| A note from Greg the Frequent Miler: In November 2017, Barclaycard offered to send me on an all-expense-paid first class trip to California to learn about the new Uber credit card. Their goal was clearly to butter me up to write good things about the card. Conflict of interest? Absolutely. Was I interested anyway? You bet — it sounded awesome. Plus, there were no explicit strings attached. In other words, there was no requirement for us to write about the card or the trip, or anything else for that matter. Since we had already written good things about the Uber card, I figured that the conflict of interest issues were actually pretty small. But neither I nor Nick could go since it overlapped with FTU Chicago. So, instead, I forwarded the invite to author and photographer J.M. Hoffman. To-date, for Frequent Miler, Joel has published several destination guides under the heading “You’ve gotta see this”: Australian Wildlife, Melbourne and Sydney, and the Florida Everglades. Now, Joel adds a few lighthearted stories about his all-expense-paid Uber-adventure… |
If you haven’t dined at Nobu Malibu, make a note now: You should. And while it’s on the pricey side, I have a 4%-off coupon for you — sort of.
I mention Nobu because they have an item whose name I forget that surprised me more than I would have thought possible: A cucumber that was scrumptiously delicious. Not just good or merely great. A delicacy. The kind of thing that’s worth flying across the country for. And I don’t even like cucumbers. If they can do that with a bland and unassuming gourd, just imagine what they can do with other ingredients. (I don’t have to imagine. I was there.)
And then there’s the ambiance. Whether you sit on the outside deck or at one of the inside tables, you’re just feet from the idyllic Malibu shore. And the restaurant’s location means you’re positioned for any number of other adventures in the area.
So put Nobu Malibu on your bucket list.
And plan for 4% off.
The 4%-off actually works almost anywhere you dine, because it comes in the form of the new Uber Visa card from Barclays, which has no annual fee yet gives you 4% cash back at almost any restaurant.
Now, Uber and Barclays are the ones who flew me to California and then brought me to Nobu Malibu (thank you, by the way), so I’m biased. And I know that using one credit card to get rewards always means not using another, just as merely getting one card may mean not being able to get another, but still: The card has no annual fee and it gives you a 4% rebate on meals, which is why back in October the Frequent Miler wrote that the “new Uber Visa looks great for a no-fee card.” It seems like an appealing option for many people, even without the other card benefits (see their website) and the sign-up bonus (again, on their website).
I’ll have more to say about my adventures soon. For now, since I didn’t think to photograph the cucumber before I ate it, here’s a picture of another yummy Nobu Malibu dish whose name I forget:
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I’ve been reading this blog for years is my top blog for miles/points because I feel I can trust it. But this post really leaves a bad taste. It reeks of paid placement. It’s exactly the kind of thing this blog doesn’t do (or didn’t).
“I mention Nobu because they have an item…”
No, you mention Nobu because you got “paid” to. There are Nobus all over the world. There’s nothing special about this one and no reason it needs to go on anyone’s “bucket list”.
I’m sad to see this is going to be an entire series. Please don’t let this blog devolve with such blatant, biased nonsense. If you’re going to do it, at the very least post a disclaimer at the top instead of the bottom.
But please don’t continue this series. Please…
Agree with Jak on this. This 4% could be applied at any restaurant, the only reason it mentions Nobu Malibu is because the author was paid to go there. This should not be a series.
I almost never complain in comments but this has got to be the most irrelevant, click baity post I have ever seen in the miles and points world. And not to mention it doesn’t even provide anything of particular value.
Hi I love this blog and have been a loyal reader for years. I appreciate people who publish content and generally avoid negative comments, but I really find this post fall short of the caliber of this blog. It comes off as an off topic, uncalled-for endorsement for a niche population with a false claim in the subject line that isn’t even enticing at the first glance. I clicked to read assuming that “4%” was a humble joke that was more valuable (i.e. worth calling out) than meets the eyes…
If Greg writes a trip report (like Necker Island) and endorses a restaurant on the trip, it’s cool. A paid advertisement of a high-end restaurant that has nothing to do with other topics covered on this blog? A bit less so.
Yes the Uber card provides a good value proposition, but you get “4% off” at McDonald’s as well. Also maybe I just feel entitled given all the knowledge acquired here, but I don’t think of any amount of credit card cash back as “% off”…
Now let me not be all negative. I do enjoy JM’s writing style and look forward to more from him. Just hoping that the next one will appear more objective.
I agree this was a bit crass – something I might expect to see on TPG but not FM. At least I didn’t expect to see it until now.
Peter,
Thanks for your feedback.
I’m glad you like my writing style, and I’m sorry if I was misleading.
Nobu did not compensate me, and this wasn’t in any sense a paid endorsement or advertisement. I feel badly that it came off that way. (It was Uber and Barclays who paid for my over-the-top trip.)
I just genuinely enjoyed Nobu enough to want to write a few quick words about it, and I thought this would be a fun story about food in the context of cash-back on dining. (Which, even though it’s not for me, because I prefer points to cash back, seems like a pretty good deal, especially for a card with no annual fee.)
And yes, my occasional posts are a little off topic — more like editorials than the usual stream of news. I hope you enjoy them for what they are.
You’d get 4.5% back using Chase Sapphire Reserve– 3x on dining, then redeem for 1.5 cents each.
Sort of.
The Uber card has no fee, and to the best of my knowledge, there’s no other fee-free card that gives back 4% on all dining.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $450, except that it really costs less, because you get a lot back. If you already have the CSR, it seems to me that you’re better off putting dining purchases on that. If not, it depends. If you use the CSR only for dining, you’ll have to spend $90,000/year in order for the extra half a percent to cover the full annual fee.
If you assume, say, that the CSR costs you $50/year to carry, you’ll only have to spend $10,000 on dining to make up the cost of the card. And at Nobu Malibu, $10K/year is a piece of cake. (Did I mention they also serve dessert?)
Must be nice…
Yup. An all-expense-paid luxury long weekend in LA is a fine way to spend a few days in November. More soon…
Looking for DP on who has been approved and denied for this card? My wife recently applied for the Arrival Plus. She’s 4/24 plus two authorized user cards with 825 credit score and was denied. This seems like a great card for me, but I am about 8/24 and 790 so I’m guessing I have about a 1% chance of approval unless they are MUCH more lenient with this card.