Milenomics² Podcast Episode 232: News, Updates, and a Japan Trip Report (Patreon)

0:40 Amex Capping 1.1 Cent Schwab Cashouts to 1MM per year (DOC: Link)

• .8 cents after that

• Per calendar year, which helps initially.

• Additional options: Morgan Stanely 1CPP (uncapped?)

• Amex Business Checking +Platinum card = 1cpp up to 1MM points per year. 

• If all three become 1MM capped we’re trending towards <1CPP for >3.5million MR a year. 

07:38 Fluz Load Fees Go “Dynamic”

• Seeing many Amex cards up to 3.7% for Dining

• Said to also depend on load amount going forward

• Load settling said to decrease to 48 hours (was 72 hours)

• AI Generated Jurassic Park + Homer + Fluz Image:
   

• Simpsons reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uQNPS9v_VU

11:42 BofA +3% Summer Promo

• Started July 1st

• How is it going so far?

• Fantastic – points post with the main points, Easy quick cash outs

• Cash loads are MORE useful than ever right now.

14:55 British Airways Devalues Partner Awards (OMAAT)

• A once great program is now looking less great

• Other options make more sense

• Not worth holding long term without a transfer bonus 

• Can transfer instantly if a flight still makes sense (close in?)

17:26  US Bank Leverage: Denied

• Number of recent inquiries

• A number of recently opened tradelines
  

18:51 PNC Business Card: Stiff-Armed

• Can’t apply online without a business login

• Branch here in LA is very inconvenient

• Good idea: is there a good business checking account offer? 

21:39 Revisiting Gift Card Resale

• Some great opportunities, albeit with low scale. 

• Great reminder that there are benefits to being in more than just Fluz

• Risks: At some level there are some for sure, but in practice GC are not ‘cash’

• With low scale the spread needs to be there. 

• Portal payouts can be there (shopsmarter/retailmenot), but slow is the key

26:35 Japan Trip Report

27:40 Premise of the Trip

• 3rd trip to Japan in 5 years

• 1 Week: Tokyo + Osaka this time

• Discuss: “What do you guys do in Japan?”
  

Misc Follow Up

• ATM Withdrawals

• eSIMs

• Suica Cards
  

32:20 BOS - NRT on JAL Business Class

• Booked with AsiaMiles: 2 at around 360 days, another 2 opened up at around 335 days (before release to AA)

• 75,000 miles + ~$275 pp one-way (now 89,000 from Boston)

• Outstanding experience as usual

35:16 Narita Arrival Experience: Still Awful

• Hot, crowded, only a small fraction of available immigration desks open

• QR Code ( https://www.digital.go.jp/en/services/visit_japan_web-en ) helps not one bit: It was 1.5 hours to get to the desk

• Thankfully no additional wait at customs

38:35 Klook Private Airport Transfer

• After a long journey, especially since we weren’t staying at a hotel near Tokyo Station, we skipped the Narita Express train this time

• Van was around $139 one-way fully loaded

• Only awkward part was that despite what time you might say you want a pickup, they monitor your flight and set the arrival time based on that, then wait 90 minutes ‘til they start charging you 4,000 yen an hour

• Guy was texting us on Whatsapp asking what the status was and I’m like “I didn’t suggest you show up early!”

• Ended up working out without an overage but just barely 

• Drive took “just” an hour in a clean van that accommodate us and our luggage no problem

• I’d do it again over the train given our constraints

44:34 Hyatt Centric Ginza

• Really like this hotel

• Great neighborhood and not a high-rise so you feel more “connected” to the city

• Booked King City View Suite (a premium suite) for 50k/nt + a Two Twin Room (a standard room) for 25k/nt

• Cash prices were going for around $600 for regular rooms, $1,000+ for suits. Taxes really add up in Tokyo at around 20%.

• Emailed requesting them to be connecting which they honored at check-in

• Turns out to be 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths of tremendously useful space especially the way it’s thoughtfully designed

• Globalist breakfast (booked as Guest of Honor) was quite good with a lot of interesting options

• Haven’t tried Andaz/new Hyatt Toranomon Hill Until the Park Hyatt Tokyo re-opens this is my favorite Hyatt in Tokyo

51:45 Shinkansen Tokyo - Osaka

• Booked online, >3 days prior to arrival for savings

• Booked Green car for the first time which is nice

• Tremendous way to travel to Kyoto/Osaka. About $100 pp one-way.

53:16 Conrad Osaka

• Fun fact: The Conrad Osaka and the Hyatt Centric Ginza have exactly the same number of rooms. 164.

