Milenomics² Podcast Episode 203: Three Hurricanes, Zero Trips (Patreon)

0:40 BermudAir Takes Flight

• Direct Link
• OMAAT
• BOS, HPN (White Plains, NY), and FLL - BDA
• Service begins 8/31/2023 and bookable now
• Fares look cheap: From $199-$299 pp one-way for cheapest fare bucket
• Initially 2-2 configuration with every other seat blocked
• Said to eye remodeling to a 1-1 configuration 11/1/2023, at which times fares will go up
• No TSA PreCheck agreement in place yet, but the website looks surprisingly functional
• Would you trust them to get you there? If the JetBlue flight leaves before the BermudAir flight does? And you’re just going for the weekend?

07:03 Scuttled: Labor Day Bermuda Trip

• Hurricanes. Always the bullet you don’t see coming.
• Not one but two hurricanes in play, Franklin and Idalia
• 
• Forecast looks truly horrendous for golf and beach
• 
• Discuss: Unwinding a trip like this. Airfare is pretty straight forward (we’ve discussed this before, aim is to wait for the airline to cancel so as to capture a true refund vs travel bank). But what about the complicated fractional booking through Elite Alliance?

22:51 Dead Deal (that seems to keep recurring): giftcards.com

• Back in airline portals! (3x AA at the moment)
• 10% off $100 eVGCs w/various codes (lots of clicking)
• How to liquidate? Very YMMV situation between Bravo, Plastiq, and Fluz. Each seem to work for some but not all.
• Seems to have died before the projected end date
• Discuss: The nature of deals like this. Why so appealing? Seems infinite, but then you run into limits of scale and at the end of it, how much did you earn?
• Also: Is there still utility in 3x AA even without discounts?

30:46 Coming Soon: New Cards from Citi and Wells Fargo

• Citi Strata Elite (Amex Platinum “competitor”) DoC
• Wells Fargo Business Cards DealsPoints

34:02 Did you Know? Citi Dividend 5% Card

• Card earns 5% cashback in rotating categories each quarter
• 5% back needs to be activated each quarter, and isn’t effective for approximately “2 business days” after activation (similar wording to Citi retention offers)
• Cashback is capped at $300 per year, and all $6,000 the 5% spend can technically be done in a quarter
• But what I didn’t know until now is that the card earns ZERO cashback once you’ve earned $300 in a given calendar year!
• They don’t break out on the statement which transactions earned

35:37 Amex Charge Card Puzzler

• Under 10 charge cards but can’t get past “based on history” pop-up
• Haven’t run into this in the past, but wonder whether it’s because I was at 9 cards, but closed 10th recently and the Amex computer still thought I was at 10
• Could it be that the 10 charge card limit was triggering before the history pop-up thus enabling bypass of history pop-up?
• Test: Apply for Morgan Stanley Platinum to make the computer think I’m at 10 cards again, then apply for business card again hoping I get a decline I can then call and get reconsidered
• Step 1: Applied for and approved for Morgan Stanley Platinum 80k
• Step 2: Applied for business cards hoping to get a decline because the computer thinks I’m at 10 charge cards when I’m really at 9 (due to having closed one in < 30 days). Still getting declined for history popup.
• So it appears I’m in a penalty box and the links I’m using aren’t bypassing the history popup.
• Went for a Hilton Business 130k head-on. Instantly approved.
• Overall, feeling quite boxed in with Amex at the moment and like I’ve truly run out of cards. Here’s hoping for more targeted/NLL links soon.

41:57 Mistakes were Made - Closing an Amex Gold card

• I recently (accidentally) closed a brand new Business gold in the middle of the SUB spend
• I caught the problem an hour or so after closing, and I reached out to reopen.
• We’ve talked about reopening cards before as a strategy with retention offers
• I assumed it was always automatic and guaranteed within 30 days
• But this time…I was denied.
• “The system is saying this card is not eligible for reopening”
• Chat gave me an 877 number to try, on that call I was given a 24 hour window to reopen after closure.
• I hope this was a 1 off but something to consider moving forward if it isn’t.

46:22 Why is the Business Platinum 35% rebate so confusing?

• Need to ensure the card is linked to the proper airline
• Book tickets on american express travel
• Pay with points, select the card from the dropdown.
• Points will be removed at 1CPP and a statement credit will hit for that  amount
• About 30 days later the 35% rebate returns to your account.
• Except the entire thing is seemingly fraught with issues!

47:14 Report: Hawaiian Airlines Amex credits

• I have wanted to test this as a potential to capture $200 incidentals.
• Hawaiian has good flight times from LAX and LGB and runs good fare sales as well (Big cargo business)
• Booked a $95 fare fully refundable
• The fare didn’t trigger an Amex Credit, reports online are <$50 might work. With caps on how many bookings can be used $50 isn’t enough.
• When I called a few weeks later to cancel I was told this was going to credit as a travel credit.
• I pushed back and the rep quoted me 24 hour language.
• Except I made sure I bought this as fully refundable.
  • This is mirrors a trend I’ve seen with United and others–the default is SO often cancelable but non-refundable that they just get into an autopilot mode.
  • I had to get forceful and only then did he notice the fare correctly and process a full refund.

51:10 US Bank $500/$750 Business checking account Promotion Troubles

• This was my “white whale” and I spent months chasing after this account.
• The Promo was for $500 or $750. Transfer in $5000 or $15,000
• Back in Episode 194 I was successful in opening the account!
• I transferred in $15,000 and…. Got $500 two months later.
• So I called in.  And the rep agreed I did what I should have done, but she could only file a ticket
• With that–this promo has been held the amounts are lower, but you too can suffer with US Bank. (link
• New offer: Earn $350 when you deposit $5,000, Earn $800 when you deposit $25,000.

55:15 Park Hyatt Parking Follies

• Checked out, got final folio: 100% accuracy! Just charged for room upgrade.
• Noticed on credit card the day after checkout a couple additional charges: One for $210, another for $105.
• Checked hotel bill on hyatt.com and saw it was for valet parking.
• Three things…
• Parking is supposed to be complimentary for Globalists on award stays, which is a huge part of why I book with Hyatt in expensive parking markets like New York
• I hate it when hotels covertly charge you for additional stuff, especially when they don’t send you an updated folio, and especially when it seems to be in error
• It appears that we have already hit $100/nt parking
• 
• How would you handle this?
• Thought about involving my concierge but the waiting for her to get back to me would be annoying
• Emailed a Park Hyatt New York guest relations email I had from prior stays
• No response, so a day later I email another general email. They respond saying the charges have been reversed. No apology. No clarification whether they’re doing me a favor or the charges were applied in error. What should I expect next time?
• Glad I didn’t fill out the survey until after this

1:01:06 Bermuda Update: Positive Developments on Cancellations

• Confirmation that no charges at the Rosewood will be charged
• Elite Alliance really doing great work to do the right thing.

1:03:05 10 years ago this week:

• A plucky upstart blog launched into a crowded space: Milenomics the blog  launched in 2013 this week.