Oil Pulling: Day One

by Harlan 2 Comments

a hand holding a spoon with a white substance
If you’re thinking “WTF is oil pulling?“, that was also me two days ago. Those were the exact words in my thoughts. Luckily, if was also the title of this blog post that explains what it is in detail. (I borrowed the image above from that post.)

Then I went to the Google monster and found a few other choice links:

http://www.designmom.com/2014/01/oil-pulling/

http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/oil-pulling-the-habit-that-can-transform-your-health

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/oil-pulling-benefits_n_3940361.html

So now, I thought I’d document my experience along the way in case anyone else is interested. Feel free to skip this little mini-series if this is like, totally not your thing. I totally understand. 🙂

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Free Admirals Club Membership Through Business Extra? Yes, please!

by Harlan 1 Comment

Beginning March 22nd, 2014, the American Express Platinum Card will no longer permit entry to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges (only Delta SkyClubs, Priority Pass Select lounges, and Centurion lounges).

While looking through the Business Extra website, I noticed something mighty interesting: a  yearly Admirals Club membership can be had for 3,000 points!

business-extra-1

Click “Redeem Points”

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Review: Al Dhabi Lounge @ AUH

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Al Dhabi, just beyond checkin

Al Dhabi, just beyond checkin

Our business class ticket on Lufthansa came with complimentary access to Al Dhabi lounge. After hanging out at the Park Inn at Yas Island all day, we were itching to get on the move, but not quite sure how to approach a 3am departure. The AUH-FRA flight was the earliest/latest flight I’ve ever taken. So, we left the hotel around 11pm, propelled by cabin fever after being sequestered in all day, and figured we could grab some food and drinks in the airport lounge and kill an hour or two.

The Al Dhabi lounge is located just outside security, which was a breeze by the way. We showed the agent our tickets and invitation from Lufthansa and were easily admitted. And then we walked into the space behind the checkin counter.

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New App Alert: AirHelp. Know Your Options When You Get Bumped from a Flight

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Ever been bumped from a flight and had no idea what your options were?

Nowadays, with mergers, elimination of hubs, and less competition on certain routes, airlines routinely oversell flights based on how many people haven’t shown up for the flight in the past. Sometimes the bumps are voluntary, and fliers are happy to accept a voucher or rebooking for a future flight. But what if you’re bumped against your will? What are your options?

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Club Carlson: Is Second Night Free Using Points and Cash?

by Harlan 1 Comment

As a few of you know, there are some changes coming to Club Carlson starting March 15th (say it ain’t so!). Club Carlson has been one of the most generous hotel loyalty programs since its inception. It’s only fair that they take a little bit back. After all, the program wouldn’t be profitable if they continue to give give give.

Even with the upcoming devaluation and category changes, it still manages to offer supremely great value – especially if you hold the Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature card. Cardholders get 2-4-1 award redemptions. Meaning if a hotel costs 44,000 points per night, you can get TWO nights for that amount of points instead of just one – an amazing value no matter who you slice it.

They also offer Points + Cash redemptions. The question is, as a cardholder, do you still get the 2-4-1 deal on the points side? 

The answer: NO.

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FoundersCard Membership: Is it worth it?

by Harlan 30 Comments

a close up of a blue round object

Also see:

Update: You can lock in a FoundersCard membership for $295 a year through May 13th, 2016 when you sign-up with my link. This is $100 less than the usual rate!

FoundersCard popular benefits
FoundersCard popular benefits

Why I joined

I joined FoundersCard earlier this year from a referral I received after flying in Pearl Class on Etihad. I mostly signed up to be able to review the benefits and see if they’re really worth it. So far, so good. I’m on target to more than recoup the annual fee.

The membership offers numerous discounts on a LOT of different services that are useful for business, lifestyle, or travel. There are one or two that I really zeroed in on, and I think the card could offer a lot of value both with monetary discounts and with opportunities.

