Milenomics² Episode 227: Last minute 10x Applications, Breaking News & More (Patreon)

0:20 Down to the Wire: Amex 10x Referrals

• Working links should be applied to before the close of business 5/22
  

• Declines can be reconsidered later and the 10x should stick
  

• What is a good card to force a decline on? (Anything?)
  

• How we’ve played it so far
  

• Liquidation constraints and how pushing these back a few months can help with that
  

What we’ve been up to


10:27 Bank of America Concierge Experience

• Needed a flight on Norwegian, which doesn’t show on most portals
  

• Called the BofA concierge to get rid of my points from my more recent Elite card
  

• Rep verified with a date/route that the flight was not in his system
  

• Asked me to book myself, needed the booking # and the airline (it seemed like he was looking it up to make sure it was really booked) 
  

• Overall very ‘human’ experience.  I enjoyed it.
  

• 85,000 points (sign up bonus basically), worth $1060 That’s a huge sign up bonus. 
  

• Can credit partially if you don’t have enough points.   
  

• Net it out: really easy to use 1.25 cents per point. I think the spread is thin for me to outright MS but for SUB it is a nice kicker. 
  

17:26 Gardening Boston - San Diego Flights

• So much to discuss, let’s start with the Delta screen shot below…
  

• Price compression between cabins
  

• Fare fluctuation when First cabin unsold leading up to departure
  

• Capturing fare drops without canceling and rebooking
  

• Upgrade Certificates
  

• 15% Amex card discount on awards (and does that discount convey fully when upgrading with miles
  

• Complimentary upgrade uncertainty
  

• Amex Insider Fares (and subsequent interaction when itinerary after bank point booking)
  

• Companion/split itinerary considerations
  

• The entertainment value before even taking the flight is off the charts. It’s like I’m on “Let’s Make a Deal!”
  

26:30 Norway Tours: So Much to Do, So Little Time

• We’re booked on a Brunch Cruise, a Water Park, a Husky Puppy training and sledding farm and a fishing/birding/fjord tour. 
  

• Horseback riding in Lofoten, maybe a kayak of the Fjord (maybe not, cold water and all) 
  

• Tours seem easy to find in english which is helpful.  Prices are about $100/pp for anything worth doing. 
  

• Chase 1.5 cents per UR is nice–but prices are inflated. True value is about 1.37 cents per, still a nice discount. (PYB is nice for this as well but slightly worse).

• No wiggle room, we land and the next morning start tours.  Some down time in between and a 6 hour road trip currently on the books.
  

• #Correction: we wrongly mention in this episode PYB is 1.5 cents per pont. It is in fact 1.25 cents per point. Making the portal better than PYB. (H/T Brian)

32:45 Breaking: [Targeted] Amex Business Platinum Upgrade 120,000 for $10,000 in 3 months

• Link to check
  

• Asks you to log in. If targeted, all your currently active Business Greens and Golds will likely be eligible.
  

• Adjacent idea: Refer/apply for Business Green, upgrade to Business Gold for 4x dining, refer back from that. Getting a little late for such maneuvers but a brilliant idea. Then upgrade after spending $25k on dining if still targeted.
  

39:10 Heightened: Amex Morgan Stanley Platinum 125,000 Welcome Bonus

• Direct Link
  

• $8,000 min spend in 6 months
  

• Still churnable? Unclear to me.
  

41:17 Update: Going In Store at Staples

• Slack data points mentioned unlimited split tender, which is true
  

• Sam: $10 target eGC (x2) online 
  

44:33 Are old Citi Premiers better off as more DoubleCash?

• One way I've been successfully drawing down fluz GC balance is witj plastiq or cash loads on double cash cards
  

• These cost 3% but earn 2 and then another 1.5 on the pay by phone
  

• Be careful not to double count that 1.5% basically a .5% cost reduction on fluz GC load fees. 
  

• Could also be nice if you have a good use for TYP
  

• Premier cards earn TYP for less but with Amex right now being so big I'm not interested in type or premier earning. 
  

• Calling means eyes on the account, could take “Up to 51 days” 
  

• What about Synchrony?
  

• What about online credit limit increases (automated, no human interaction). 
  

51:43 Navigating the new Wyndham / Vacasa Chart donut hole: More bedrooms for less

• This could really be a post, but I’m finally booking new stays and need to work within the current chart
  

• Vacasa and Wyndham now have a two tier chart. Tier one is for properties <$250 per bedroom per night all in, tier two is for properties between $250 and $500 per night all in. 
  

• The lower tier is 15,000 per night, the higher is 30,000. 
  

• That creates a donut hole where a 3 bedroom for $750 a night is 45,000 points, but a 2 bedroom for $501 is 60,000 points. 
  

• So I’ve started searching for 3 bedrooms for $750 or less. 
  

• In Kauai 3 bedrooms are rare–the majority of properties are 1 -2 bedrooms
  

• But there are some 3 bedrooms in Princeville that work for less than $750 (one of them is the house I stayed at last year when I was moved last minute) 
  

• This time I have a long stay–12 nights and need to really keep an eye on the spending with these points simply because I’m bumping against the earning I can do right now with all the 10x Amex going on. 
  

• The whole thing makes a complicated program even tougher. 
  

• 2 bedrooms are the only game in town in Kapaa around Christmas. 
  

• Fortunately prices seem to have falledn YoY in Kauai
  

• I found a Great 2 bedroom in Lihue, and have not been to this resort but have driven by many times. About $480/nt all in ($240/nt).  
  

• 30,000 per night. https://www.vacasa.com/unit/47845