Friday

Posted on by - 19 Replies

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I am looking forward to my MLK Jr. 3 day weekend and hope you are too.  Travel with Grant has always been about writing blog posts that interest me and I write blog posts that I would want to read (hopefully readers want to read those posts too).  My inspiration to write comes from first hand experiences with travel and rewards credit cards, in addition to reading other miles & points blogs and listening to miles & points podcasts.  I don’t have any blog posts at the forefront of my mind right now, so I am looking to my readers for some inspiration.  What are you interested in right now?  Do you have any questions about traveling, miles and points, or credit card rewards?

If you do, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer them all.  I should be able to answer some of them in the comments section, but others may lead to full on blog posts of their own.  My only request is that you do not ask me any complicated award booking questions like, “I want to get 25 people to Australia for Christmas in first class.”  Trust me, I’m not sitting on the greatest award booking secrets ever known, so my short answer will be to reach out to an award booking service and pray that they can help you out.  That is my one and only request, but I welcome all other questions.

Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, and enjoy your long weekend!

I Paid $3,820 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020 – Was it Worth it?

Posted on by - 9 Replies

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  After I published How Much Did I Pay in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020?, several readers asked if I could share how much value I received from each credit card in 2020.  Today’s post is also a sequel to my 2019 post (I Paid $4,588 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2019 – Was it Worth it?).  All 24 of these credit cards were opened before January 1, 2020, and no sign up bonus is included.  For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, since that is somewhat subjective (and most of the miles and points were not spent in 2020).  I counted all credits, reimbursements, retention offers, and referral bonuses at dollar face value.  For hotel free night certificates, I have several from 2020 that expire in 2021 and 2022, so I am using a standard value of $100 for each hotel free night certificate.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2020 and those values are summed up in the CCB $ column.  If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column.  I listed the credit card annual fee in the AF $ column.  Lastly, I used this formula to calculate the Profit or Loss (P / L column) for each credit card: CCB $ + RO $ – AF $ = P / L

I sorted the credit cards alphabetically and split them up into 3 smaller groups.  Here are some thoughts from the first group:

  • The first 3 AMEX cards were big money makers due to the standard card benefit credits and the temporary pandemic benefits.  It will be hard to beat these numbers in 2021.
  • I never planned on keeping the American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card long term and only signed up for the 70,000 Delta SkyMiles sign up bonus in 2019.
  • In most years, we are easily able to use the $99 Alaska Airlines Companion Fare, but due to the pandemic and very cheap Alaska Airlines flight, we did not use the Companion Fare in 2020.  I am hoping to use the Companion Fare this year.
  • I’m glad Laura (LT) was able to get a $59 retention offer on her Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and a $100 referral bonus.
Credit Card Name Credit Card Benefits CCB $ RO $ AF $ P / L
AMEX Business Platinum $400 Dell credit; $198 airline reimbursement; $160 wireless phone credit; $158 shipping credit; $96 AMEX Offers for Dell & AT&T $1,012 $200 $595 $617
AMEX Gold $120 dining credit; $100 airline reimbursement; $60 AMEX Offer for Shop Small $280 $0 $250 $30
AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire $250 airline reimbursement; $250 resort credit (used at restaurants); 1 Free Night Certificate (expires 7/2/22) (worth $100) $600 $0 $450 $150
AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMiles Downgraded to no annual fee American Express Blue Delta SkyMiles Credit Card to avoid paying annual fee $0 $0 $250 $0
Bank of America Alaska Airlines (LT) Alaska Airlines $99 Companion Fare expired in 2020 $0 $0 $75 -$75
Capital One Venture Rewards (LT) $100 referral bonus $100 $59 $59 $100

Continue reading →