Tag Archives: Travel

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Dealing with Banco Popular’s Avianca Vuela Credit Card Identification Verification Process

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Updated at 9:30am PT on 8/28/19: My 60,000 bonus miles posted today.  Scroll down to the end of the post to see more details.

Good morning everyone.  As part of my July App-O-Rama, I applied for and was instantly approved for the Banco Popular Avianca Vuela Credit Card, I even wrote a post about unboxing the new credit card.  Everything looked good on my side, my credit card was activated and the $149 annual fee posted to my account (the only charge on my first statement).  I paid the credit card and tried to make a few online purchases to complete the $1,000 minimum spend requirement, but my transactions kept getting declined (so embarrassing…).  Uh oh, this didn’t sound good.

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My Disappointing Experience with AMEX Business Platinum 35% Membership Rewards Point Rebate

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  2 months ago, I wrote First Class Flights Cheaper than Economy with AMEX Business Platinum 35% Membership Rewards Points Rebate.  In that post, I showed how I booked an Alaska Airlines first class flight using American Express Membership Rewards Points to trigger the 35% Membership Rewards Points rebate.  That flight was booked on May 30 for travel in mid October and cost 19,666 Membership Rewards Points.  According to the benefit terms, the rebate should appear in 6-10 weeks.  Based on the May 30 booking date, the 10 week mark was August 8.  I kept checking my Membership Rewards account ever few days in August, but no Membership Rewards Points ever posted.  On Friday, I decided to call the American Express Membership Rewards department to investigate the issue.  What ensued was not a very pleasant experience with the rep.

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Should you Mattress Run to Complete IHG Accelerate Promo?

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Updated at 6:30am PT on 8/22: The new IHG Accelerate promo is announced and will run from September 1 through December 31.

Good afternoon everyone.  The current IHG Accelerate promo ends on August 31, 2019 so there are only 9 days left to complete the requirements to earn your bonus IHG Points.  Everyone’s requirements and bonus will be different, but my Accelerate offer was for up to 34,200 IHG Points.  Let’s look closer at the requirements and see how close I am to earning the full bonus.

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending Soon: Southwest Airlines (40%), British Airways (45%), Choice Hotels (25%) & IHG Hotels (100%)

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Good afternoon everyone.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers ending soon.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 4 offers that end in the next 10 days.  Up first, Southwest Airlines is offering a 40% discount, when you purchase at least 5,000 Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points.  This offer expires tomorrow – August 14.

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Hotel Review: Kimpton Sir Francis Drake Hotel near San Francisco’s Union Square (55K IHG Points)

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Good morning everyone.  Last Saturday, Laura and I did a mini San Francisco honeymoon.  We stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins a few months ago, so we wanted to check out the Kimpton Sir Francis Drake hotel near San Francisco’s Union Square.  As part of IHG’s current Accelerate Promo, I needed to book a Points and Cash reservation to complete part of the promo.  The Kimpton Sir Francis Drake is normally 55,000 IHG Points, but I did a booking for 50,000 IHG Points + $28 cash.  Here is what the hotel lobby looked like when we arrived (with a few more guests and people working):

a room with a bar and chairs

Image source: https://www.booking.com/hotel/us/sir-francis-drake.html

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