About Harlan

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

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Hotel Review: New York-New York, Las Vegas

by Harlan 2 Comments

Outside New York-New York in Las Vegas

Outside New York-New York in Las Vegas

Weekend in Vegas

I took a cab here from LAS, which was super cheap – only about $15. I read a tip somewhere to the cab driver to “avoid the tunnel,” whatever that means, so I said that and about 10 minutes later arrived at my introduction to the most artificial place in the world:  Las Vegas.

I went to Las Vegas for the weekend to hang out with a friend from high school. It had been a couple of years, and a visit was overdue. Also, Ms. Britney Spears announced a residency at Planet Hollywood, so that was reason enough for us. Add to that Shania Twain at Caesar’s Palace, and you have a recipe for the gayest weekend ever.

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A Completely Gratuitous Review of the Centurion Lounge @ DFW

by Harlan 3 Comments

Gratuitous? Like this lounge needs another review: 

They all have pictures, describe the space, tell you where it is, what services are offered, the food selections, access requirements, and so on. And they all echo the same sentiment: this is quite possibly the best lounge in the United States. Even Yelp says so – it has 42 reviews, ALL of which are 5 stars. WOW.

(My original pics are below but look just like everyone else’s.)

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Seeking kindreds on the Barclaycard Travel Community

by Harlan 9 Comments

Update 2/1/15: I have been BANNED from the Barclaycard Travel Community. 

I don’t know why, but this is what I see when I log in now:

banned-barclaycard-travel

 

So if anyone has given me kudos, but I haven’t reciprocated, this is why. Thank you guys for the support, but it looks like I’m out of this one, unfortunately. :/

 

This post is part personal ad and part information.

Stepping up the game

Barclays Bank has been doing some really cool things lately, especially with their new Barclaycard Arrival (the naming of this card is so weird). They’ve created a revolutionary card with instant posting of points, instant redemptions, a great portal, free FICO score, and a slew of other great benefits. Anything a bank can do to keep a consumer engaged with their product is a really good thing. Now, they’ve made a community. Read More

If you haven’t signed up for Rocketmiles yet… do so now!

by Harlan Leave A Comment

This is just a shameless advert because the referral bonus has doubled for three days only, starting today. But, in all seriousness, if you haven’t checked out Rocketmiles, they offer a truly great service.

What it’s good for

  • Booking travel for others
  • Keeping mileage accounts active
  • Earning AAdvantage miles (the one with the least amount of transfer partners)
  • Sometimes getting a better cancellation policy than booking through other sites

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Amex Premier Rewards Gold Vs. EveryDay Preferred

by Harlan 1 Comment

I find myself in the dilemma of whether or not to keep the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card or not now that I have the EveryDay Preferred card.

premier-rewards-gold amex

VS

amex-everyday

Premier Rewards Gold

This one is strong for big spenders, as spending over $30K triggers a bonus 15K Membership Rewards points. The earning structure for this one is:

  • 3x on airfare
  • 2x on gas and groceries
  • 1x everywhere else

And the annual fee is $175.

EveryDay Preferred

This one is good for smaller spenders or those that make a lot of “everyday” transactions. I’m definitely in this category. Living in NYC, it’s easy to acquire the 30 transactions a month needed to trigger the 50% bonus this card gives. The earning structure on this one is:

  • 3x at grocery stores
  • 2x at gas stations
  • 1x everywhere else

And the annual fee is $95.

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My Experience Getting the Amex EveryDay Preferred Card

by Harlan 10 Comments

Also see:

This was my first Amex experience where I was NOT instantly approved. In fact, I was straight up DENIED for the Amex EveryDay Preferred card.

I didn’t take a screen shot of the “denied” decision page because I was kind of shocked and didn’t think to do it. But yes, it said I would receive a letter in the mail… and all that yada yada.

This was to be my sixth Amex card, and the fourth issued directly from Amex (I have the Platinum Card, the Premier Rewards Gold, and Delta Platinum SkyMiles cards). Recently, I’ve been thinking of closing the PRG and/or Delta card because I really don’t use them all that much. I’d need to spend at least $30K on the PRG to make it worthwhile, and you all know how I feel about Delta by now.

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Just got the American Express EveryDay Preferred Card

by Harlan 9 Comments

Yes, another one (following the recent Kohl’s card).

The Amex EveryDay cards weren’t supposed to be live until April 2nd, but for whatever reason, they went ahead and released them early. I’ve been considering dumping one (or two) of my Amex cards after getting screwed out of Membership Rewards bonuses multiple times which caused me to wish Amex to DIAF.

