Category Archives for Bet you didnt know.
I recently stumbled upon this old post written by Julian, the Devil’s Advocate, in January 2015. For those who are math or calendar challenged, January 2015 happened more than four years ago. That’s an eternity in this space. And I was stunned to discover that the findings in this post are still completely valid today. The tricks shown here have not been Bonvoyed. It is still possible, within a single Marriott reservation, to mix nights…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… For those who may have missed the announcement earlier this week at Travel Codex, this will be my final “Bet You Didn’t Know” column here at Frequent Miler, as I’m moving to work full time at The Points Guy. I’ve already written about the hows and whys in that announcement so I won’t say it all again here. But I do have to take a moment to talk about the…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… Banks have a lot of rules… and they love changing them. I don’t know if this is because banks aren’t very good at writing rules in the first place, or if it’s simply because bank attorneys need to create enough work for themselves to pay the mortgage on their second home in the Hamptons (not to mention the upkeep on the ski condo in Aspen). But for whatever reason,…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… The day after Thanksgiving means waking up with regrets. You regret eating too much. You regret wagering December’s rent on the Vikings. You regret letting that argument with your uncle deteriorate into an arm wrestling challenge. So if you’re traveling through New York’s LaGuardia airport at the end of the holiday weekend and you want to stop by the Amex Centurion Lounge, you don’t want to regret schlepping yourself,…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… A few weeks ago I shared how the bank rewards programs, such as Chase’s Ultimate Rewards and Amex’s Membership Rewards, were quietly selling bulk fares via their travel portals. Bulk fares can be problematic, though they’re not always bad news. In fact, they can be extremely useful in certain circumstances. For more info, see my post “Bet You Didn’t Know: Is Chase Using Bulk Fares for Sapphire Reserve Tickets?” The problem…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… Yesterday’s reveal of the new “World of Hyatt” elite status program lit up the points and miles community, with tons of speculation about winners and losers. I’m sure Greg the Frequent Miler will have some thoughts on it going forward, especially about whether it’s worth pursing the new top-tier Hyatt status. As for myself, it’s safe to say most folks have no problem choosing which category to put me in. And it has nothing to do with my…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… I’m a little peeved at Greg the Frequent Miler today. As you know, Greg is heading off to the ultra luxurious Necker Island tonight and he’ll have lots of photos and videos from there to share with us all next week. But that’s not what I’m upset about. Actually, I think that’s a great story and I’m really looking forward to seeing Greg’s blog posts about the culmination of his challenge. But back when Greg booked…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… There have been a lot of confusing data points about bulk fares and redeemable miles over the last two months. Of course, this is not surprising. We’re talking about the airline industry here. Their rules are built on the bedrock principle of ensuring customers always remain in a state of confusion. Undoubtedly the interest in redeemable miles is due to American’s recent switch to a revenue-based earning system, making them the…
By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate… Normally the “Bet You Didn’t Know” series is focused on tips and tricks rather than news, but there have been several recent items of interest that I’ve seen only lightly covered across the blogosphere, or in some cases not at all. And since these are important tidbits that points and miles collectors should know about, we’re going to switch it up a bit this week. Call it a “Breaking News”…
