Milenomics² Podcast Episode 257: Mixed Bag, Listener Questions & More (Patreon)

0:41 Rakuten 30,000 Bonus for Chase Sapphire/Ink [Dead/Targeted?]

• https://www.rakuten.com/banking-finance/credit-cards

• Highly Variable and seems to be bouncing off this high and coming back down quickly

• Still, the idea of this as a way to control your own referral is nice. Keep an eye on this page in the future. 

• Seeing this on Sapphire Preferred 100k, Ink Unlimited, and Freedom Unlimited

• Unclear to me whether you can navigate to other cards there (say a 90k Ink card vs a $750 one)

• Still, amazing that you can get any MRs + 100,000 URs on a Chase card

• Makes this better than a Chase referral when = to or greater than 10k. 

• HT: Travel with Grant on X

• No Annual Fee Show all about Sapphire Preferred 100k offer and URs

05:35 JetBlue/United Collab

• Reuters, OMAAT, VFTW

• Worst kept secret in the industry at the moment

• Related: JetBlue cancels Islip service before launch

• Discuss: Pros and cons of United acquiring JetBlue (if ultimately that’s what happens)

12:22 Transfer Bonuses

• Chase: 25% to AirFrance (ends 5/31/2025) and Virgin Atlantic (ends 6/15/2025)

• CapitalOne: 25% to Qantas (ends 5/31/2025)

• Citi: 30% to Qatar (ends 5/31/2025, includes a bunch of other exotic partners)

18:51 Summer Italy Trip Gets Real (and Complicated)

• This is quickly Approaching. 

• I don’t want to go to Rome anymore (too busy)

• I found a less good option (LAX-DFW-LHR-FLR) and put it on hold

• Family agreed–1 stop to Rome + a train up to florence or Tuscany is worse than this option

• Ideal would be 1 stop to Florence. That’s only showing up for Premium Economy bookings right now. 

• Dilemma: Cancelled my original booking and the miles did NOT come back right away. 

• Half showed up about an hour after cancellation

• Twitter Reps said, “wait 24 hours” 

• 24 hours later–the missing miles still weren’t back

• Twitter reps say “We checked on this, and it's still in the queue and being processed. Please check again in 24 hours for an update.”

• Current Plan is 2 days in Florence, 5 in Tuscany (agriturismo), 4 in Lake Garda and 4 in Venice. 

21:30 PSA: AA holds are now 24 hours, not 5 days. (link)

• As I’m sitting and waiting for these miles to return I’m seeing that the AA award hold is now just 1 day. 

• This is a HUGE issue paired with the above situation – holds now can be shorter than the amount of time AA is quoting for miles to be ‘instantly refunded’ 

• So what to do? 

• Pushed twitter reps to please extend the hold. 

• And they said…. 

• This is theorized to be a byproduct of the ‘Catch, release and catch” Idea we outlined in Episode 22 back in 2019.  Hold for 5 days, extend over and over and then sell the space

31:40 Amex Business Platinum 25k Referral + 200k + $500 off $2,500 in Flights

• Last Business Platinum approval was “exactly” 3 months ago (ex: 2/1/2025, 5/1/2025)

• Wanted to apply while the app would still be considered a duplicate for easier recon

• Referred, applied, app went pending rather than getting a have/had pop-up which is a good sign

• Closed an old Business Platinum that was due (can you believe online Hilton GC sales are still suspended?)

• Called new accounts the next day and…

38:20 AA Hawking Flight Credits to Change Dates

• Flying Boston to State College on a Wednesday

• It’s finals week, so I think there’s a lot of pressure on the tiny SCE airport those dates

• A few days before flight, AA offers $400 credit to switch days

• Could I: Accept the offer, then cancel the flight for a credit, and capture the $400 without flying?

• If so, can this be gamed? Would it work with AA miles? How long would it take them to shut down your AA account?

46:15 PHL Lounge Crawl

• Feels to me like one of the “loungiest” airports around with all the major airlines plus Amex and Chase represented, with all terminals connected beyond security

• Amex Centurion

• Est 2017

• Small, fairly limited buffet food options, not very good

• Chase Sapphire Lounge

• Est 2025

• Huge footprint with lots of interesting spaces

• Bigger and better than Chase Sapphire Boston

• 20+ staff

• Bountiful buffet options, burgers and salads delivered to table via app, interesting drink options

• Winner: Chase Sapphire Lounge by a mile

Listener Questions

50:38 Q: How do I get started in this? 

• There’s so MUCH information… where do I start out?

• What would you say to someone just starting out in this game?

• What channel/Channels on slack are ‘must follow’?

• Patron lives in MSP, family of 6 (!), has been signing up for CCs but not doing much MS.  What’s the best way to figure out the next level? 

• Introductions of new members would be a nice addition to slack

58:48 Q: Fluz: $250k in spend for “GC” access

• This is a recurring question.  Should this be done to gain access to GC loads. 

• What it is: Late sign ups only have MUVC and Cash loads.  Cash loads are not as good as GC loads because GC loads can set the MCC.

• Really a Catch-22: The spend is easiest with GC load, but you need to do the spend to get GC load access.

• How would you do this? spend $250k with fluz without GC? 

• Sam: Me: Citi DC -> earn 2x and pay off with MUVC for -1.5%, net .5% and the spend. Would take me 8-12 months however. 

• Cycling issues with that, and SLOW/could cause shutdown and malfunctions. 

• Is Fluz “worth” it to a late adopter? 

• Additional Q: On the heels of Amex shutdowns and blocking, Is Fluz too risky?

• Chad’s Mini-Series on this topic: (link, subscription required)

1:06:27 Q: Family of 5 wants to fly to Japan, which credit card should they get to earn the most points & miles from the purchase?

• Is a high cost Amex card a responsible recommendation to a ‘normal’ person?

• What about buying miles for coach tickets, when the cost in miles is very low this is a good savings. 

01:12:14 Q: Upcoming 5 night Hilton stay. Which credit card should I get?

• This really gets to the issue of changing award space inventory

• “Just in time” vs “Just in Case”: Just in TIme is buying miles right when you’re ready to use them. Just in Case can veer into hoarding–having points on hand in case you need them. 

• Are Chase cards always the answer?