Happy New Year! Thanks to the Simply the Best series I know what I’ve done since March 2014 when the point of my life started.
Here’s what was big this January:
3. What’s in My Wallet: Keep Vs. Cancel 2015
4. How to Explore Hong Kong on Foot
5. Out of Burma Thanks to Avios
6. Bargaining Abroad, I Lost the Battle
In 2008 the Patriots lost to the awful Giants in Super Bowl XLII in Arizona when David Tyree reeled in an improbable catch from the luckiest QB of all time, Eli the Interception Manning. (Eli unlike his brother plays exceptionally well in the postseason.)
That year I missed seeing fellow Michigan alum Tom Brady almost complete the greatest season of all time since I was in Rio celebrating Carnaval.
This year the Superbowl has returned to the Valley of the Sun and once again I will not be in town for the game. But, as was the tradition for the World Cup, ThePointsOfLife brings you a preview and prediction of what’s to come this Sunday since I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing about Jaws watching the tape from every throw that Russell Wilson has made.
Here is the official breakdown:
Caroll vs. Belichick
After the invincible Saban lost to Meyer it became open season for larger than life coaches like Belichick. Caroll is not intimidated by Belichick’s stature and will come at him with everything.
Edge: Caroll
Wilson vs. Brady
Wilson had a horrendous QB rating last week and I don’t see his receivers giving him much help against the Pats decent defense.
Edge: Brady
Lynch vs. Blount
Though Lynch is the baddest man to run the ball since my main man Thurman Thomas, his effectiveness could be neutralized if the Hawks fall behind early.
Edge: Lynch on paper
Legion of Boom vs. Revis and whoever else is back there.
The legion is beat up: Thomas’s shoulder and big talker’s elbow not to mention Chancellor’s knee injury.
With Richard Sherman not at 100 percent and the others with nicks and bruises look for the Gronk to come off free across the middle with no one healthy enough to stop him for 60 minutes.
Edge: Old man Revis
Hawks WRs (who are they) vs. Edelman
Edelman knows if he has a Wes Welker drop he’ll be dropped from the team. I’m sure he’s sick of the comparisons.
Edge: Edelman
Special Teams
Historically the Pats have been clutch in the kicking game in past Super Bowls. Second, let’s say it comes down to an onside kick, what are the odds the Hawks recover again? Also, where’s Percy Harvin?
Edge: Pats
So who wins?
Lynch is the linchpin to the Hawks success but I’m afraid that Beast Mode won’t be making an appearance because he won’t get enough touches in the game due to Wilson’s poor QB play and the intensity of Mr. Brady. This will lead to the improbable Blount capturing the MVP.
Final Score: NE 24 Seattle 16
How’s this post relevant to points? Flights to Arizona are a tad steep this weekend and hotels for those wise enough to book them months in advance were still costly. For me there’s no better use of points than seeing the spectacle of a world championship in any sport whether it be the World Cup, the Final Four, or this year’s Super Bowl.
![Three Little [Red] Birds](https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Capture6-768x589.png "Three Little [Red] Birds")
Rise up this mornin’,
Smile with the risin’ sun,
Three little [red] birds
Each by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, (“This is my message to you-ou-ou: “)
They’re finally here: 3 little Red Birds waiting for me to MS 5k on each card. After a healthy amount of traveling last year my points’ deposits are running a little low. After applying for just about every cred card available, the chances of striking it big with quick bonuses is also low.
“You have too many inquires on your credit file.”
Luckily the Red Bird has come to save the day. With the birds in my pocket it’s time to come up with a MS strategy.
Here’s what I’m thinking:
1. Hilton Reserve: 10k for a free night for Tahiti.
2. Barclays Arrival retention offer: 1k spend for some nominal amount of travel credit.
3. The Bullpen:
Should make for an exciting few months till a billion mile man no longer keeps it a secret.
Till then, sing on Bob…
“Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin’: “Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right! “
There’s a debate about whether I’m a points blogger or if I’m a travel blogger. Up to today, I didn’t pay much attention to the distinction as I considered myself to be a little bit of both. With the ‘breaking news’ of British Avios devaluation, I’m going with travel blogger.