Events

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Awesome Deal Alert: 60% Off Beds at the W Hotel Store

by Harlan Leave A Comment

For anyone who’s ever stayed at a W Hotel, you’ve gotten to experience firsthand how great the beds are. They actually sell them, often for around $1,000 to $1500 (more or less, depending on which options you choose).

They’ve just put up a sale with a 60% off promo code – easily the best sale they’ve ever had. The code is W6EM9. 

I tested it out and added a Queen Plush Top Mattress to a cart which retails for $1,059.

With the promo code that price comes all the way down to…

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Las Vegas is great for Hyatt Gold Passport Members

by Harlan 2 Comments

Screenshot 2014-03-04 19.16.12

After the stay at New York-New York Hotel & Casino for two days, it was time to move across the walkway for a one-night stay at Excalibur. Both of these hotels are part of MLife, MGM’s loyalty program, and they’re literally connected by a long walkway. These hotels are located on the south side of The Strip, and very close to the airport. A taxi to/from was only $15 in each direction.

mlife
Why so focused on MLife? For Hyatt stay credits, of course. By switching hotels, I got three nights and two stays credited to my Gold Passport account, which is Hyatt’s loyalty program. A few months ago, Hyatt announced a partnership with MGM with reciprocal benefits between MLife and Gold Passport. I recently got the Chase Hyatt Visa, which comes with Platinum status just for having the card. And because of this partnership, I found myself as a mid-tier Gold with MLife, which gave me priority checkin/checkout, bonus points for staying in the rooms, and a bonus for gambling in the casinos.

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Unpublished/Secret Benefit of the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card?

by Harlan Leave A Comment

You got a hidden benny, buddy?

You got a hidden benny, buddy?

I’ve consistently noticed, month after month, that I receive 3x Membership Rewards from online purchases when I pay with my American Express Premier Rewards Gold card. 

NOWHERE is this written out, but in practice, it has worked for me for nearly a year. The most obvious example is when, one month, I sent $1000 via Amazon Payments and got 3,000 MR points put my account. There have been other, smaller purchases that have triggered this, too. $50 from fab.com. An order at shoes.com. A few other things from drugstore.com and Kohls.com. The thing they all have in common is that they are purchases made online.

I’ve tried this with the Platinum Card – nothing. This little trick seems to be isolated to the PRG card. If so, it might be worth using this for online purchases in conjunction with clicking through portal links.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is this an unpublished/secret benefit of having the PRG card?

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn @ SCL

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Approaching the hotel

Outside the hotel

After flying LGA-ORD on American and MEX-LIM-EZE-SCL on LAN, I pretty much felt like a pile of garbage. I had a day-long layover to look forward to at SCL and booked a room at the Holiday Inn by redeeming a free night from hotels.com, who has a buy 10, get one free program – effectively 10% off all bookings made through the website. Anyway, I cleared immigration, already had my Chilean reciprocity from another trip earlier in the year (which is now a moot point since it is now free to visit Chile!) and made it through customs in about thirty minutes. I was so exhausted, my eyes were just about crossing trying to read the signs.

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New to Points and Miles? Read My Getting Started Guide!

by Harlan Leave A Comment

A year or so ago, I made an e-book about how to get started with points and miles. I listed it on Amazon – a slim volume full of info. My friends kept asking me about it, and I kept emailing them copies. I’ve gotten some good response from it, so I decided to add it as a brand new section to Out and Out. I made a new tab called “NEW?” which contains the exact same information as the e-book, updated even, to reflect the current state of US Airways.

Please click here to start exploring the sections of the guide, or simply hover over the tab at the top of the website to access a drop-down menu. Feel free to pass the link along to anyone who might be interested in collecting points and miles. I tried to make it as simple and as thorough as possible. Please leave comments or email me if anything is unclear!

Hope this helps others get into the points and miles game. There are still plenty of strategies out there for free (or really cheap) travel.

Of course, if you’d rather have a nice volume for an e-reader or Kindle, you can still buy the e-book from Amazon (and I appreciate your support!).