About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

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What is Club Carlson Visa’s annual 40K Gold Points bonus worth?

by Harlan 19 Comments

Also see: 

I’ve said over and over that I think the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature card is one of the best for everyday, non-bonused spend. In addition to 5 Gold Points per dollar on every purchase, you also get buy-one-get-one-free award bookings, and an annual bonus of 40,000 Gold Points by renewing the card – which is $75 per year.

Got my annual 40K Gold Points bonus!

Got my annual 40K Gold Points bonus!

My bonus posted a couple of days ago and got me thinking: what is the annual bonus actually worth? Or rather, what could it be worth? After Club Carlson-ing my way through Europe a few months ago, I can firmly say, “a lot.” But I like putting numbers and values to things, and hence this post was born.

Club Carlson has an awesome online interactive tool where you can filter hotels by category… which is pretty sweet. They currently have Categories 1-7, but for this post, I’m only going to focus on 1-5.

Category 1

This category can get you 8 free nights at Club Carlson properties.

How?

With the buy-one-get-one (BOGO), you pay just 9,000 Gold Points for every 2 nights. Even if you book 8 nights at Category 1 hotels, you’d still have 4,000 points left over – and realistically if you stay 8 nights in a hotel, you’ll get 5,000 more from room charges (make sure to charge everything to your room at Club Carlson properties, because with the card you get 30 POINTS PER DOLLAR – 20 points per dollar for being Gold + 10 more points per dollar for using the credit card – which is insanely awesome!). And then you could book 10 free nights. 🙂

A few Category 1 properties that jump out at me are:

8 nights in Sofia would run you ~$500

8 nights in Sofia would run you ~$500

8 nights in Bratislava would also run you ~$500

8 nights in Bratislava would also run you ~$500

This is a pretty sparse category, but if you are in the right place at the right time, it could really be a boon.

Category 2

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Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island

by Harlan 7 Comments

a building with a roof and palm trees

From the way overdue files… 

To NAN

As part of my epic RTW trip, my first two segments were JFK-LAX in American First Class, then LAX-NAN (Nadi, Fiji) on Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific) in economy.

You know, I gotta say… it was about an 11 hour flight time, an overnight flight. Even though the seats didn’t recline, it really wasn’t that bad. The seats were spacious for economy, there was great IFE, and they served meals and snacks.  I wadded up a hoodie and tried to fall asleep as best as I could, considering.

I knew going into it to set my expectations low, but the flight was actually pretty comfortable. The cabins had great colors and were designed well, the flight attendants were personable, the food wasn’t amazing but at least they served us full meals, and I can’t complain too much about the economy seat, honestly.

And when the plane door opened up in Fiji, I felt my lungs and skin instantly moisten from the humid Pacific air. I’d been in a particularly frigid New York winter with too much dry radiator heat and the humidity was so welcome and wonderful.

It’s always an odd feeling to walk around in a tropical place holding full winter regalia, but I was happy to be in Fiji for the first time. Very… island.

Booking the room

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Smart Debt: Is carrying a balance ever a good idea?

by Harlan 12 Comments

Ahem: text-heavy post ahead!

The toolbox

The toolbox

Recently, I was talking to a friend about getting the Airbnbs up and going. We were weighing the pros and cons of charging the upfront costs (~$7,000) to a credit card and carrying the balance until the business became profitable – usually 1-2 months in this case.

He said, yes, of course it’s worth it. It’s “smart debt.” 

smart debt

Let me think about that…

It got me thinking about this hobby and all the points and miles we love to earn.

The points and miles cards we all hold earn us, obviously, point and miles. But, beyond that, they are important financial tools. Your credit is one of your most important assets, and I feel no one talks about the credit cards as an avenue for anything beyond earning points and miles – and that avenue is great – but by extending us credit, the banks open up other opportunities for us.

Now, in starting up my side hustle, there was no way I wasn’t going to run all the expenses through a points or miles card, but I’d never considered the idea of not paying it back at the end of the billing cycle. I’m of the mindset of never paying a dime of interest – but is it OK, in certain situations, to carry a balance?

