Monthly Archives for April 2014.
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It’s been six weeks since I’ve started oil pulling each morning. Here’s my experience over a month later of daily 20-minute pulls.
For starters, it’s now firmly part of my morning routine. I don’t notice the flavor, the texture, the saliva… anything, really. The details that might’ve bothered me or that I’d get caught up don’t matter so much any more. It’s just the thing I do to get the day started.
So I needed to reset myself this week. Working too much, friend in town, holiday, etc.
I got myself into a couple of situations where I didn’t fully excavate the T&Cs – the dreaded terms and conditions – which further depleted me.
All is fine and good until you get to this little set of rules that is typically appended onto something you (or I) might think is a really good deal. And I’ve gotten myself into some sorry situations for not fully reading them these past few days.
In the post where I talked about the upcoming trip to Venice in Swiss biz class, I said:
I was able to click through the FIA/Fidelity portal to get 3 points a dollar back + points for using a mileage-earning credit card…
Wrong.
Had I properly read the T&Cs I would’ve seen this disclaimer:
Retailer Exclusions
Bonus points will be awarded only after travel is completed. The following are not eligible to earn bonus points: Air Travel, pre-packaged vacations, Groupon Getaways, any car transaction exceeding a purchase price of $5,000 USD. Car transactions between $1,000-$5,000 are subject to investigation by Expedia.
AKA I got nothing for clicking this link and spending nearly $1,500. I would’ve earned 1 point a dollar by instead clicking through to Travelocity at the Ultimate Rewards portal. 1,500 points is better than no points. But I didn’t read the T&Cs, so, like a schmuck, I got nothin’.
Then, I really thought the Zoola Rewards portal would a boon. After all, you have to put your credit cards on file with them. I thought it would be a great way to stack a lot of points into one transaction. Key word: thought.
I tweeted them and got confirmation that you do have to click through their portal to earn the cash back. Therefore, I would not advise using that portal unless you want CASH. But even still, if you have cards that earn Ultimate Rewards, you can redeem those points for cashback or a statement credit – and they’re much more versatile in case an idea for a trip comes along. So, the Zoola Rewards thing could be good for those who don’t have cards that can earn cash or statement credits and just want to earn cash – not points or miles. In all other instances, it’s not the right thing to use. I have to recommend avoiding this portal now. Why? I confirmed, on Twitter, their T&Cs.
@harlanvaughn Good question! The answer is yes- with our online merchants, you always have to click to their store through our website.
— Zoola Rewards (@ZoolaRewards) April 17, 2014
So there you have it.
Let this be a reminder to always confirm what you’re getting – or what you think you’re getting. No matter how rushed you are to snag a deal, it only takes a few extra seconds to read. Don’t make an assumption. You know what they say about assumptions. They make an ass out of u & me.
Or, this week, just me.
Happy travels and remember to read the fine print!
This will have to be a text-only post, as there was really no way to discreetly take photos of anything I experienced. But talk about a recon mission!
I found a link to apply for the US Airways flight attendant position while trolling Craigslist as part of my side hustle gig. I clicked through out of curiosity. The application was quite short, and I thought for an instant that it could be really cool. After all, this was before American started to devalue and I knew the position would soon be part of the “new American.” And I think about the travel industry so much anyway that I was like… why not work for the travel industry? Five minutes later, I’d applied.
Update: I only recommend this portal if you want CASH BACK and don’t want to earn points or miles. AVOID this portal if your card offers cash back or statement credits. See this post for more info and the confirmation I received via Twitter.
Sorry if I’m tardy to the party on this one but…
I just signed up for Zoola Rewards, and think you should too. It’s a new(?) cashback rewards program. All you do is plug in your Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card numbers and shop at any of the merchants to receive cashback in the form of a check mailed directly to you once a year or a direct deposit in 3, 6, or 12 month intervals. I chose direct deposit every 3 months (duh).
I was only semi-interested in the service until I started poking around the website and saw a LOT of familiar merchants with some nice cashback returns.
This is mostly for my own benefit, just because I want to keep track of everything that is happening with American during their merger with US Airways.
I will continue to update this post (though hopefully not frequently…).
Note: I do not really care about the US Airways side of things, only how they affect American.
(Hopefully not) To be continued…
Update: American’s shitty response when I tweeted this post:
@harlanvaughn Harlan, we can understand your frustration. We studied the industry trends and policies of your competitors.
— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) April 8, 2014
Did you feel it this morning? The quake that rippled through the blogs regarding American’s sudden overhaul of award redemptions? They also eliminated the beloved Oneworld Explorer Award AND stopovers at North American “gateway” cities – two features I really loved about the AAdvantage program. It’s a veritable mAAsacre.
I have to admit, I was really down about it. I don’t really care about the new five-tired award redemption system. I only ever booked SAAver awards anyway. The others are pure capacity controls, nothing more.
I was really looking forward to booking an Explorer Award in the near future. American recently introduced an unprecedented 100K bonus on the Executive AAdvantage card, which was enough, or nearly enough, to book a decent Explorer Award. I know a lot of people were looking into it and beginning to plan one of their own, including me.
And now, overnight, it’s gone. No advance notice. No, “hey you might want to book this soon”. Just a complete, unannounced overhaul.
The other thorn was the elimination of the free one-way that you could tack onto an award redemption. I was planning on doing that too, to get back from Oktoberfest, then onward to somewhere else. Now, the “somewhere else” prices as a completely separate award.
Yesterday, after writing the post about how to best manufacture spend post-Vanilla, I went ahead and dumped Bluebird. I’ve heard of many ways people have done it, and the different sequences of opening/closing, and all the conflicting rules about switching from Bluebird to Serve.
Vanilla Reloads: Gone the way of the dinosaur
Man, the news of CVS changing their policy to cash-only for Vanilla Reloads shook my little points manufacturing world upside down. I loved it so much because I essentially turned CVS into my bank; loading Vanilla Reload cards was my deposit transaction. Quite literally, because that’s how I’ve been paying rent up until this month.
So now what?
This year is shaping up to be very Europe-y. So far, I have Paris in June (on British Airways), Germany in Oktober (on Lufthansa), and now, Venice sandwiched in between the two in August (on Swiss).
I got in on the fare war that Star Alliance carriers were having at Delta hubs, and was able to book the new business class on Swiss round-trip for a hair under $1,500. Not nothing, but a good deal since it was only $40 more than regular ol’ economy. Plus, it’s my birthday trip: I’ll be turning 30 in Italy this year!
I’m glad I booked when I did because now, fares are around $5,000 for the same itinerary.
I’d much rather pay less than a third of that!
Buying this ticket was NOT the most financially responsible thing I’ve ever done, but whatever. I was able to click through the FIA/Fidelity portal to get 3 points a dollar back + points for using a mileage-earning credit card, so around $75 back right off the bat. It will also give me new things to explore and write about (and I’m still not caught up with everything).
Last year was all about the Southern Hemisphere, with Easter Island, Santiago, Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand. This year is looking to be about Western Europe. So funny how these themes seem to crop up each year.
Did anyone else get on this deal? I’d love to hear about all the itineraries people were able to construct!
Activation notification via email from American Express
I got my new Amex EveryDay Preferred card the other day. Instead of being really excited about, like usual, I was sorta like, “Hrmph.” My credit limit was not… where I wanted it to be. I wasn’t satisfied by how low it was. Not to worry, I can just switch around lines of credit, right?
I have two consumer lines of credit with Amex that are not charge cards: the Delta Skymiles Platinum card and now, the EveryDay Preferred card.
On the Delta card, let’s say I have a $10,000 credit limit, and on the EveryDay, let’s say they gave me $2,000. I have $12,000 in total to switch around however I want, in theory. $6,000 for each, for example. No problem, I thought, I’ll give Amex a call. Read More
This lounge visit was directly before my first-ever Qantas flight in economy AKL-SYD. I booked the ticket with 10,000 Avios points. After returning the car to Avis, we headed to check-in, fully expecting to go afterward to the Emperor Lounge thanks to my Priority Pass Select card via Amex. I’d get in for free but my “mate” would have to pay $27. I figure $27 bucks for a few drinks, free wifi, and maybe some lunch-type items would be alright.
However, I asked the agent checking us in if I could add my AAdvantage number to the ticket instead of British Airways number (since I have some status with American but nothing with British Airways). I figured if he saw that I was American Platinum/Oneworld Sapphire that it might do something. Sure enough, when he handed me the boarding pass and said, “And the Qantas lounge is right past security…”
Hmmm. “Can I get into the Qantas lounge?” Since I was Oneworld Sapphire, that was enough to grant entry. Maybe others know that, but I sure didn’t. It saved me from having to pay for access to the Emperor Lounge. Score! Read More
Hello and welcome to Out and Out! My name is Harlan – I’m a points and miles enthusiast who loves to travel. I am interested in personal finance, the power of positive thinking, and the extraordinary journeys that make life worth living.