Rapid Travel Chai

Quote of the week: “No one imitates United Airlines, but it has been copying others,” from United Is Copying American’s Premium Fare Bonuses (Travel Codex).

Tip of the week: “Best trick…Have them load 1k, swipe again and load another 1k, and swipe again and load last $500 and then just do one swipe with your card. Saves time, less receipts, transactions, and less likely to trigger fraud alerts,” MSPDeltaDude on FrequentMiler’s Top 6 REDbird Solutions. I finished my REDbird’s and AFT’s for the month ahead of my trip to Lebanon & Egypt. This will be great to try next month for those cards of mine that don’t reject such large transactions (Amex, Chase).

I try to draw the line at too many time-consuming things. Can’t do them all. Personal Finance Digest highlights two deals, free Jet membership and UPromise $20 sign-up, that I bookmarked and then deleted the bookmark to resist the time suck.

Articles of note:

• 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Korean Air Skypass (Hungry for Points). Not another Chase Ultimate Rewards pump post. I enjoy flying Korean Air, so does my wife, and I need to learn and use Skypass.
• Battle Of The Aspirational Points And Miles Vacations: Maldives vs. Seychelles (Hungry for Points, again). Finally a post on these destinations with useful info. Eventually I need to visit both and am excited by neither.
• An Introduction To B* (Bumpage) & C* (Choppage) (Doctor of Credit). An obscure topic I have covered in FTU Advanced talks however not blogged myself.
• You may be pre-qualified for a Citi Prestige 50k sign-up bonus without needing to go through the 60k branch application hassle (MilePoint). My new favorite premium travel card.
• Are Delta upgrade certificates as good as they sound? (FrequentMiler) For 2014 I had redeemed my Delta Choice Benefits before these were rolled out. I need to decide for my 2015  benefits and soon-to-come 2016. With the new nevenue program won’t be buying many long-haul tickets on Delta so may not go for the certs.
• US Airways Awards to Book Before the AA/US Merger (Miles Remaining via TravelBloggerBuzz). If my wife and I can both get additional US Airways credit cards we have some East Asia to book.
• Does Starwood Compensate Hotels For Offering Your24? (One Mile at a Time). Such a great benefit in theory. I assumed hotels do not like it, though did not know all these issues and advance request process.
• Beginners’ guide to the Amsterdam to Jersey British Airways tier point run (Points to be Made). I went to Guernsey and Jersey in November, haven’t blogged it yet, particularly enjoyed Guernsey.
• How Much Is a Free Night Worth? (Frugalhack.me). I am trying to decide if I should spend 10k Marriott Rewards points for the JW Marriott Cairo or use a category 1-5 cert that may not go to any better use. Also, what to do with all the IHG night certs in 2015?