Why does it matter? It matters a great deal because many points bloggers do not travel. They report news that the sky is falling down when a program undergoes a change not realizing that it has essentially no effect on those that actually utilize the program.
Cue in the British Airways announcement. I woke up to frantic Tweets about British implementing off-peak vs. peak awards, fewer miles earned for miles flown, and an increase in the price of business and first class awards. Since I’ve used my Avios for many memorable trips up to this point, I rationalized that a Delta-esque devaluation was a long time coming.
Frantically scrolling through posts searching for how much distance-based awards would cost on partner airlines, I found no information on any relevant changes. Turning to the voice of reason, MileValue, my suspicions were confirmed: distance-based awards will remain the same.
If you’ve never redeemed Avios and just collect them for your points showcase then on paper your collection is worth a lot less. If you actually utilize Avios efficiently by booking distance-based award flights not on British metal from Yangon to Hong Kong for pennies on the dollar instead of $900 each, flights to the Final Four in Atlanta for next to nothing, or flights from Buenos Aires to Mendoza that are always $500 round-trip if you aren’t a resident of Argentina, then you can rest easy knowing that all of that is still possible.
Otherwise keep calm and remain at home as you weren’t ever going to use your points in the first place, devaluation or not.
TSA PreCheck for all its greatness still has one great drawback, the passengers.
It’s 540am in Detroit and I’m in no mood to stand behind passengers who go through the PreCheck line and do the following:
1. They aren’t PreCheck and argue about the government’s ineptitude and inefficiency (while they hold up the line).
2. They take their shoes off.
3. They try to walk through with their purse or man bag.
4. They don’t take off their coat as is allowed but keep their phone in their pockets.
5. They think PreCheck means is VIP for I don’t have to push my bag through the x-ray machine.
How and why did they apply for PreCheck if they don’t even know the conveniences they have paid for?
And with that class is dismissed.
Southwest proves to be the best yet again. I also learned what the word co-terminal is and why it can help or hinder your plans.
Originally I was supposed to fly from Flint to Baltimore to Denver to Spokane to save my parents the hassle of driving to Detroit. They are no longer spared because I don’t want to end up stuck in Baltimore. I called Southwest to make the change and found out that technically they didn’t have to accommodate my weather request because Detroit and Flint are not co-terminal airports in the way that O’Hare and Midway, for example, are. Had they been they could’ve change my ticket to originate from Detroit without making me pay the points or fare difference.
Nonetheless, they were nice enough to do it so I’m on my way to Spokane via Denver, no Baltimore!
Points nerds love these posts because it’s a chance to compare what cards are in my wallet versus what ones are in yours.
I use Excel to keep track of all my annual fees and to track which cards I’m going to dump verses which cards I’m going to keep.
Here’s what I paid last year: A total of $1167 which looks like a lot but the amount of points yielded made it well worth it.
Who didn’t make the cut for 2015?
Barclay’s Arrival: While there are plenty of opportunities to use this card for MS, the $89 fee wasn’t worth it because my focus is more on points and less on cash back.
Southwest Personal: Might as well use Chase Sapphire to get the points that are transferable to Southwest instead of paying the annual fee. I’ll cancel the Southwest Business (in red above) hopefully by applying for another Chase business card and transferring the credit line.
Alaska Airlines: Over the last year and a half I’ve cancelled all 3 Alaska cards because I already took my Emirates flight and now it’s time to rechurn.
US Airways: How many of these have I had? I’m not even sure but I cancelled them all in a last-ditch effort to apply one more time before US Airways goes bye-bye.
Who’s going to get cut in 2015? Everyone in Red:
I don’t proactively cut cards until the annual fee hits my account and I call to cancel the card to see what offer I may or may not get. Bank of America (Alaska Airlines) hardly ever gives offers and makes it near impossible to shift the credit line.
American Airlines Executive Card: $450 annual fee? Cut. And cut again.
American Airlines Master Card: This is in orange because every time I try to cut this card, Citi waves the annual fee. Also, it may be worth keeping because it does provide a rebate of 10% miles spent each year which probably will justify the fee as most of my points are now with American/US Airways.
