No doubt that the landscape of “the game” has greatly changed recently. Alas, there is no more Bluebird, Vanilla reloads are long gone, and even our trusty Serve is taking a knocking from cash advance fees. Oh, and Amazon Payments finally closed down its cash cow. Yet it trundles on. Here are a few things I’m looking forward to and can’t wait to write about in the upcoming months:
Queer and There
Category Archives for Queer and There.
7 Awesome Uses of Evernote for Travelers
Be the elephant
It’s no secret that I love Evernote. It’s available on every platform and every device. The web clipper is a godsend. I use it for so many things, including my obsession interest with points and miles and to help me while traveling. Here are 7 uses that never get old.
1. Make a notebook of every one of your trips.
Ways to keep up with the blog
Dear readers,
Out and Out has been growing slowly but steadily over the past year and I don’t always update the blog as often as I should.
I do post quite a bit on Facebook and Instagram (especially when traveling) and wanted to put this out into the world if you’d like to keep up in other ways:
Twitter and Instagram are my personal accounts, as I am only one man.
There are also two ways to ensure you never miss a blog post:
- Subscribe with RSS on a reader like Feedly, Digg, Pocket, etc. (I prefer Feedly.)
- Sign up for daily emails. Only receive an email when I post – and if more than one a day, you get only one email. Never spam.
Oh, and Dr. Google tells me that last month I had a reader from every single US State. Love it! Thank you for reading!
A reader from every state!
I will keep optimizing content as I go along, so keep the emails and comments coming. I love interacting with you guys!
Safe travels and cheers to you. Am enjoying this ride so much.
FoundersCard Promo: $395 a year forever and a new AA promo
Worth mentioning since I’ve posted about FoundersCard before.
When you join FoundersCard, you get to enjoy the initial rate you paid… forever. I joined when the rate was $495, and have gotten that much value out of the card despite only being a member coming up on a year. Here’s a chance to do even better than the deal I got in on.
You now can join FoundersCard for $395 a year, and you’d get to keep paying that rate every year you keep the card.
Here is the link to the promo and the promo code to use is FCHARLAN818.
If you’ve been deliberating about whether to join or not, this $100 off the usual lowest rate ($495) might be the thing that makes this deal a little bit better.
Also, if you’re an AA flyer, their current AA promo is 5% off most fares on American. You will receive a discount code that is good for unlimited use. If you heavily fly on American/OW and are trying to meet some sort of status before the end of 2014, you’d get to take advantage of the fare discount and start earning your $395 back right away.
That, combined with the multiple other discounts and freebies offered by the card, as well as the fantastic global networking events, makes this card a great investment for entrepreneurs in major cities.
AA’s last quarter promo was a free Gold status challenge, and bonus Business Extra points. They’ve featured 5% off fares before, and that seems to be a hit with most members of FoundersCard.
Read my full review to learn about the other discounts offered and to decide whether this membership might be worth buying.
If you have any questions, email me at zynner@gmail.com or feel free to post a comment below.
Back from Italy/Work is slowing/I missed you!
Many moons ago, I bought a R/T ticket to Italy when Star Alliance airlines were attacking fares in Skyteam hubs. After playing around with some dates and locations, I decided to go to Italy for my birthday. Now I’m back and have so much catching up to do.
- I flew there and back on Swiss business class, which offered a phenomenal product and service
- I stayed (for free!) at the Radisson Blu in Galgiznano Terme, Italy, which was a lovely property
- I got to see Venice and Florence for the first time – both lovely cities
- And I earned nearly 14K United miles, nearly enough for a free one-way toward another getaway trip
I’ve also been crazy busy with work, but it’s now slowing down and I’m hoping to turn more attention back into the blog, especially before I return to Europe for Oktoberfest in Germany.
Finally, I’ve missed you guys and am looking forward to getting back in the saddle!
FoundersCard offering free AA Gold Status Challenge until 5/31/14
I’ve written before about the benefits of FoundersCard.
Quick overview of current bennies
They partner with American Airlines to offer a unique benefit each quarter. In the past, they’ve had discounts of 5% or 10% off most fares on AA metal, which can be quite a nice break with you fly American a lot.
