Tag Archives: US Bank

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Upcoming US Bank FlexPerks Visa/AMEX Credit Card Changes to “Grocery”; FlexPoints Purchase & Transfer Limits

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Good morning everyone.  After a busy morning of paying credit card bills, I spotted a few changes to the terms on my US Bank FlexPerks Visa Signature Credit Card and US Bank FlexPerks AMEX Credit Card.  The changes to the terms are identical for both credit cards.

On March 1, 2016, US Bank is going to change the 2x bonus category from “grocery” to “grocery stores.”  I’m not sure if this is going to be a big deal, but I assume this change will reduce the number of merchants that qualify as “grocery” (aka Target and other merchants).

US Bank FlexPerks Visa AMEX Terms Change

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2016 Eurotrip Travel and Expense Summary

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Good afternoon everyone, here is a summary of my 2 week trip to Europe from January 2016.  Here is my planning and booking process: Hotel & Flight Bookings for LHR, CDG, NCE, MUC, VCE, and DUB.  Here is a visual representation of my intra-European flights.  I also flew from SFO-LAX-LHR on American Airlines and DUB-SFO on Aer Lingus (not pictured).

GCM Eurotrip 2016

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Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Nice, France (Convenient Access to NCE Airport and Monaco)

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Good afternoon everyone, here is my latest hotel review of the Radisson Blu Nice.  The hotel is conveniently located a short distance from the NCE Airport.  There are buses that run from the airport to a bus stop across the street from the hotel, but it was late and we decided to take an UberX for under €10.  Here are directions via Google Maps.

Google Maps Radisson Blu Nice

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Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street in London

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Good evening everyone, I am writing to you from the Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street in London.  I spent the last 2 days at the hotel, wandering around London, and getting pretty accustomed to the Underground.  First thing’s first, getting from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to the hotel is a simple Underground train ride to Leicester Square in the heart of the city.  A one way train ticket from LHR is 6 Pounds and takes about an hour from end to end.

London Underground Map LHR to RBE

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Hotel & Flight Bookings for LHR, CDG, NCE, MUC, VCE, and DUB

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Good morning everyone, happy TGI Friday!  First, I wanted to thank everyone for voting in my poll (Reader Feedback Needed: Which Blog Posts Should I Write First?).  I was busy this week with 2 free movie screenings in SF (13 Hours and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) and the SF Travel Hackers Meetup, but I’m finally getting around to writing about my upcoming trip to Europe.  That was the overwhelming winner and since my trip starts tomorrow (1/16), I better write about it before I fly out of town.

Blog Topic Poll 1-14-2016

I will share my thought process and booking experience with my flights and then about my hotels.  Since I planned most of this trip back in March/April/May 2015, I was able to find award space to/from SFO very easily.  Here is an overview of my paid and award flights:

  • SFO-LAX (AA First) and LAX-LHR (AA Business) = 50,000 AA miles + $5.60 in taxes/fees
  • LHR-CDG (British Airways economy) = 2,500 BA Avios + $57.50 in taxes/fees
  • CDG-NCE (Air France economy) = $56.76
  • NCE-MUC / MUC-VCE (Lufthansa economy) = $99.99
  • VCE-LGW-DUB (British Airways / Aer Lingus economy) = $138.60
  • DUB-SFO (Aer Lingus economy) = 25,000 BA Avios + $106.76 in taxes/fees

GCM Eurotrip 2016

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