Smart debt

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Hello BoardingArea and Prior2Boarding!

by Harlan 10 Comments

Much blog

Much blog

Hey everyone,

I’m new here so please consider this an introduction to the blog and to me.

Today is my second day on BoardingArea’s Prior2Boarding network and I’m super excited but trying to baby-step into everything, and there is so much to absorb. I’m honored to be here and look forward to interacting with everyone and getting started on this new crazy ride I find myself taking.

About me

At Versailles

At Versailles, selfie game strong

My name is Harlan, and I love to travel. It’s my biggest passion. I’m originally from Mississippi, but found myself sucked into New York at a certain point and now I’m here.

I work in real estate in Manhattan. My favorite places to visit are typically cold places: Iceland, Alaska, Canada are all in my Top 10. But I love South America and Hawaii and lots of other places, too.

I live with my boyfriend and dog in Brooklyn and love my little neighborhood here. It’s an old Italian neighborhood where people still have thick Brooklyn accents and I love coming back to here each evening.

2014-10-03 12.55.53-1

In Vienna

My travel style and award redemptions are very mix-and-match. I like to earn lots of different types of points and use them all to cobble together my trips. Which is another thing: most of my trips tend to start and end in NYC. I prefer JFK, then LGA, then EWR. And my manufactured spend happens here.

In the past, I’ve done marketing and communications, and some public relations, but now I’m mostly doing real estate and, as it happens, blogging.

Connecting with people is what I live for, so always feel free to comment here or to shoot me an email. I love interacting with you guys.

About the blog

Out and Out started in 2013 as an outlet/aside for myself while I worked a 9-5 corporate office job. It was originally intended as an addendum to the other (mostly BoardingArea) blogs, and to this day, I don’t consider myself much of a “news breaker.” I focus on describing how I earn my points, how I redeem them, and impressions of the places I go, with the oddball post thrown in here and there. I don’t know a ton about aircraft or the multitude of premium cabin products, but try to add value where I can. I’m also still learning and like to share what I find.

The wonderful thing about travel, points, and miles is how extremely customizable everything is, and I enjoy reading about how other people put together all the pieces. Out and Out is where I talk about my process, and where I come to express my love and appreciation for the miracle of air travel.

Digging in

Here are my Top 10 posts from this past year, which is a great place to start and gives an overview of the topics I like to write about it. If you like them, there are a few ways to keep up with the blog:

I use Twitter and Instagram as a mini-blog of sorts, so feel free to follow me there if you’d like.

I love RSS readers (Feedly is my favorite) and I also have my posts sent out once per day via email if you’d like to subscribe. There is also a Facebook page to keep track of new posts.

Bottom line

At a ruin bar in Budapest

At a ruin bar in Budapest

I always like to have a “bottom line.” The one today is simply that I’m happy to be here.

Thank you and cheers!

Confirmed: CVS accepts credit cards for PayPal My Cash reloads in NYC

by Harlan 85 Comments

I couldn’t wait until February to kick off Manufactured Spend Month: I just got back from CVS, where I successfully purchased two $500 PayPal My Cash reloads with my Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard.

New York can be kind of a barren wasteland for manufactured spending, but today it was a gold mine. It was like the Vanilla Reload days all over again.

I walked into a CVS in East Midtown in Manhattan. The gift cards were on an endcap, prominently displayed, near the registers. I immediately saw the bounty.

cvs paypal my cash credit cards

PayPal My Cash cards at CVS

I grabbed two of them and walked to the register – there was no line (the joy of shopping mid-day on a week day). I pulled out my license and credit card. The cashier looked at them and asked to see both. She didn’t say anything like, “Cash only,” or “We don’t accept credit cards,” which I was kinda bracing for. Whew.

She scanned the reload cards, then my license (because with activation fees, the transaction was over $1,000). I was a little worried that Barclays would flag the transaction like they did when I got my temporary REDbird card last month, but the little signature screen popped up, I signed, and all was good to go.

It was SO EASY and took all of a minute. I walked in, checked out, and was done. It was JUST LIKE Vanilla Reloads in every regard, including the loading up (which I will get to in a sec).

