Milenomics ² Podcast - No Annual Fee Edition

We’ve got a jam packed No Annual Fee version of the Milenomics² Podcast this week. 0:36 Lemoney follow-up (link) Post seemed to trigger tracking of community commision for Feb-June 2018 But subsequent PayPal payments are now said to be held up for a week or two What’s with this company? 2:38 $30 off $60 at Amazon for using 1 Amex Membership Reward point (link) Works on 3rd party GCs 3:27 $100 Signup Bonus for the Fidelity 2% Cashback Card (link) 4:40 Fee-free $200 Visa GCs at Staples (link) 1/13-1/19/2019 5:10 New Chase Southwest Card Offers Easy Path to Companion Pass (link) Sign up for personal card, spend $4k, get 30,000 points + Companion Pass through 12/31/2019 Deal or Not a Deal? Subscribe to the Paid version of the Milenomics² Podcast For a deeper dive into topics like: Amex application tricks A $750 bank bonus A credit card with 20 months of 0% APR And more… Subscribe to the paid version of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/milenomics Subscribe to the No Annual Fee Edition Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

We’re back discussing a few bonuses this week along with some terrible news from Bank of America.  Along while discussing how and why to combine CNB points across household members we get sidetracked answering the question, “Is the CNB Crystal Infinite the best premium rewards credit card?  As we’ve said before, if  you live outside the CNB footprint and are interested in the CNB card drop me an email, or a DM on twitter. (We receive no compensation for this referral) Links discussed in this episode: Lemoney Turns Sour, Community Cash Back Missing  Why and How : Combining CNB points Chase $600 Checking/Savings account bonus.  GoBank $100 Bonus Terms:  Subscribe to the Full version of the Milenomics² Podcast https://www.patreon.com/milenomicshttps://www.patreon.com/milenomics Subscribe to the No Annual Fee Edition Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

We’re into 2019 with our first No Annual Fee Edition podcast, covering an important topic everyone needs to hear. Why you should almost never use someone else’s link to apply for an Amex card. We go over the why and how of ensuring you receive the highest possible American Express Sign up bonuses, including a universal referral. And talk about the particulars of that new referral system as well. Links discussed in this episode: Frequent Miler’s “Best Offers” list of current CC offers. For more in-depth podcasts please consider signing up for our Subscriber only Podcast on Patreon. Subscribe to the Full version of the Milenomics² Podcast In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss: Our new Slack channel for points & miles discussion A card that’s overly generous while processing air incidentals A way to liquidate Mastercard GCs from home with fees similar to Chargesmart/TIO.com https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-10-tio-23774691 Subscribe to the No Annual Fee Edition Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

On a very special year-end episode we assess how we did in our 2018 predictions. Sam’s post on how he fared in his 2018 predictions Robert’s post on same Links mentioned on the show The Plastic Merchant shutdown Has the price of airline ticket prices gone up in 2018? Amex universal referral program Post on revolving credit Earnings calculator App-o-Rama links Genesis of App-O-Rama Further discussion of AoR Blast from the past! For more, check out these two recent episodes of our paid podcast Episode 8: Year-end retrospective Episode 9: Year-end credit card approvals and Amex 5-card strategies Don’t miss the outtakes starting at 37:05! Subscribe to the No Annual Fee Edition Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

On today’s show: 0:30 2019 5x/5% Categories Available for Activation Citi Dividend 5% categories announced for 2019. Drugstores in Q2. Can use all $6,000 in one quarter. Card not available for new signups, but still PC’able (though, be aware of 24 month clock resetting when you do this). 2018 was a dud of a year – good to see Drugstores back. (link) Chase Freedom 5x Q1 2019 activation open (link) Drug stores Gas stations Tolls Discover 5% – Grocery Stores Q1 (link) 2:55 Gift Card Sales at Office Supply Stores Staples $5 off a $200 VGC Reduces fee from $6.95 to $1.95 Through 12/22 In-store only. (link) $15 back on $300 VGCs at Office Depot/Max Buy 2 x $200 Through 12/22 (link) 4:00 $10 back on 3rd party GC via rebate at Bed Bath Beyond 12/15-1/1 Unlimited? Really? No, not really. T&Cs changed, limit 10. (link) 4:40 Chase Disney Non-News Disney World/Disneyland tickets coming up in a roundabout way in Chase Expedia portal (link to Miles to the Magic post) You can still book Disney with Citi (link) Subscribe to our Full version of the Milenomics² Podcast In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss: Liquidating Air Travel Credits Happy Cards Negative Card-Linked App Changes at CVS/WalMart A $500 Bank Bonus + $200 Referral