I’ve decided to give them another chance due to this long overdue and solid entry into the premium card market, which pits them directly against my beloved Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, which I just decided to keep for another year.

About the Amex EveryDay Preferred card

This card is truly set up to be an “everyday” card for daily spend. Their marketing people are geniuses. The card earns full Membership Rewards point which are fully transferable to 17 air and hotel partners. The signup bonus is a modest 15,000 Amex Membership points at the time of writing, which, who knows, maybe I’ll actually get this time.

I’m not using the Premier Rewards Gold card as much as I thought I would. Yes, it earns 3 points/dollar for airfare, but the other categories really aren’t much to write home about. The card is truly only worth keeping if you spend $30K in a year, which earns you a bonus 15,000 points.

So I’m glad they’ve put out a new card with a new new points earning structure:

  • 3x at grocery stores
  • 2x at gas stations
  • 1x everywhere else

That’s all fine and good. The kicker is that you get 50% more points if you use the card 30 times or more in a month. And you can track your progress on the mobile app and website. This forces you to constantly interact with the product to make sure you get the bonus each month. How smart is that?! I know I will be checking to make sure I get that bonus. It brings the spend categories to:

  • 4.5x at grocery stores
  • 3x at gas stations
  • 1.5 everywhere else

That is a wonderful earning structure.

By following our axiom of getting 2 cents of value out of every point or mile, we will effectively get this rate of return:

  • 9% back at grocery stores
  • 6% back at gas stations
  • 3% back everywhere else

That gives this card the best rate of return for travel in the industry. And yet, I don’t see it, personally, as a competitor to the Chase Sapphire Preferred. The CSP’s big categories are 2x points (4% cash back) at restaurants and on travel purchases, which makes these two cards unlikely complements of each other. Between the new Amex EveryDay Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Preferred, I’ve got a solid earning strategy for daily spend. But, the Barclay Arrival card is STILL valid thanks to its ease of earning, great shopping portal, free TripIt Pro, and really cool online community.

Bottom line

Overall, this is a very, very good thing and a welcome addition to the credit card market. The more, the merrier in this case.

I will be sure to post more thoughts as I begin to use and interact with the card and the app. But for now, very glad I got this one. It holds a lot of potential.

The BEST cashback card now has a signup bonus

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Fidelity_investment_card

A+

I’ve written at length about the Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express card.

Two choice quotes (yes, I am quoting myself):

“The unsung hero of cashback cards.” 

“The best cashback card on the market.” 

This card is good for:

  • Unbonused spending categories since it offers a flat 2% back on every single purchase
  • Keeping forever to boost credit history since it has no annual fee
  • Everyday spenders that don’t need/want to meet exorbitant spend requirements
  • Those who want to invest in the long-term instead of short term travel ventures

I have this card and find myself using it quite a lot. I keep it in my wallet and use it when I’m somewhere that is not in a bonus spend category (hardware stores, big box stores, random services) which happens more than I thought it would. It’s a nice way to “give myself” a bonus since I like to earn 2 points on every dollar I spend.

I also LOVE their shopping portal. It regularly offers larger payouts than other portals, including the already generous Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. Except these points go right into your brokerage/IRA/college savings account for you to invest however you want, which is pretty cool. I always check this portal and am sometimes blown away by how large their payouts are. They also have more online stores than the other portals.

This card is quite the anomaly in the points and miles world: it’s an American Express card issued by a Bank of America subsidy that plugs directly into your account at Fidelity… what? How did those partnerships produce this card? 

But what about the Barclaycard Arrival?

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Evernote Review: Remember Everything

by Harlan 2 Comments

Also see: 

Be the elephant

Be the elephant

Evernote, for me, was one of those services that my friends highly praised, but that took me a while to get into for myself. Maybe it will be like that for you, or maybe you’ll instantly fall in love with it.

I have a new brain. And that brain is Evernote. Their tagline is “Remember everything.”

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Axiom for Bank Points and Airline Miles

by Harlan 30 Comments

a table of states with names

Axiom time.

Value

It is very hard to assign a monetary value to points and miles. Specifically, points issued by banks (Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, Thank You points, Arrival “miles”) and airline mileage programs (AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles, Easy Returns, Avios, etc., etc. etc.)

Valuations vary wildly depending on who you ask. But if you ask me, it’s simple. You want to get at LEAST two cents of value out of each point or mile.

And that’s the smoking gun right there. Don’t waste time trying to assign some sort of arbitrary value out of your points and miles. You want to shoot for a minimum value of $.02 each.

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