Milenomics² Episode 227: Last minute 10x Applications, Breaking News & More
Added 2024-05-22 14:47:40 +0000 UTC0:20 Down to the Wire: Amex 10x Referrals
Working links should be applied to before the close of business 5/22
Declines can be reconsidered later and the 10x should stick
What is a good card to force a decline on? (Anything?)
How we’ve played it so far
Liquidation constraints and how pushing these back a few months can help with that
What we’ve been up to
10:27 Bank of America Concierge Experience
Needed a flight on Norwegian, which doesn’t show on most portals
Called the BofA concierge to get rid of my points from my more recent Elite card
Rep verified with a date/route that the flight was not in his system
Asked me to book myself, needed the booking # and the airline (it seemed like he was looking it up to make sure it was really booked)
Overall very ‘human’ experience. I enjoyed it.
85,000 points (sign up bonus basically), worth $1060 That’s a huge sign up bonus.
Can credit partially if you don’t have enough points.
Net it out: really easy to use 1.25 cents per point. I think the spread is thin for me to outright MS but for SUB it is a nice kicker.
17:26 Gardening Boston - San Diego Flights
So much to discuss, let’s start with the Delta screen shot below…
Price compression between cabins
Fare fluctuation when First cabin unsold leading up to departure
Capturing fare drops without canceling and rebooking
Upgrade Certificates
15% Amex card discount on awards (and does that discount convey fully when upgrading with miles
Complimentary upgrade uncertainty
Amex Insider Fares (and subsequent interaction when itinerary after bank point booking)
Companion/split itinerary considerations
The entertainment value before even taking the flight is off the charts. It’s like I’m on “Let’s Make a Deal!”
26:30 Norway Tours: So Much to Do, So Little Time
We’re booked on a Brunch Cruise, a Water Park, a Husky Puppy training and sledding farm and a fishing/birding/fjord tour.
Horseback riding in Lofoten, maybe a kayak of the Fjord (maybe not, cold water and all)
Tours seem easy to find in english which is helpful. Prices are about $100/pp for anything worth doing.
Chase 1.5 cents per UR is nice–but prices are inflated. True value is about 1.37 cents per, still a nice discount. (PYB is nice for this as well but slightly worse).
No wiggle room, we land and the next morning start tours. Some down time in between and a 6 hour road trip currently on the books.
#Correction: we wrongly mention in this episode PYB is 1.5 cents per pont. It is in fact 1.25 cents per point. Making the portal better than PYB. (H/T Brian)
32:45 Breaking: [Targeted] Amex Business Platinum Upgrade 120,000 for $10,000 in 3 months
Asks you to log in. If targeted, all your currently active Business Greens and Golds will likely be eligible.
Adjacent idea: Refer/apply for Business Green, upgrade to Business Gold for 4x dining, refer back from that. Getting a little late for such maneuvers but a brilliant idea. Then upgrade after spending $25k on dining if still targeted.
39:10 Heightened: Amex Morgan Stanley Platinum 125,000 Welcome Bonus
$8,000 min spend in 6 months
Still churnable? Unclear to me.
41:17 Update: Going In Store at Staples
Slack data points mentioned unlimited split tender, which is true
Sam: $10 target eGC (x2) online
44:33 Are old Citi Premiers better off as more DoubleCash?
One way I've been successfully drawing down fluz GC balance is witj plastiq or cash loads on double cash cards
These cost 3% but earn 2 and then another 1.5 on the pay by phone
Be careful not to double count that 1.5% basically a .5% cost reduction on fluz GC load fees.
Could also be nice if you have a good use for TYP
Premier cards earn TYP for less but with Amex right now being so big I'm not interested in type or premier earning.
Calling means eyes on the account, could take “Up to 51 days”
What about Synchrony?
What about online credit limit increases (automated, no human interaction).
51:43 Navigating the new Wyndham / Vacasa Chart donut hole: More bedrooms for less
This could really be a post, but I’m finally booking new stays and need to work within the current chart
Vacasa and Wyndham now have a two tier chart. Tier one is for properties <$250 per bedroom per night all in, tier two is for properties between $250 and $500 per night all in.
The lower tier is 15,000 per night, the higher is 30,000.
That creates a donut hole where a 3 bedroom for $750 a night is 45,000 points, but a 2 bedroom for $501 is 60,000 points.
So I’ve started searching for 3 bedrooms for $750 or less.
In Kauai 3 bedrooms are rare–the majority of properties are 1 -2 bedrooms
But there are some 3 bedrooms in Princeville that work for less than $750 (one of them is the house I stayed at last year when I was moved last minute)
This time I have a long stay–12 nights and need to really keep an eye on the spending with these points simply because I’m bumping against the earning I can do right now with all the 10x Amex going on.
The whole thing makes a complicated program even tougher.
2 bedrooms are the only game in town in Kapaa around Christmas.
Fortunately prices seem to have falledn YoY in Kauai
I found a Great 2 bedroom in Lihue, and have not been to this resort but have driven by many times. About $480/nt all in ($240/nt).
30,000 per night. https://www.vacasa.com/unit/47845