Then, in Brooklyn…

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5% cash back promo from Fidelity Amex – up to $25

by Harlan 4 Comments

Who says the Fidelity American Express doesn’t ever have bonus offers?

a screenshot of a credit card

Fidelity 5% cash back categories

Now, admittedly, this isn’t an earth-shattering bonus. It’s only offers a bonus for travel-related categories, and only up to $500 in spend until March 31st, 2015.

But, enrollment is easy (literally one click), and it seems like they’re targeting a lot of their cardholders for this.

A quick comparison

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FoundersCard offering free AA Platinum Status Challenge for members

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Also see:

an airplane flying over a runway

New AA perk this quarter from FoundersCard

I’ve written about FoundersCard extensively in the past. They are one of my favorite auxiliary programs for travel, business, and lifestyle benefits.

Many of the travel benefits they offer are the same ones given as perks for holding co-branded premium credit cards (free TripIt Pro [Barclaycard Arrival], Hertz #1 Club Gold membership [American Express Platinum Card], Hilton HHonors Gold status [Hilton credit cards], 10% off British Airways fares [Chase British Airways Visa Signature], free Shoprunner membership [American Express cards] – just to name a few).

And, they’re always switching things up each quarter. The one I watch like a freaking hawk is the American Airlines perk. And this quarter, they’ve really stepped it up.

Free AA Platinum Status Challenge

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Barclays no longer approving 10K Anniversary Bonus for non-preferred members

by Harlan 1 Comment

That… was a long title.

My partner applied for the Barclays US Airways Premier World MasterCard on December 14th – the version that offers a 10,000 mile anniversary bonus for each year of card membership. He found out today, January 15th, that he was denied.

Reason? No Preferred Status with US Airways.

Here is the letter they sent him today:

Rejection letter from Barclays (click to enlarge)

Rejection letter from Barclays (click to enlarge)

The kicker is that I applied for the offer in early December when it was 40,000 miles after first purchase and with the 10,000 mile anniversary bonus and got an instant approval. Shortly after, Barclays even bumped my bonus to 50,000 miles and deposited an extra 10K Dividend Miles into my account. I have no status whatsoever with US Airways.

Here’s the new offer with 50K miles after first purchase and 10K anniversary miles…

...but don't touch it if you don't have status!

…but don’t touch it if you don’t have status!

Bottom line

More of a cautionary tale than anything, and I didn’t want anyone to miss out on the current referral bonus (that runs until January 18th) over the allure of the 10K bonus… because if you don’t have any type of status with US Airways, you’ll most likely be denied.

Interesting to note that the letter explicitly mentions that the credit wasn’t even ran. They must’ve detected the status level via the Dividend Miles number and instantly rejected it. Also interesting that it took them over a solid month to get the decision letter out. Transitions indeed.

Anyway, if anyone would like to be referred to the current 50K offer, I have some invites left. Just shoot me an email at zynner@gmail.com and I’ll get it to you.

If and when the card is upgraded to the Barclaycard AAdvantage® Aviator™ Silver World Elite Mastercard®, you’ll get Global Entry fees reimbursed.

But no transaction fees, effective immediately, even with this one. And any spend you put on it will carry over if/when you upgrade to Aviator Silver.

Consider this a data point as well as a further glimpse into everything that’s going into this merger.

(I also love when my “bottom lines” are longer than the actual text of the article. Just love that.)

How to pay bills with PayPal My Cash + Business Debit Card + RadPad + Evolve Money

by Harlan 66 Comments

UPDATE 1/26/15: A few readers have reported that their PayPal Business Debit Cards no longer work with Evolve Money. Indeed, when I deleted the card and went to re-add it, I got this error message:

Evolve Money error message

Evolve Money error message

Apparently other users that added the card previous have been grandfathered in, but new users are not able to add the PayPal card as a new payment method. Major bummer. I have updated posted to reflect this. RadPad is still working great though!

UPDATE 2: Just got this email from Evolve Money:

Screenshot 2015-01-26 10.30.17

#deadinthewater

I’m going to dub February “Manufactured Spend Month” for Out and Out.

