Tag Archives: Travel

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Amtrak Guest Rewards Points Expire? Call Amtrak to Reinstate Points for Free (1 Time Courtesy)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  Yesterday, I had a mini panic attack when I got an AwardWallet notification that my Amtrak Guest Rewards account balance dropped to 0.  I immediately logged into my Amtrak Guest Rewards account and saw that my 22,510 Amtrak Guest Rewards Points had expired.  Oh no!!  According to Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs) for Amtrak Guest Rewards Points, these points are worth between 2.5-2.9 cents each, so those 22,510 Amtrak Guest Rewards Points were worth up to $653 in Amtrak travel.  I hadn’t taken an Amtrak trip since my California Zephyr trip from Denver to San Francisco in February 2016 – but I definitely had my eye on the Empire Builder route from Chicago to Seattle/Portland.

Strangely, the Amtrak Guest Rewards Points were deducted from my account on August 15, but I didn’t get the AwardWallet account update until September 12.  Come on AwardWallet, tell me sooner that my points are expiring next time!

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Alaska Airlines 2-for-1 Flight Vouchers (SF Giants Game on 9/14)

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Good morning everyone.  If you are located near the SF Bay Area and want a discounted Alaska Airlines flight, listen up.  On Saturday September 14, the San Francisco Giants are giving out 2-for-1 flight vouchers on Alaska Airlines to the first 40,000 fans in attendance.  Alaska Airlines (and previously Virgin America) are big sponsors of the San Francisco Giants and do this giveaway every year – I wrote about this promo in 2017 and 2018.  If you want to get cheap tickets to the game, check StubHub, SeatGeek, or Gametime.  If you cannot attend the game, I am sure you will be able to find these vouchers on eBay shortly after game time.

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I Completed My 4 Credit Card July App-O-Rama (Sign Up Bonus Posting Details)

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  In mid July, I applied for 5 credit cards and was ultimately approved for 4 credit card in my July App-O-Rama.  Here are the credit cards and their sign up bonus details (listed in the order the sign up bonus posted):

  • American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card – spend $3,000 in 3 months and get 70,000 Delta SkyMiles
  • Wells Fargo Propel World Credit Card – spend $3,000 in 3 months and get 40,000 Wells Fargo GoFar Rewards Points
  • Banco Popular Avianca Vuela Credit Card – spend $1,000 in 3 months and get 60,000 Avianca LifeMiles
  • Citi Premier Credit Card – spend $4,000 in 3 months and get 60,000 Citi Thank You Points

I have had all of these credit cards before (with the exception of the American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card), so I will share my dates and churning details in this post.  I have also written about some of these sign up bonuses already, so I will link to those posts too.  Without further ado, let’s start with my American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card.

American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card

This was the quickest sign up bonus to post (with the miles posting 9 days after applying for this credit card).  I wrote more details of the quick sign up bonus here.  As of today, I haven’t used the Delta SkyMiles yet and do not have any immediate plans to use them.

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Join Me @ FBZ Elite Summit in Austin, Texas (Oct 26, 2019)

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Have you been trying to figure out ways to travel more and spend less? Do you wonder how people stock up enough points to stay in luxury hotels and fly first class? Or maybe, you’re just trying to figure out how to divvy up your points for the maximum amount of free stuff. If any of this interests you, then join me at this year’s FBZ Elite Summit in Austin, TX!

FinanceBuzz is proudly hosting the FBZ Elite Summit for FBZ Elite members, which will be a day-long conference that aims to help attendees learn how to manage points and miles, travel frugally, save money, and connect with other travel enthusiasts. Most importantly, the main FinanceBuzz goal is to help people become financially independent and aware of the clever financial footwork involved in the points and miles game, ultimately resulting in free and discount travel for you and your friends.

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Hotel Hack: Book Award Night When Only Cash Rates Available (YMMV)

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Good morning everyone.  This is a hotel hack that I have used a few times to various degrees of success.  It is definitely in the “gray area” of travel hacking (read Frequent Miler’s Blogging the Line post), but all’s fair in love, war, and award redemptions, right?  I don’t want to state any specific hotel chains or specific hotels that have worked for me, but this should technically be possible everywhere, but your mileage may vary (YMMV).  For this hotel hack, let me paint you a picture…

You are in the middle of planning your trip, the award flights are booked, the discounted rental car is booked, your activities are all planned out, but the hotel you have your eye on is not available on points.  Bummer!  Not to worry, there may be a way to book the hotel on points for the night you want.

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Image source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795957/mediaviewer/rm3400816384

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