Tag Archives: Travel Credit Cards

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I Paid $5,341 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2024 – Was it Worth it?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  With the end of the year right around the corner, I decided to publish my 2024 version of credit card annual fees I paid this year.  For comparison, here are my previous credit card annual fee posts:

For this year’s post, I decided to break up the list of credit cards into 5 sections:

  • Credit cards with sign up bonuses
  • Credit cards with retention offers
  • Credit cards with product changes
  • Credit cards that were closed this year
  • All other credit cards

For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, but I did include the value of miles and points earned from sign up bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, discounted points, and rebated points.  I counted all credits, reimbursements, and retention offers at face value.  I list the value of all tangible and intangible benefits below too.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2024 and those values are in the CCB $ column. If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column. I listed the credit card annual fees 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.  Laura’s card are included as well. Continue reading

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Sortable Table of Eligible Properties for $200 Semi Annual Hilton Resort Credit (40 More Properties Added)

Updated 8pm PT on 12/21/24: The table below has been updated with 40 new properties.  15 of the properties are in the Curio Collection and 15 of the properties are in Hilton Hotels & Resorts.  3 properties were removed.  Please go to the bottom of this post to see all the changes.


Good evening everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Recently, American Express and Hilton updated their list of properties that are eligible for the $200 semi annual Hilton resort credit on the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  The current list (found here) contains 294 properties (as of 12/21/24), but they are grouped by Brand Name, not sorted alphabetically by property name or country.  This makes it difficult to find a property or see which properties are available in certain cities or countries around the world.  I decided to take a crack at the list and add the city and country for each property and make the list sortable and searchable.

For some international properties, I was not sure which part of the property address was the city vs province / state / territory, so I need your help.  Please review the list and let me know if the city listed next to a specific property is incorrect and I will update the table.

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Chase 5/24 Rule Is Overrated: 6 Credit Cards & Bonuses I Scored After I Stopped Worrying

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  Every time a new credit card is announced or the sign up bonus increases to an all-time high, bloggers and readers debate endlessly about whether the card is “worthy of a Chase 5/24 slot.”  Back in the day (before the Chase 5/24 Rule existed), I think Chase had the best credit cards and the best sign up bonuses, but those days are long gone.  Many credit cards from American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Capital One, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo have bigger sign up bonuses and more transferable points than similar Chase credit cards. I like to think of myself as a free agent when it comes to credit cards, miles, and points, so I Chase chase the credit card sign up bonus, regardless of the credit card issuer.

I currently have 8 Chase credit cards, and based on my Chase 5/24 score, I won’t be able to pick up any new Chase credit cards for more than a 12-18 months.  The last Chase credit card I applied for was the Chase Ink Cash Credit Card and I was happy to pick up 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.  Here is my current Chase credit card roster:

Grant’s Chase Credit Cards Opened Notes
Chase Freedom Flex 1 11/1/2013 Opened Chase Freedom (2013), converted to Chase Sapphire Reserve (2017), & converted to Chase Freedom Flex (2021).
Chase IHG Rewards Select 11/18/2013
JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton 12/15/2014 Opened JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton (2014), converted to Chase Marriott Premier Plus (2017), & converted to JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton (2019).
Chase Ink Plus 3/21/2016
Chase IHG Rewards Premier 7/25/2018
Chase Freedom Flex 2 7/13/2021 Opened Chase Sapphire Preferred (2021) & converted to Chase Freedom Flex (2023).
Chase IHG Rewards Business 6/17/2022
Chase Ink Cash 10/13/2023

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Track IHG Nightly Award Rates & Rebook When Prices Drop (My Recent NYC Example)

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Last week (Thanksgiving Week), Laura and I spent 4 days in New York City.  We stayed at the conveniently located Crowne Plaza Times Square IHG Hotel which is close to Times Square, the Theater District, the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, and several subway stations (which you can take to JFK via Jamaica Station and the AirTrain).  We stayed at this hotel last March during Laura’s Spring Break, so we knew the area well.

I used 2 IHG Free Night Certificates from my Chase IHG Business Credit Card and the Chase IHG Select Credit Card (no longer available) along with IHG Points.  Nightly award prices vary dramatically (see the nightly prices for award stays in December 2024), but I closely tracked the nightly prices over a few months and rebooked my stays a few times whenever the award price dropped.  Whenever I book a hotel stay of more than 1 night, I always book my stays in 1 night increments since it is much easier to cancel and rebook 1 night at a time.  At check in, the front desk agent linked the stays together and kept us in the same room for the duration of the stay.  You could also call, email, or text the hotel ahead of time to let them know about the multiple back to back stays.

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ExpressVPN Cyber Monday Deal: Get 6 Extra Months Free with 24 Month Plan

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  Cyber Monday is here and ExpressVPN wants to get the party started.  ExpressVPN normally offers a 1 month free trial when you become a member, but during this promotion, you can get 6 extra months free when you purchase a 24 month planI have been using ExpressVPN since November 2016 and I love their desktop, laptop, and mobile app.  With data breaches occurring frequently, I think it is very important that we do our best to protect ourselves when we are online, whether that is at home or on the road.

I always use ExpressVPN when I am on free public wifi at hotels, airports, and lounges to protect my data.  ExpressVPN works very well when I travel internationally.  I connect to a VPN in the United States and then I can access streaming services that work in the US but are restricted / blocked internationally.  Lastly, since I am on the West Coast, I occasionally connect to a VPN in New York and watch TV shows that are airing on the East Coast.

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