• But the two hotels couldn’t feel more different. High rise vs low-lying and connected to the neighborhood. Trying to be fancy vs being upscale and functional. High touch service vs more self-sufficient and comfortable.

• Highlights

• Successfully redeemed 6 Hilton Free Night Certificates for 2 rooms, 3 nights

• Connecting rooms, which required an upgrade pre-arrival, secured via email for a modest price ($78 USD per night)

• Concierge helped consult on Kobe steakhouse and secure same day reservation over phone

• Bellman personally drove us in Maserati SUV house car to golf store 10 mins away when GoTaxi failed

• Lowlights

• Housekeeping didn’t visit until 2 days into a 3 day stay

• Kitchen can’t consistently poach an egg

Kobe Beef in Kobe

• Resarched this a bunch and the consensus seems to be that if you’re wondering whether it’s “worth it” to get Kobe beef at a steakhouse in Kobe, it’s probably worth it

• Ended up here: Mouriya Lin

• Outstanding. Everyone in our family said it was the best steak we’ve ever had, and we enjoyed every bite, not just of the steak but of everything that came with it.

• Prepared Teppanyaki style with a chef on a hot skillet in front of you, but without the theatrics.

• Upscale but not so fancy as to feel uncomfortable. Highly recommended.

1:08:00 StubHub: Hanshin Tigers Tickets

• Was having trouble securing tickets so reached out to the Conrad concierge via email a couple weeks prior to arrival. Said tickets were sold out and it wasn’t “safe” to buy from resellers.

• StubHub seems to deal in this market, but only in a limited way with very few tickets trading hands.

• Purchased 4 tickets for around $72/each ($100 fully loaded with fees) down the 1st base line

• Pick-up was said to be at a convenience store in Japan which seemed more likely to converge than paper tickets

• Day before game a redemption code arrived, but it didn’t work at the Loppi machine at Lawson

• Emailed StubHub and they sent a QR Code to redeem at Lawson which also didn’t work

• Day of the game I’m starting to wonder whether I’m being scammed because the emails I’m sending back to StubHub are going to “viagogo.com”

• So I chat StubHub directly on their site. They contact the seller and tells me to wait and see whether I get new tickets later. Just a few hours before the game QR Code screen shots arrive to my spam folder from viagogo.

• They’re in an entirely different (worse) part of the stadium, but at least we’re at the game

• But we find we’re in the visitor section and they take it so seriously that we can’t wear our merch supporting the home team! The security guard actually made my son take off his jersey, and me and my other son had hats as well. Pretty wild.

• We ended up having a great time, and I’d say a Japanese baseball game is 100% worth attending because there’s nothing quite like it in the world. Familiar but next level different how into it the fans are.

• StubHub ended up giving me a credit for around 25% of the value of our tickets towards a future purchase. I felt that was inadequate but they told me to pound sand.

1:24:00 Return: Osaka - Tokyo - BOS in JAL Premium Economy

• Originally booked as NRT-BOS in Premium Economy for 55k Alaska miles

• Ended up tagging on Osaka - Tokyo in Economy

• Somehow this lowered the price 50k Alaska miles pp

• End to end experience exceeded expectations, and OneWorld Emerald from Alaska MVP 100k helped more than I thought it would

• OneWorld Emerald gets good lounge access on partner airlines outside of the US even when flying Economy/Premium Economy

• They also get priority check-in, baggage handling, and boarding

• I was unsure how these benefits would shake out, but was surprised how well things worked

• I was especially unsure how 3 companions would be treated on the same itinerary

• At check-in the agent carefully tagged a cardboard box of golf clubs we’d purchased and put First/Priority tags on all our luggage

• In Osaka we accessed a priority First Class boarding area that fed directly into the Sakura (business class lounge)

• In Narita, 2 of us were permitted into the First lounge and our kids went to the Sakura lounge. They know their way around the Narita Sakura lounge from prior trips so that worked great. Our first time visiting the Narita First lounge but enjoyed ordering food from an app for table delivery (sushi, curry, soup, etc)

• Premium Economy was better than expected! Everyone agreed it was about 80% as good as Business Class. They gave us plenty of food & beverage. Just not as fancy and the service wasn’t quite as regular but that was fine.

• Managed to catch some sleep in the recliner chair.

• Direct flight once again trumps better class of service in connecting flight.

1:36:43 Catch and Release (and Catch): Didn’t Work

• Accidentally booked one seat NRT-BOS with Asiamiles

• Cancelled and it did not come back into inventory for Alaska/AA