Here are the current airline benefits:
- Virgin Atlantic: Complimentary Flying Club Silver Elite Status & Fast Track to Gold Elite Status
- Virgin Atlantic: Up to 20% off US & Vancouver originating Flights to the UK
- Cathay Pacific: Complimentary Marco Polo Club Silver Tier Status
- Cathay Pacific: 5-25% off flights
- JetBlue: FoundersCard Members save 5% on fares (excluding multi-city trips)
- Qantas: FoundersCard Members receive up to 25% off travel between US, Australia, and New Zealand. Discounts are available on most classes of service
- Emirates: 5-15% off fares for US originating flights
- British Airways: 10% off most roundtrip US, UK & Canada originating airfares
Taking another look at MasterCard World Elite Benefits
Also see:
A new World Elite
I’d already decided last month to keep the Barclaycard Arrival for another year. This weekend, I logged in to see if some points had posted for the gifts cards I purchased on a recent spree of manufactured spend.
I was asked to verify my address and contact info – no biggie, didn’t think too much of it. And then, I noticed the logo of the Arrival card looked a little different. It was now a Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard.
Surely enough, the entire blogosphere exploded with this news. I’m not one to parrot news, so I’d recommend reading this post by Million Mile Secrets that outlines all the new changes. I already have a World Elite Mastercard (the Ink Plus from Chase), but having two of a nice product never hurts. Read More
Amex Serve really doesn’t want you to switch funding sources
Ah, my adventures in Serve.
They are doing their best to make sure the product is secure, I’ll give ’em that.
When I originally got the Serve card, I wanted to find out which banks charge cash advance fees for reloading with a credit card. My idea was to load $5 from each bank’s credit card and report the results. Not so fast.
One card
Blog giveaway: $10 in Kohl’s Cash and a $15 shoes.com promo code
Dear readers, I have two things hanging around that I know I won’t use. You all know how much I love Kohl’s, and I have $10 in Kohl’s cash that I’d like to give away to someone who’ll use it, as well as a promo code for shoes.com
Kohl’s Cash
It’s only $10, but I’d hate to see it go to waste. It’s good until May 3rd. Leave a comment here on this post with your email, and I’ll send it over on Thursday, May 1st. Be sure to specify whether you’d like the Kohl’s Cash or shoes.com code.
Shoes.com
I bought some Chucks and got a promo code included for $15 off any order over $75. If you hit it right at about $75, this equates to ~20% off. This one’s good until May 31st. Leave a comment here on this post with your email, and I’ll send it over on Thursday, May 8th. Be sure to specify whether you’d like the Kohl’s Cash or shoes.com code.
Bottom line
And that’s it. I know it’s not a lot, but I’d rather give these away that let them expire.
Thanks for reading Out & Out!
Back from FTU Seattle!
Typing this on a Delta plane on the way back to NYC. Feeling overwhelmed in the best way possible by the experience I’ve had in Seattle.
Lots of firsts:
- First time in Seattle (and Washington – was my 42nd state visited!)
- First FTU
- First Delta biz class transcon SEA-JFK
- First Marriott stay
- First taste of Washington beers
FTU Seattle was a great experience. I was able to attend 7 out of the 10 sessions – had to leave early to get back to NYC. The flight selection was limited since I burned all my SkyMiles for this trip, so had to take what I could get.
I have a lot to catch up on and a lot of new observations I’d like to share. Going to gouge myself with Girl Scout cookies (thanks, Jasmin!) and make a few new posts.
Oh, and here are the states I have left to visit:
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Oregon
Off to Seattle & My First FTU!
By the time this is up, I’ll already be in Seattle.
However, right now, I am on a Delta plane burning the last of my SkyMiles.
To lament briefly, it’s a shame. I love Delta’s brand, operations, flight attendants, and route network. They are a huge presence here in NYC, both at LGA and JFK. It would be so easy to pledge my loyalty to Delta. But all the other stuff makes me not want to have anything to do with them – the gutting of SkyMiles, the way they treat their “partners”, the unannounced changes, and all the rest.
In any regard, I am enjoying the flight and service, and am excited about getting to Seattle. It will be my first time there, and my first FTU.
Will definitely report back about my stays at Hyatt Place and the airport Marriott in Seattle, impressions of Delta First Class, and of course all the things I learned at FTU.
If you happen to be there, totally say hello. There’s a pic of me on the About page (and in various trip reports).
Happy travels!
My US Airways Flight Attendant Interview
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!
The application
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.