Today we’re back with a double episode of the Milenomics² No Annual Fee Edition Podcast.  In addition to the following news: 0:30 Office Depot/Office Max $10 off $300 MCGCs (link) 1:20 Simon Mall $1 off Visa Gift Cards (link) 2:05 Airline portal Holiday promo: 500 for $200 (link) 3:00 CapitalOne adds Emirates and Singapore at a 2:1 ratio () 3:55 BofA Cash Rewards revamp early 2019 (HT Nick at Frequent Miler link) 5:20 Some Chase cards getting an additional 1x through year end on Apple/Google Pay (link) …we tackle a detailed and real life situation in which a reader attempted to put together the Ultimate Chase Ultimate Rewards Trifecta: a Sapphire Reserve, Freedom, and Freedom Unlimited.  Rather than the ideal type of stories you might hear elsewhere about all cards being approved and everything going perfectly, this story takes a turn for the worse, and does not end well for Chase or the reader. Discussion starts at 6:00 on this. A quick timeline (we cover this in the post, but might be easier for some of you to see here): March 2016 Applied for Sapphire Preferred – Approved March 2018 Decided to attempt to “Life the Chase UR Lifestyle” September 2018 Applied for Standard Freedom 5X – Approved September 2018, Downgrade Sapphire Preferred to Freedom Unlimited October 2018, Used non-expired 24-Month Sapphire Reserve App to apply. Denied, <48 months since last Sapphire card approval. Appealed, with no change in approval October 2018, Applied for Chase Ink Preferred. Denied, “Applied for too many cards” What’s your take on how this was handled, Both by Chase and by the applicant?  After you take a listen to the Podcast, come back to www.milenomics.com and share your thoughts below in the comments section. Subscribe to our Full version of the Milenomics² Podcast In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss: Double Dipping on the ODOM Sale Updates on our current in-process mile and point earning techniques A deeper discussion of the ways we can seek and find real travel deals And much more https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-7-were-2332 Subscribe to the No Annual Fee Edition Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

Today we’re back!… 0:42 – What does Black Friday (and holiday sales in general) mean for points & miles earning? 4:00 – Gift Card Reselling Great time of the year for gift card reselling (iTunes deals all over the place was the story of the year for Black Friday) Target 10% off coming 12/2 (link) Risk associated with gift card reselling 12:10 – Amex/Citi/Chase Amazon Deals (link) 14:00 – Hilton/Amazon 0.5 cpp re-glitch (link) 2nd time this “glitch” has occurred Amex Hilton Aspire 150,000 + $250 air travel per calendar year + free weekend cert on signup/anniversary + $250 Hilton resort credit + Diamond status (link, but consider spousal referral) In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss: Lessons learned from 8 Credit Card signup stories Updates on our experiences with card-linked reward programs CNB Crystal https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-5-rules-22988292 Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

Welcome to the latest episode of the Milenomics² No Annual Fee Podcast. RSS feed for the No Annual Fee podcast Today’s Topics Include: 0:32 CapitalOne heightened signup bonuses Points now transfer 2:1.5 to a somewhat obscure collection of foreign airlines Venture card 75,000 signup bonus $95 annual fee waived the first year $5,000 minimum spend Spark Business cards 200,000 for $50,000 signup bonus $95 annual fee waived the first year 50,000 for $5,000 in 3 months, addl 150,000 for $45,000 within 6 months 3:13 Barclay Arrival+ 70,000 signup bonus (link) $89 annual fee waived the first year $5,000 minimum spend 5% bonus on point redemptions make this a ~2.1% back towards travel card 4:45 Chase Hyatt and Avios cards now said to be restricted to 5/24 6:30 First Republic banking bonuses (HT TravelSort): $800 for $25,000 checking for 3 months + $10,000 CD for 6 months $500 for $15,000 checking for 3 months Must be in or around service area 9:00 Freedom CU 5x (link) 10:20 Chase $600 checking/savings banking bonus (link) In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss:  Dosh/Pei/Bumped/Spent Interference and how to maximize your double-dip, a MCGC coding at 1% on Plastiq, plus a deeper dive into all of the above topics and much, much more. https://www.patreon.com/posts/22852176/ Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