Hilton Surpass: American Express still hasn’t given me the sign up bonus of 75k. All I’ve received is the 60k offer despite calling them over and over. The card is useless due to Hilton devaluation and the gold status that comes from the Hilton Reserve card.
So who’s left over? The usual suspects:
SPG Personal and Business: Cheap annual fee, needed to requalify for platinum.
Hilton Reserve: Gold status which is as good as diamond for Hilton. Also, can get one free weekend night with MS of 10k.
Hyatt: Free night by paying annual fee. Last year, I used it to stay in the Hyatt in Costa Rica. Includes platinum status but platinum is for peasants compared to Hilton Gold and SPG Platinum. Hopefully this year I can figure out how to go back to Diamond. MS gets you closer but not nearly all the way there if you use this card.
Sapphire/Ink: The go to cards for everyday spending and utility bills. I make a feeble attempt to get some sort of credit for the annual fee but give in when they say no because these are still the best.
Club Carlson Personal and Business: 40k per card for paying annual fee which if you MS a little can reach 50k per card, good for 2 nights in just about any Club Carlson property.
LifeMiles Card (US Bank): The most overlooked card in the points directory for a few reasons:
But if you can brave 1-4 and you can MS on this card it is well worth it because LifeMiles lets you book flights cash and points using Star Alliance members like Singapore Airlines. Last year I flew from Shanghai to Bali in SQ business for 20,000 points and $200 dollars.
Cards with No Annual Fees
I have a few of these as well which may help with MS. Those include Discover and Chase Freedom. I even have a BMW card which gives points towards maintenance but I no longer own a BMW. Still I keep these cards open to preserve a high credit score.
I love Southwest Airlines especially because I’ve had the companion pass going on year 3. But one thing I do not appreciate is their backwards routing. At the time of booking due to low points requirements or cheap tickets, I rationalize that I wouldn’t mind flying east to go west, change planes, and arrive 10 hours later instead of 3.
Then storms like Juno come around and I question if being a points hoarder is worth the trouble. This Tuesday I leave from Flint to Spokane and have to connect in Baltimore then change planes in Denver. The good news is all the extra bags from Mongolia fly free. The bad news is that I am sure I’ll get stuck somewhere along the way.
My point hoarding ways may lead to a bigger headache than this blizzard in the event I get stranded somewhere without all of my luggage.
The journey starts Tuesday. Why I’m going to Spokane is a post for another day.
ThePointsOfLife strives to set it self apart from the world of blogging by taking on the issues that mean the most to you, the reader. Recently, I’ve covered the following:
Today I begin the quest for the best place to get a beer. While the mission is ongoing, I’ve nevertheless been to enough breweries all over the world to at least point you in the right direction.
All that I need now is a clever format for how I’m going to lay out this next series.
Bottoms up!
“Damn it, that was my idea!”
How many times have you said that as you flip through the SkyMall magazine for goods that you will certainly not buy? Today the parent company of SkyMall declared bankruptcy citing a lack of demand for its coffee table book about coffee tables. Analysts believe the decline in SkyMall’s fall from 30,000 feet has more to do with passengers being preoccupied with their onboard electronic devices than from their useless product selection.
This makes sense as I used to spend a good 30 minutes flipping through SkyMall page by page in an effort to pass time. Now I just flip through all my travel photos or passport pages to remind myself how cool I am, something that SkyMall does not offer. To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know how to make a purchase from SkyMall. Is there an 800 number or website you visit when you land because you don’t feel like paying for Boingo Wi-Fi? By that time the fascination for the floating bar for the pool that I do not have has dissipated.
By comparison, I do make purchases from the in-flight duty-free catalog because after 1 bottle of Krug Grand Cuvee, that $250 Red Ferrari watch seems like a good purchase. (Fortunately, on my last Cathay Pacific flight, the lady in charge of duty-free was asleep, so I sobered up before making an ill-advised purchase.)
So to all my would be entrepreneurs and inventors who have found their jump to conclusions mat on sale in SkyMall, I say rejoice, the company is broke and so are our bad ideas.