I still have the intention to make that data point about the REDbird (see link above), and I’ve been eyeballs deep in FT/Milepoint convos about it the past few days. All signs point to: it should work. I’ve been nervous about killing my Serve card only to find that it can’t be loaded in NYC – which is already kind of a barren wasteland for MS to begin with. If the Target in Brooklyn doesn’t let me load REDbird, the next closest Target is in Harlem, which is a bit far for me. But, positive vibes.

With the Serve card, I can reload $1,000 per month from my computer or phone without leaving home. With REDbird, I’d have to make at least two in-store visits per month. But I can reload 5 times more per month. And I won’t have to worry about cash advance fees, which means I am free to use any card I want (although I’ve heard US Bank is beasting about the reloads and flagging them all as fraud.)

With all of this in mind, and with all the other work I have going on, I have decided to make my data point in February and get one more round of loading out of the Serve card before I kill it. Hence February being declared MS Month.

Anyway, aside from REDbird, I started adding up the ingredients for an addendum to the madness. It could be another way to run an additional $4,000 of MS through credit cards and a great way to pay rent, student loans, and everyday bills, or to load Serve or REDbird.

Stop! HT time.

Before I get any further, I have to stop and do some HTs:

Finally, I thought I had coined the term “Perpetual Points Machine” (PPM). No. That would be Frequent Miler, who began using the term as early as 2011. It’s one of those terms that you read once or twice and it just gets stuck in your head. FM has lots and lot of great stuff about manufacturing spend, and I’m not surprised he is original user of this phrase.

PayPal My Cash Cards

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The Economics of Quintuple Dipping at Kohl’s

by Harlan 4 Comments

Also see: 

Brrr

Brrr

As I sit here on a cold, windy winter evening, a thought occurred to me that I should get some long johns AKA thermal underwear. I had some Yes2You Rewards that gave me $30 in free Kohl’s Cash to use by the end of January.

So, I headed over to kohls.com, added two pairs of long johns to the cart, and pressed the buy button. Total cost? $3, inclusive of tax and shipping.

Screenshot 2015-01-07 22.12.46

I’ve got a thing for camo

Kohl's Cash

Kohl’s Cash

$3 for two pairs of long johns! Thanks, Kohl's!

$3 for two pairs of long johns! Thanks, Kohl’s!

All the dips

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A Canadian Geography Lesson from US Airways

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Thought this was cute.

We know that US Airways isn’t the best when it comes to geography when booking award flights.

When I fly, I like to flip through and look at the maps in the in-flight magazines, just to see all the routes and codeshares – I find that interesting.

Yellowknife and Whitehorse, Canada are on my list of places I’d like to visit, so I always pinpoint it on the map and imagine getting up there one day. This particular map, published in the US Airways in-flight magazine, made me do a double take:

US Airways map of Canada

US Airways Magazine map of Canada

They managed to squeeze Whitehorse into British Columbia and Yellowknife into Alberta instead of Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories, respectively.

Here are their correct geographical locations:

Whitehorse is in Yukon Territory

Whitehorse is in Yukon Territory

Screenshot 2015-01-08 21.13.47

Yellow Knife is in Northwest Territories

The provinces where the two cities are supposed to be are completely empty. Good to know US Airways threw out the map and made up one of their own!

At least they didn’t try to squeeze Iqaluit above Winnipeg…

Blog news: Out and Out is joining BoardingArea!

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Joining the fam

Joining the fam

I am very excited to announce that Out and Out is set to join the network of bloggers at BoardingArea and Prior2Boarding!

This is an awesome way to start off 2015, as the blog continues to find its focus.

The future

Not a lot will change as far as content on the blog, not any time soon any way. It’s always evolving, and I want to make sure I give it the space it needs to let that happen. This transition won’t interrupt the direction the blog is going in, and if anything, I expect a new network to help it along even more.

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of the readers and interacting via email and social media and hope that will happen even more this year.

The look and feel of Out and Out won’t change much besides a banner at the top and maybe a few BoardingArea-related tweaks. I’ve always enjoyed a good thought experiment, so maybe we will throw up some things to see what works and what doesn’t.

Bottom line

All of this has been a few months in the making and the transition is finally about to happen – so be on the lookout for the new site in the coming weeks!

Many, many thanks to my readers, to Randy Petersen, and to the entire crew at BoardingArea. Thank you thank you thank you.