Welcome to the latest episode of the Milenomics² No Annual Fee Podcast. RSS feed for the No Annual Fee podcast Today’s Topics Include: 0:45 Amex Biz Gold Revamp $295 annual fee, not waived the first year 4x in airfare, “select media”, “select technology providers”, gas, dining, shipping (link with more detail) Signup bonus is currently G Suite Basic and ZipRecruiter What signup bonus will it require for you to get this card? 2:05 Amex 1:1 Avianca US-Europe on Star Alliance 63k/87k This should help add options w/o fuel surcharges. Long Haul Coach rates are reasonable and could be a hedge against high ticket prices Intra-US ‘short haul’ 7500 points.  CA to WA, TX to FL, Bos to DC. Very nice No Close in Ticketing fee (BYOE for United flights). 5:10 Citi Prestige eliminates concierge bookings in Sept ‘19 (link) This means you can’t realize status benefits/earn points at loyalty hotels But 4th night free stacking with Premier/Prestige is still possible (example) Though, you’re beholden to the sometimes bad prices in the TYP portal 7:20 Staples fee-free $200 VGCs in-store 11/11-11/17 (link) Technically limited to 1 per person, but not limited by register 7:55 Stop & Shop $20 voucher towards groceries when buying $100 3rd Party GCs (link) 8:30 Listener Question: My friends frequently use co-branded cards like Marriott, United, and AA for all their spend, including restaurants. Help me convince them that they would be significantly better off with a different credit card strategy? In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss: An attempt to Cash Out Chase Ultimate Rewards at 1.5¢ per point, and how to Reinstate Expired United (or AA) miles for “Free.” https://www.patreon.com/posts/test-cash-out-of-22694797   Subsc

Welcome back to the Milenomics² No Annual Fee Podcast.  Episode 2 kicks off with news and then we dive into a listener question as well. Show Notes: Title: What Amex needs to do instead of 5x Fine Hotels & Resorts, Citi bungles refer-a-friend, Absurd Stacking, and Citi Sears alternatives Amex 5x on Fine Hotels & Resorts Bookings Citi refer-a-friend Absurd stacking opportunity $10 G-Money rebate on $100 Happy Card purchase at giftcards .com 11/2-11/8 5% cashback when shopping through RebatesMe (work with a friend’s referral for an additional 10% cashback for friend) Buy $200 MCGCs at Bed Bath Beyond for $25 Bed Bath GC rebate when buying 2 x $200 MCGCs (see DoC for promo terms, starts 11/23) Link Happy cards to airline portals to trigger holiday bonus (beware of contention with eBates in-store cashback) Liquidate MCGCs through Plastiq with FFDs from recent promo Listener question: What’s a good alternative to the Citi Sears card? Link to the calculator we discuss to compare high end cards’ earning. In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss a In store Cashback apps, Chase Pay 5x Freedom Q4 techniques, and much more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22571208 And don’t forget, the No Annual Fee podcast is unique as well, so be sure to subscribe to it: RSS feed for the free podcast Subscribe to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

It’s launch week here on the Milenomics² podcast! We’re out of our beta 0.X shows and into Episode 1 today. On today’s show we discuss: 0:37 Hyatt makes us cringe with rumblings about a 40,000 point/nt Category 8 hotel. Check the Small Luxury Hotels list for potential bookings moving forward. 1:45 Chase rolls out the Expedia search engine across all cards but things like Vacation Rentals are all Sold Out 3:02 Airline portal holiday shopping bonuses (and how to maximize them) 4:20 Reader Question: Net it out for me really quickly. When should I transfer URs to partners vs redeem through the Chase portal? In this week’s Premium (subscription required) version of the podcast we discuss a Crash Course in Grocery Store Manufactured Spend: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22394296   RSS feed for the free podcast Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:     Or on Google Play Music:

On today’s episode we discuss: 0:37 An upcoming Citi Prestige revamp (HT Dave & MilesTalk) 2:33  Discounted Mastercard gift cards at Staples and GiftCards.com 4:21 You can now earn airline miles for buying gift cards through shopping portals 5:25 Rumored changes to the Hyatt award chart for premium suites 6:13 Changes at the WalMart Money Center Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:   Or on Google Play Music:   For more detail on how to maximize these deals, subscribe to the premium version of the podcast where you’ll get special access to 40+ minute shows weekly within the podcast app on your phone and on your desktop: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22237335

Hello? Hello? Is this on. We continue our Podcast Beta testing. On this first edition of the No Annual Fee Podcast we cover: Plastiq’s Mastercard Credit Card Promotion American Express Gold Card Changes Amex Referrals no longer tied to only cards you have Happy Cards (Happy Guy, Lady, etc). Alasksa Air 40,000 mile offer Subscribe below to the Free, No Annual Fee Milenomics² podcast on Apple Podcasts:   Or on Google Play Music: If you want to listen to the full 45+ minute subscriber version of this podcast head over to: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22133791 Subscribe and gain access to all full length podcasts with myself and Robert.   -Sam