Tag Archives for alaska.
This month’s marked with lots of travel. I just got back from a week in Japan. And tomorrow, I’m off to San Francisco and Portland!
I was tallying up my points totals and comparing what the retail costs would’ve been. This trip would’ve cost over $2,000 had I paid cash.
I got 30 cents… will this be enough for 5 days in San Fran and Portland? :p
I should disclose ended up paying a little cash, in addition to my points. 30 whole cents. 😹
Here’s how I did it!
I recently picked up an personal Alaska Visa card, then tried to get another one soon after. It was automatically denied. Like, straight up the answer is no.
That’s unusual, so I thought it may have been because I didn’t lower the limits on my existing Alaska cards before applying. Not wanting to waste the hard pull on my credit (because multiple inquires on the same day are combined), I applied for the business version of the card and was instantly approved.
Deeee-nied!
But I didn’t want to let it go. I called the next day to speak to a credit analyst (they are open 8am to 7pm and I usually apply for new cards late at night while tipsy) for reconsideration.
I offered to lower my limits on one of the other cards, as they are pretty high (like $20,000 each), but she said the denial had nothing to do with my credit score or account history. And moving credit lines wouldn’t help me, either.
I was denied because I already opened a personal Alaska card within the last 90 days – which was the first time I’d heard that. But apparently it’s been enforced sporadically for a while.
So I figured how to play by the “new” rules and still get my doses of Alaska miles: rotate between the personal and business versions of the card every 90 days.
Dear Out and Out readers, I miss you so.
I got to Barcelona (Barcy) Wednesday morning and have spent the past 3 days wandering, sleeping, working, eating (tapas), and drinking (sangria and Spanish wines and local craft beers).
Wandering in the Gothic Quarter
I still have 3 more full days in Barcy and am totally open to ideas about how to fill the time. I’m meeting with friends, and have a few things on my to-do list (on Todoist):
Restaurants, sites, and things to see. Anything I should add?
I’ll get up tomorrow and see La Sangrada Familia, then maybe head to the Picasso Museum and see the Arc de Triomphe along the way.
Feel free to share any tips about where to go, what to do, or great restaurants you love. I’ll try to work in as many things as possible!
Also see:
The beginning of the year is an excellent time to set new travel goals.
Especially when you’re looking at this:
Ruh roh!
I already broke down the numbers of qualifying for top-tier status on American and Alaska, and found that Alaska MVP Gold 75K status is easier to earn with less flying. And you end up with more miles than AAdvantage Executive Platinum status when you start from zero and hit the top tier – 36,250 miles to be exact.
And now it’s even more attractive in light of American’s upcoming devalued award chart.
Happy New Year! I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon with the predictions. So here’s my effort.
“Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t we?”
A portrait of the Fidelity AMEX card
Also see:
I’ve been interested in Alaska’s MileagePlan program for a while now. But I’ve never actually banked any flights to them.
As I get ready to base out in Dallas, I, like everyone else, am waiting for all of American’s little shoes to drop. And what it might mean.
For all the speculation, we haven’t actually heard anything from American yet.
It’ll be a shame the program might change as I move to their backyard.
There can only be one
I even thought, wow, I can really kick off earning miles toward Executive Platinum status with my biz class flight to Barcy in January. That’ll be a nice boost toward status right at the beginning of the year.
But now I’m looking at MileagePlan all over again.
You’re interesting
I’ve been curious about Alaska’s MileagePlan program for a while. Between trying out Delta, then racing to qualify for status on American, Alaska has always been that airline that I’ve known about but never really explored. MileagePlan was discussed quite a bit at April’s FTU, and since then, I’ve been looking into the program more.
The Dome Home B&B in Healy, AK
Denali National Park is a lot of things. It’s huge, beautiful, natural, wild, raw, breathtaking – and very far from most anything. There are no hotel chains here, so staying at the Dome Home Bed & Breakfast didn’t earn me any stay credits with any points program – but it did earn me some American miles. How? Sites like Pointshound and Rocketmiles are GREAT for earning points in far-flung places – sign up if you haven’t already. There are some gems on there for boutique hotel and B&B bookings like this one that will still earn you miles! I always checked Rocketmiles for every booking I make, just to see what’s available. And everyone should absolutely see Alaska someday, points or no. It is gorgeous!
I settled on the Dome Home after seeing that I could still earn miles for booking at that it was located near to Denali in Healy, Alaska – only a 30-minute drive from the northern entrance to the park. They also had a brewery I wanted to visit, and it was a 15-minute drive from a tourist oasis where there were restaurants, shops, grocery stores, and gas stations in case we needed anything “for the road.”
Yes! Thanks to this alert from The Flight Deal, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this one. It’ll be a trip for my birthday, which is August 26. 🙂
As with everything travel-related, I had a few reasons for going through with this one:
Check out this sweet itinerary:
Looking forward to the trip, and to seeing how American fares on a long-haul flight. Be sure to sign up for The Flight Deal’s daily newsletter – they’ve been on fire with the great deals lately!
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.