Rapid Travel Chai

I love Citi ThankYou Points with the Citi Prestige card. They have funded cheap summer airfares weekend after weekend. We are just back from a lobster shuttle trip up to Maine, flying via Boston. I am embarrassed to admit it didn’t click with me that New Hampshire has Atlantic Coast when I was reading about lobster shacks. I need to bone up on my US geography. You wouldn’t know you are passing through NH on I-95 if not for all the liquor store signs.

I did a mini credit card churn following a dismal churn in July. I got another Citi Premier 30 or so days after the prior. Both times it took supervisor approval after several days from application to push it through because of the size of my Citi relationship. In the interim I had chopped all save my Prestige down to $5k credit limits, with no apparent effect.

I also got an Amex EveryDay. I didn’t want to take up a credit card slot with EveryDay though tired or juggling Platinums and Golds to keep my Membership Rewards points alive. That was an instant approval, putting me up to the limit of 4 credit (not charge) cards with Amex. Next was an SPG Business card, which went to pending and there it sits. Several calls have all said the 2nd app needs to wait 5 days to process, which is not the case I hear from others and I think only triggered when all 4 slots are already filled. I will call tomorrow, the 6th day. I will give up my no annual fee Hilton, which I only kept while upgrade-downgrade was working and because it was my only no annual fee Amex and tied for oldest Amex account.

It is always premature until cards are in hard, though by next week I may have BofA Better Balance Rewards cards #7 and #8.

I try not to complain often in my travels. I did complain to US Bank about the Club Carlson card changes. First I got 2,500 points for each card, then without further action, then sent another 5,000, and then a free night. My wife did not complain, I originally did not think 2,500 was worth strong-arming her to call, and she got nothing. Now she is game to try to demand equal treatment.

While in Minnesota I got a US Bank Gold Checking open. I had failed online because of frozen IDA and ARS credit reports.

Airlines:

• United MileagePlus cheat sheet for using miles: Airlines, fees, alternatives, and more (MileCards). Excellent resource.
• Delta (DAL) May Forgo Japan in Shift to Rest of Asia (The Street via Point Me to the Plane). I have great sentimental attachment to the NWA hub at NRT, sad to see Delta starve it. The JFK-NRT flight is always packed despite charging huge premiums over options to Asia connecting in the US instead of NRT.
• How much longer till Delta fixes partner one-way award booking bug (it has been 5 days now)! (Delta Points). Reminds me of restaurant bills in China, so often there are errors and amazingly they always are of the overcharge variety.
• My Experience Changing My Asiana Award (MileValue). Seems Asia is not as difficult to deal with as Korean. I have had on my list to take a hard look at Asiana and their BofA credit card.

Hotels:

• Hilton Aruba Stays + Status Perks Being Honored (Deals We Like). Good to hear for our Labor Day stay and timely reminder to check my Hilton MyWay choices to ensure the breakfast.
• Starwood Points Transfer Korean Air Skypass Added as Partner! (View from the Wing). More is good.
• A Cautionary Tale on Airbnb (Pizza In Motion). I tried Airbnb for the first time for Maine, it was last minute and the response came back they the place I wanted had just gone to someone wanting a longer stay.

Tracks and Wheels:

• Big Changes Coming to Amtrak Rewards – Book Now! (Mommy Points). I never made it on the Amtrak Rewards gravy train.
• Hertz reduces focus on car sharing services (Buying Business Travel). I have an unused Connect by Hertz card.

Credit Cards:

• What’s in Capital One’s CEO’s Wallet? An $800 Million Fortune (Bloomberg Business). My Capital One card is my oldest open card. I am struggling with canceling to possibly get more approvals. Cards like Venture will come in handy for airlines like Air Greenland that I cannot use Citi ThankYou.
• 1 Month Approval Process for US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card (Travel with Grant). And even worse stories in the comments. Last month I tried for 4 new cards with them, denied for 3 and never heard on the 4th.

Blogging:

• Why I Blog (Doctor Of Credit). Nice piece, predictable comments.
• Dear Internet Trolls: I am not one of “You Bloggers”! (Miles to Memories). Ditto.
• TravelBloggerBuzz came across this piece from BoredPanda on the proprietor of a site called OneStep4Ward, one of those lifestyle guru websites where users’ dreams fund the website owner’s lifestyle. At first glance there is not so much hard sell and more focus on the kind of extreme experiences that go viral. I don’t naturally gravitate to this kind of exhibition, that Minnesota/Scandinavia quiet reserve, which makes blogging an odd hobby. It would be nice to post once a month and be a millionaire.